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We clicked with:
Ease of use
Vivid, vibrant pictures
Excellent lens
Superb value for money
Shots in the dark:
High ISO better, but still not great
Could do with more creative control
Can soften low-contrast pictures
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Digital photography is a very fast-moving stream. What's state-of-the-art and high fashion this year will be so much old tat next year. But, here's the big thing, much of this is simple hype and the last generation of products that are still in production offer huge benefits, and great price savings. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX33 falls firmly in that category.
It's one of the best of 2007's stock, and still very much on sale, but at very keen prices in the light of newer, 'better' products. It's an 8.1 megapixel compact with a 3.6x Leica-designed and approved lens equivalent to 28-100mm f/2.8-5.6 zoom. It featured an optical image stabiliser and face detection, which both form a part of the product's 'Intelligent Auto' mode developed with the company's Venus III processing engine.
A 'replacement' is coming though. Panasonic recently announced a DMC-FX35, essentially a 10.1 megapixels and a 25mm equivalent wide-angle lens (plus a few extra features like 720p video capture and the Mk IV version of the Venus processing engine). Although this product is not in the shops yet, and no-one has any idea about it's performance, it means the price of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX33 is dropping.
All of which makes this the bargain camera of the moment. For one thing, it's sumptuously finished in a non-reflective matt black with silver contrasting band. Its controls are also extremely well laid out and simple to use, with the shooting modes on a handy rear thumbwheel and all the functions can be accessed using just key pad (akin to a Nintendo controller) and two smaller buttons.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX33 puts all major control changes on its menu system, which is usefully easy to read and navigate. The only limit to this is it doesn't make the camera particularly fast to respond if you want to move from mode to mode. Given this is not the sort of camera that lends itself to creative override (instead it has 22 style modes on the menu, and a macro mode on the thumbwheel), this is not really an issue.
The wide angle is a boon on a camera like this. Too many compacts go for long telephoto zooms, forgetting that most people like to take picturesque wide-angle photos instead. This makes the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX33 an ideal travel camera. It has good (although not outstanding) battery life, is small, elegant, well made and has an excellent lens for capturing those holiday scenes:
It's worth noting that the Leica lens contributes a great deal to the camera, it seems. Images are particularly contrasty in good light, with very little fall-off or lens distortions. Even difficult images at wild angles that would fox lesser compacts are no problems with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX33:
Panasonic has a reputation for strongly coloured, vibrant images that are less good at high ISOs. This is a reputation largely based on the performance of previous generation of Lumix cameras, but the issues raised are still apparent in today's cameras. In other words, the camera retains the vibrant picture of before, adds to it extremely good detail, but is still not the first choice for high ISO enthusiasts. This is largely a function of the small 1/2.5” sensor used in Panasonic's compacts, but the camera does show signs of shadow noise at all ISOs and the performance at ISO 800 and ISO 1600 should be reserved for emergency use only. In intelligent auto mode, most times the camera behaves exemplarily... although using the camera on softly lit scenes can make them appear very soft and almost flat.
Otherwise, the camera performs extremely well. Its autofocus system is quick, silent and efficient. Face recognition works well, although it can be easily confused by faces either turned to profile, or turned too far from the straight and narrow (so, not the first choice camera for photographing Quasimodo, then). There is some shutter lag, but it's mild compared to most in class and it's possible to take a shot every two and a bit seconds.
The obvious conclusion is there's never been a better time to buy the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX33. It was a great compact camera at full price and now it's being sold at a keen sum, it should be first on the list.
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Megapixels
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8.1
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Screen
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2.5" LCD (207,000 pixels)
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Zoom
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3x Optical Zoom (28-100mm 35mm equiv.), 4x digital zoom
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Picture Modes
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23 modes
AVI movie
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Stabilisation
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Yes
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Sensitivity
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ISO80-1600
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White balance
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Auto, six options, two user white balances
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Storage
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SD
27MB Internal memory
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Battery
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100mAh Li-ion Rechargeable Battery
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Other / Key features
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Intelligent Auto (suite of automation)
Face recognition
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