Panasonic DMC FS20 Review

Ultra Compact

Picture
Panasonic DMC FS20 Ease of Use 8
Features 8
Movie Mode 9
Build Quality8
Colours 8
Photo Quality 9
Style 9
Lowlight 9
Macro 8
Value for Money 8
Best Prices
Sainsbury's Onli GBP 129.99

Overview

The Panasonic DMC FS20 is a 10 megapixel digital camera with a 4x optical zoom lens. It has a wider than standard 30mm lens. There is also a large 3 inch LCD screen.

Why Buy The Panasonic DMC FS20

The DMC FS20 is just about small enough to slip into a pocket. I like the simple, but effective design of the camera. It is easy to use and picture quality is towards the top end of the market. There are also a few extra features thrown in such as widescreen movies, an intelligent automatic mode and image stabilisation. All in all it is a very impressive package.

It also has a feature that increases the amount of zoom available when you shoot at lower resolutions.

Main Features

Megapixels:
Zoom:
LCD Screen:
Dimensions:
Weight:

10
4x
3 inches
94.9 x 57.1 x 22.9 m
132g

Macro:
HD Movies:
Manual Controls:
Batteries:
Memory Cards:

10cm
No
No
Lithium ion
SD/SDHC

Image Quality - See Sample Images Below

Outdoor Scenic Shots in Good Light

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom): The combination of sharpness and brightness produces a pleasing photo. The camera handles glare from the sun well and the level of detail on the lighter areas of the boats is impressive. The colours have also remained true to the scene on the day.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom): I like the way the colours complement each other in this picture. The blue of the sky and the water work well with the greens of the foliage. There is some noise in the picture and this stops the photo from really hitting the mark.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom): This is a better effort than the second outdoor shot. It is another bright shot and demonstrates how well the DMC FS20 uses the light. Sharpness levels are good.

Outdoor 4 (Building): With all the brickwork in this picture it makes it a good test for sharpness. This Panasonic digital cameras does well and there is only a small amount of sharpness lost as you move towards the edges of the shot.

Portraits

Outdoor Portrait: The outdoor portrait has a bit of an orange glow to it. This is due to me selecting the white balance setting of shady to match the shooting conditions. Without using the shady setting the picture look on the dull side, so although the warmth is a bit overdone here I prefer this result.

Indoor Portrait with Flash: This is my favourite portrait shot. The main reason is the colour in the photo. The flash unit provides plenty of even lighting without swamping the colours.

Indoor Portrait without Flash: With just natural light the DMC FS20 produces another good portrait shot. Once again the colours are about right.

Macro, Colours and Noise

Macro: I am very happy with macro test result. It is above average and suggests that this Panasonic digital cameras should be able to produce decent quality close up shots in most situations.

Colours: As with other cameras in this range the DMC FS20 is capable of producing strong colours. On occasion these can be a bit over the top for my own personal taste.

ISO 400 and ISO 1600: When using higher ISO settings the current batch of Panasonic digital cameras perform fairly well. Noise inevitably kicks in, but Panasonic handles this as well as any other brand apart from perhaps Fuji.

Summary

Overall I am very happy with my test pictures. The DMC FS20 is able to take a decent shot in most situations.

See sample images link arrow

Style

The rounded ends of the camera stop it from looking plain and ordinary. The DMC FS20 has an unfussy design, but a design that works well in my opinion. It just about slips into most pockets.

Shutter Lag Times

Shutter Lag Rating Slow

Single Shot
Five Shots
Single Shot With Flash
Five Shots With Flash

0.48 seconds
10.49 seconds
0.55 seconds
12.38 seconds


Shutter Lag Table link arrow

Ease of Use

Ease of Use - Par I find the menu system used by Panasonic to be one of the most straightforward of any brand. The easy zoom button on the top of the camera gives you immediate maximum zoom.

Points I Like

Ease of use - design and build quality - automatic features - overall picture quality - wide screen movies

Where it Could Improve

Shutter delay could be that little bit faster

Verdict

The Panasonic DMC FS20 is a high quality point and shoot camera. It has a few extra features included that make it a clear step up from the more basic, entry level models. I found the camera easy to use and it is well worth adding to your shortlist.

Product Shots

Front View

Front View

Back View

Back View

Top View

Top View

Sample Menus

menu menu 1

setup iso

Top Rated Cameras in this Category

Canon IXUS 310 HS Rating 86/100

The Canon IXUS 310 HS is one of the best touch controlled digital cameras. It has 12 megapixels and a 4.4x wide angle lens. The screen is very responsive to touch. This is due partly to the larger screen size than many touch controlled digital cameras offer. Picture quality is excellent and the build quality is top quality. If you are looking for a touch controlled digital camera the IXUS 310 HS is worth a very close look.

