Panasonic DMC FX10 Video Guide
The Panasonic DMC FX10 is a small, compact digital camera. At around 25mm wide it is just about small enough to slip into a pocket to carry around. It is a fairly simple model and is likely to appeal to anyone who is looking for a standard point and shoot digital camera with a decent build quality.
The camera comes in a choice of colours and you can select from blue, black and more traditional silver models.
More of these smaller cameras are being introduced with image stabilisation and this is a feature you will find on the FX10.
Another innovative feature is a high level setting for the LCD screen. When you turn this on it gives you a better view of the LCD screen if you need to hold the camera above eye level to take a shot. This could be when taking photos over the top of a crowd. I was impressed with the quality of the LCD screen and found it to be one of the easier to see screens in bright, sunny conditions.
If you are planning to shoot movies and play them back on a widescreen television then it is worth noting that Panasonic has introduced a series of digital cameras with a special widescreen movie setting. As far as I'm aware Panasonic are currently the only or one of the only brands to offer this feature. The DMC FX10 has this setting.
Power is supplied to the camera by a lithium ion battery. Both a battery and charger are supplied with the camera as standard. Panasonic estimate that you should be able to take around 370 shots in between charges. I have not carried out a test to verify this claim.
There are 27mb of storage built into the camera. Although this is a reasonable amount compared to the amount of memory supplied with other similar cameras you will still need to include the cost of a memory card in your budget. The DMC FX10 is compatible with SD and SDHC cards.
The FX10 has six megapixels. The continuing trend with digital cameras is to keep on increasing the amount of pixels available. There are now 12 megapixels models available. Don't be put off from buying this camera by the misperception that extra megapixels automatically guarantees better picture quality. This is not the case and the extra pixels usually only mean you are able to make larger prints. With a six megapixel model like the DMC FX10 you should be able to makes perfect 8 x 10" prints and very good quality prints up to 16 x 20".
When it comes to zoom this camera has a three times zoom lens. The zoom capacity can be increased to 4.1x when shooting at three megapixels. Therefore you have a little flexibility if you feel you need some extra zoom.
Click here for review: Panasonic DMC FX10 Review
Panasonic DMC FX10 Video Guide - June 2007
