Panasonic DMC LS2 Review

The Panasonic DMC LS2 is a five megapixel digital camera with a three times optical zoom lens. It is easy to use and is priced at the lower end of the market. Panasonic have added optical image stabilisation to the DMC LS2. This helps to mark this camera out when it is compared to other similar models.

This camera is likely to be attractive to anyone looking for a straightforward model that takes good photos and will not break the bank.

Considering the price bracket the DMC LS2 falls into I cannot help but be impressed by the picture quality. The camera works well indoors as well as outside.

It is noticeable from the outdoor scenic shots that the pictures the DMC LS2 are not quite as sharp as those produced by more expensive models. The pictures are of good quality though even if there is a tendency for focusing to fall away towards the edges of the photos. Even so these are still superior to the majority of cameras in this price range.

The level of detail the DMC LS2 manages to bring out in the lighter and darker areas of each shot is better than many more expensive models. The boats in the first shot are captured well and the glare of the sun does not pose a great problem to the camera. There is also a natural feel to the colours in each picture.

This is backed up by the dedicated test for colours. None of the colours come across as being overpowering and this is likely to mean the scenes you photograph will closely resembled how they looked on the day.

Looking at the outdoor portrait shot this is a fairly typical example and matches a number of my other test shots. Again this is good for a digital camera in this price bracket. I would like to have seen a bit of extra pink in the skin tones, but that is really a minor grumble.

Moving indoors the camera takes surprisingly good pictures. There are very few digital cameras available in this section of the market that can produce such sharply focused photographs. This shows in both the portrait shot and also the shot of beer bottles taken in lowlight. In fact the shot of beer bottles has a greater level of sharpness as you move away from the very centre of the shot than many more expensive cameras manage. The only downside of either photo is the level of red eye that shows up in the portrait shot.

The macro shot is also up to standard. It is a sharp image and the DMC LS2 manages to bring out a good level of detail in the watch face.

Finally the test shot taken with an ISO setting of ISO 400 is not one of the best. You may wish to use higher ISO settings when taking shots in lowlight, especially when you are outside the range of the flash unit. Personally I would only use ISO 400 as a last resort when there is no other way of getting a picture.

I was able to take a single photo in 0.52 seconds and five photos in 12.68 seconds. These are both slow times.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

The 3x optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 35 - 105mm in 35mm format. The lens aperture works in the range Wide: F2.8/F5.6 (2 steps) and Tele: F5.0 - F10 (2 steps). There are two other types of zoom available. The first is digital zoom. This adds an extra 4x zoom. The other type of zoom is extended zoom. This increases the total optical zoom to 3.8x zoom. Extended zoom offers the same quality as optical zoom, but is only available at lower resolutions.

For composing images there is a 2" LCD screen. This is made up of around 85,000 pixels. One extra feature the screen has is a high angle setting. This makes the screen much easier to see if you are holding the camera above your head to take a shot over the top of a crowd. No viewfinder is available.

The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 3.7m. This falls to nearer 2.1m when the zoom lens is in use. The flash modes available to use are Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction Forced On and Forced Off.

An important feature is the aspect ratio. The DMC LS2 offers three different ratios. This covers more eventualities than most digital cameras do. The standard ratio is 4:3. This means that when you take a photo its shape will fit perfectly on a computer screen. This camera also offers 3:2 and 16:9. If you use a 3:2 ratio the photo will fit on a 6x4" print without the need to trim anything from the picture to get it to fit on the paper. A 16:9 ratio is ideal for viewing photos on a widescreen television.

You can select from five different types of auto focus metering methods. These are 1 point, 1 point high speed, 3 points high speed, 5 points and Spot. For close up work the camera can focus from 5cm away from the subject.

To help you take the best possible shot a series of pre programmed scene modes are available. By selecting a scene mode you indicate to the camera the type of shot you are about to take. The camera will then select the controls to use accordingly. The scene modes you can use are Portrait, Sports, Food, Scenery, Night Scenery, Night Portrait, Fireworks, Party, Snow, Baby, Soft Skin, Starry Sky, Candle, Soft Skin, Baby1, Baby2 and High Sensitivity.

If you would like to add something different to your pictures you can try using different colour effects. The effects are Cool, Warm, Black & White and Sepia. There are also some picture adjustment settings. These are Natural, Standard and Vivid. For when you would like to appear in the picture there is a self timer. The delay time can be set to either two or ten seconds. A histogram is also available.

Among the more advanced features are ISO sensitivity settings (Auto, 80, 100, 200 and 400), white balance (Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Halogen, Flash and White Set White Balance Adjustment (except for Auto Set)) and exposure compensation (1/3 EV Step, ± 2 EV). Auto bracketing (+1/3EV-1EV Step, 3 Frames) is also available as is backlight compensation in simple mode. Shutter speeds range between 8 and 1/2000 seconds. In Starry Sky Mode speeds of 15, 30 and 60 seconds can be used.

There are two different types of burst mode available. The first lets you fire off a short, high speed burst. In standard mode you can take up to nine shots and in fine mode you can take up to five shots. The second method allows you to keep taking pictures until the memory card is full. This is at a slower rate than when you are using the first type of burst mode.

After a picture has been taken you can create a small copy and also trim or crop the shot.

Short movies can be captured. The maximum resolution is 320 x 240. Movies can be shot at a maximum speed of 30 frames per second. You can zoom in and out before a movie is shot, but not while recording is in progress. Movies are silent.

Panasonic supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the DMC LS2 to a computer, printer and PictBridge compatible printer.

Ease of use is a strength of all Panasonic digital cameras not just the DMC LS2. The menu system is about as simple as you are likely to find. I also feel the menu screens are clear and easy to read. If the basic menu system is still too hard for you there is a simple shooting mode that cuts down the menu options to an absolute minimum. Help text is also available when you are selecting scene modes.

There are few dials and buttons to get used to. The key controls for flash, self timer, accessing the menu and deleting images are all found on the back of the camera. A ring to control zoom is found on the top of the camera and a dial controls the shooting mode.

You can pick up a Panasonic DMC LS2 for around £115. This compares to around £110 for a Canon Powershot A430, £120 for a Sony DSC S600 and £85 for an Olympus FE-115.

I would say the DMC LS2 is fairly priced and provides an alternative to the Powershot A430 and the Sony DSC S600.

As with most digital cameras available at a lower price style and build quality are areas that tend to suffer. The camera is larger than most models and is too big to fit into a pocket. It has a elongated, rectangular shape. It weighs 138g and has dimensions of 110.5 x 53.5 x 30.9 mm.

Two AA batteries are used to provide power to the camera. Panasonic estimates that you should be able to take around 250 shots with the DMC LS2 before the batteries run down. This figure is based on the supplied alkaline batteries.

There are 14mb of storage built into the camera. Therefore a memory card is not supplied with the camera as standard. I was able to take just five photos before the internal memory was full. Therefore I would suggest considering picking up a high capacity memory card to go with the camera. It is compatible with SD cards.

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Image stabilisation
Aspect ratios
Picture quality
Ease of use

Red eye
Shutter lag
Small internal memory

In terms of features the Panasonic DMC LS2 offers a lot for a low priced digital camera. In fact at the time of writing the review it is the cheapest digital camera by some way to offer image stabilisation. The high angle LCD screen function is also useful too. Picture quality is very good on the whole and the only real downside is shutter lag. The DMC LS2 is well worth considering.

Panasonic DMC LS2 Front View

Panasonic DMC LS2 Back View

Panasonic DMC LS2 Top View

Sample Menus

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Panasonic DMC LS2