Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX12 reviewed
The Photography Blog has a review up of Panasonic's new Lumix DMC-FX12 point and shoot cam, one of the first we've seen from Panasonic's 2007 range of cameras. In terms of basic specifications, the DMC-FX12 is a middle-of-the-pack 7.2 megapixel camera that features a 35mm 3x zoom lens. The Photography Blog found the design to be one of the strongest aspects of the device, with a thin (0.95-inches) case making it feasible to keep it in a pants pocket: one thing we noticed from the pictures is that it has some pretty awful stickers on the front, albeit removable ones. On the back is a large 2.5-inch LCD (which replaces the viewfinder) which the review mentions was rather low resolution. As for image quality, this was found to be favorable, especially with regard to the lack of noise compared to former models at high sensitivities. On the downside, you've got to delve into the menus in order to change the sensitivity, and the output of all images tended to be on the soft side. This latter problem is confounded by the complete lack of any setting to change sharpness: you'll be booting up Photoshop in that case. Overall, the Lumix isn't a revolutionary camera, but it is a very respectable all-rounder that happens to produce low light output that beats its predecessors. It should be available this month for around $229.