Read Review: Canon IXUS 310 HS Review

Canon IXUS 220 HS Rating 86/100

The Canon IXUS 220 HS is a pocket sized digital camera. It looks good, is well made and can take an impressive snapshot in most situations. It may not have every in vogue feature, but it has an extra touch of all round quality about it

Read Review: Canon IXUS 220 HS Review

Canon IXUS 115 HS Rating 86/100

The Canon IXUS 115 HS is a classy looking, pocket digital camera. It can shoot Full HD movies and has a high quality 3 inch LCD screen. When it comes to picture quality the IXUS 115 HS outclasses many of its direct competitors.

Read Review: Canon IXUS 115 HS Review

Related Pages

Panasonic DMC FS20 Review Panasonic DMC FS20 Specification Panasonic DMC FS20 Sample Images Panasonic DMC FS20 Features

Review Date

May 2008

Best Deals



Photography Courses

UK WIDE COURSES
learn how to use your DSLR
1 Day Digital Photography Intro
2 Day Digital Photography Intro
London Photography Tour
Portrait and Studio - 1 Day
Half Day DSLR Camera Training
Landscape Photography - 1 Day
Photo Holidays & Weekends
One-to-One Training
Photography Tutorials

Red Cloud Website

Search By Price

Digital Cameras Under £50
Digital Cameras £50 - £100
Digital Cameras £100 - £150
Digital Cameras £150 - £200
Digital Cameras £200 - £300
Digital Cameras £300 - £500
Digital Cameras £500 - £1000
Digital Cameras Over £1000

Search By Camera Type

Simple and Easy Digital Cameras
Pocket Sized Digital Cameras
Extra Zoom Digital Cameras
Super Zoom Digital Cameras
Advanced Digital Cameras
Waterproof Digital Cameras
Compact System Cameras
Digital SLRs

Search By Camera Brand

Canon Digital Cameras
Casio Digital Cameras
Fuji Digital Cameras
Kodak Digital Cameras
Nikon Digital Cameras
Olympus Digital Cameras
Panasonic Digital Cameras
Pentax Digital Cameras
Samsung Digital Cameras
Sony Digital Cameras

Camera Reviews

Simple and Easy
Canon Powershot A1200
Canon Powershot A3200 IS
Canon Powershot A3300 IS
Canon Powershot A495
Canon Powershot A800
Fuji Finepix AV200
Fuji Finepix AV250
Fuji Finepix JV200
Fuji Finepix Z70
Kodak Easyshare C143
Nikon Coolpix L23
Panasonic DMC FS16
Panasonic DMC FS18
Panasonic DMC S3
Sony DSC W510
Sony DSC W520
Sony DSC W530

Pocket Compacts
Canon IXUS 115 HS
Canon IXUS 130
Canon IXUS 220 HS
Canon IXUS 300 HS
Canon IXUS 310 HS
Fuji Finepix Z300
Fuji Finepix Z700EXR
Nikon Coolpix S3000
Nikon Coolpix S3100
Nikon Coolpix S80
Panasonic DMC FP3
Panasonic DMC FS10
Panasonic DMC FS11
Panasonic DMC FX70
Panasonic DMC FX700
Sony DSC J10
Sony DSC T110
Sony DSC T99
Sony DSC TX1
Sony DSC TX7
Sony DSC W310
Sony DSC W350
Sony DSC W380
Sony DSC W570
Sony DSC WX5

Extra Zoom
Canon IXUS 1000 HS
Canon Powershot SX130 IS
Canon Powershot SX210 IS
Canon Powershot SX220 HS
Casio Exilim EX-H5
Fuji Finepix F300EXR
Fuji Finepix F550EXR
Fuji Finepix F80EXR
Panasonic DMC FS33
Panasonic DMC FS35
Panasonic DMC TZ10
Panasonic DMC TZ20
Panasonic DMC TZ8
Panasonic DMC ZX3
Sony DSC H55
Sony DSC H70
Sony DSC HX5

Super Zooms
Canon Powershot SX30 IS
Fuji Finepix HS10
Fuji Finepix HS20EXR
Fuji Finepix S2500HD
Kodak Easyshare Z981
Olympus SP-800UZ
Olympus VR-310
Panasonic DMC FZ100
Panasonic DMC FZ45
Pentax X90
Sony DSC HX1

Advanced
Canon Powershot G12
Canon Powershot S95
Nikon Coolpix P300
Nikon Coolpix P7000
Panasonic DMC LX5
Samsung EX1

Stylish Compact
Panasonic DMC FS30
Pentax Optio i-10

Waterproof / Tough
Canon Powershot D10
Fuji Finepix XP10
Olympus Tough TG-310
Olympus Tough TG-610
Panasonic DMC FT10
Pentax Optio W90
Sony DSC TX10

Compact System Cameras
Sony Nex-3
Sony Nex-5

Digital SLRs
Nikon D3000

Buyers Guides

Digital Cameras
Memory Cards
Digital SLRs
Major Features
Shutter Times
Batteries
Where to Buy
Digital Cameras Under £100

More Guides

Local Guides

All Local Guides
England
English Counties
London Locations
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales

News Feeds

XML RSS My MSN My Yahoo