Panasonic DMC LS80 Review

The Panasonic DMC LS80 is an 8 megapixel digital camera with a standard 3x optical zoom lens. This is an easy to use, point and shoot camera.

The DMC LS80 offers good value for money. It is one of the easier to use cameras. This is also one of the few cameras available in this price range to offer image stabilisation and a widescreen video setting. All in all, this is a straightforward camera and will appeal to someone looking for a "no fuss" digital camera.

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
This is a fairly solid start. Focusing is roughly average for this type of point and shoot camera and the colours are well balanced. There is some loss of detail on the boats where the lens is not quite able to cope with sun glare.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
As in the first picture the DMC LS80 sits in the middle rank when it comes to the sharpness of the photo. Colours are strong here. One improvement I can think of is that the picture is on the dark side and a bit of extra light would have set the scene off better.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
This photo is similar to the first two. This Panasonic digital camera handles the scene well.

Outdoor 4 (Building)
With the emphasis on focusing this test confirms that the DMC LS80 is in the middle rank when it comes to sharpness. If you are on the lookout for another entry level point and shoot camera that is able to produce sharper images then try taking a look at the Canon Powershot A580.

Outdoor Portrait
I like the colours the camera has produced in this photo. It has a warm feel to it. Sharpness levels are better in this photo.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
This is another decent photo, but despite using the flash the shot is darker than I would like it to be.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
In my opinion this is the best result out of the three portrait shots. I especially like the skin tones and the photo has a natural feel to it.

Colours
Colours are strong and consistent throughout my tests. As with other Panasonic digital cameras I have tested, colours are stronger than most brands produce.

Macro
The DMC LS80 gets most factors right. The shot is sharp and clear. Once again I find myself wishing it was just that bit brighter. It is still a good effort from a less expensive camera.

ISO 400 and ISO 1600
At ISO 400 you can still produce an acceptable photo. Noise does creep in, but the DMC LS80 holds up well when compared to other cameras in this price bracket. Once you push the ISO rating up to 1600 the quality inevitably falls away sharply.

Overall
Overall I am quite happy with the results produced by this Panasonic digital camera. It handles most snapshot situations well, although I would like to have seen a bit of extra brightness in one or two of the photos.

Shutter lag times are a little bit slower than I like to see. This is particularly true if you are taking a couple of shots one after the other. A single photo recorded 0.49 seconds and five photos took 16.17 seconds. With flash on times slowed to 0.55 seconds for a single photo and 22.46 seconds for five.

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

This is a fairly typical entry level camera when it comes to both looks and build quality. It is available in silver, black and pink.

62 x 96 x 31mm

127g

Two AA batteries power the camera. Panasonic estimate you should be able to take around 160 photos before needing to replace a typical set of batteries.

According to the specification 27mb of memory have been built into the camera, but I was only able to take five shots before the memory was full.

Click here to save money on SD memory cards..

Very Good. You should not find it a problem getting to know this camera. The menus are simple and it is just a case of running through them until you find the option you are looking for.

Ease of use - wide screen movies

Shutter delay could be that little bit faster

There are a couple of Canon cameras that just have the edge over this Panasonic digital camera in my opinion. These are the Canon Powershot A580 and Canon Powershot A470.

The Panasonic DMC LS80 is a standard entry level digital camera. When it comes to overall picture quality it is above average when compared to its nearest rivals. Even so there are cameras that I feel offer better picture quality as mentioned above.

Front View

Back View

Top View

Sample Menu

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 LS80