Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 Review

Review Date: February 27th 2008
Author: Mark Goldstein

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Conclusion

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	4.5
Ease-of-Use	4.5
Image Quality	4
Value for Money	4.5

Just like the FX55 camera that it very closely resembles, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 is a stylish ultra-compact that you can carry with you wherever you go. It's quite responsive with quick focusing, even in low-light conditions, although the burst shooting mode of 2.5 fps for 3 images seems a little pedestrian these days. Panasonic have included the same clever Intellligent Auto mode that achieves great results in most situations with very little input required from the user. The large, high-resolution 3 inch LCD screen is also very welcome, although I missed having a true optical viewfinder in very bright sunlight. The new 30mm wide-angle lens may not be quite as wide as the 28mm lens on the FX55, or the ultra-wide 25mm on Panasonic's new FX35 model, but it's still much better than the typical 35mm focal length that cameras in this class typically offer. The 120mm focal length at the other end of the zoom range, although hampered somewhat by the slow f/5.8 maximum aperture, is still a welcome addition.

Image quality has once again been slightly improved since the last generation of Lumix models, carrying on where the recent FX55 left off. Panasonic have maintained noise performance, so that ISO 400 on the FS20 is equal to ISO 400 on the older models, despite the increase in megapixels from 8 to 10. I would have preferred to see the FS20 use an 8 megapixel sensor with better ISO performance, though, as the 2 megapixel increase doesn't make an awful lot of difference to your photos. ISO 100-400 still isn't a particularly versatile range, but the usual excellent optical image stabilisation system means that the FS20 is still an adaptable camera, as you can take a photo at a faster ISO speed and therefore a slower shutter speed, and still get sharp results, without adversely affecting the battery life too much. The High Sensitivity mode provides a fastest ISO speed of 6400, but the image resolution is automatically reduced to 3 megapixels and there's far too much noise and blurring of detail at that speed. The extension of the ISO range up to 1600 at full image resolution is more of a marketing strategy than providing any real benefits - you won't want to use the noisy ISO 800 and 1600 settings unless there is no other alternative. The inability to alter sharpness in the camera is also frustrating, as the images are quite soft by default.

It's difficult to see where Panasonic have cut corners with the new FS series of cameras, so much so that the DMC-FS20 is almost identical to the FX55, at a lower introductory price point. The FS20's 4x zoom lens is a little more versatile, and the move up to 10 megapixels provides slightly larger pictures without adversely affecting image quality (although it hasn't really been improved either). So just as with the FX55, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 is a fantastic point and shoot digital camera that anyone in your family can use. Panasonic have achieved what they set out to do, offering a very effective combination of ultra-compact size, wide-angle lens and simple ease-of-use at an even more affordable price.

PhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 have been submitted to DIWA for comparison with test results for different samples of the same camera model supplied by other DIWA member sites.

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