Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 Review

Review Date: September 14th 2007

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Conclusion

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

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 is a stylish ultra-compact camera that you can carry with you wherever you go. It's quite responsive with quick focusing, even in low-light conditions, and an adequate Continuous mode of 3fps. Panasonic have focused on making the DMC-FX55 the ultimate point and shoot camera, with a new 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 DMC-FX55 is also one of a handful of compact digital cameras to offer a 28mm wide-angle lens, which provides an entirely new angle of view when compared with conventional zoom lenses that typically start at around 35mm. A mere 7mm may not sound like much, but it actually makes a big difference to image composition.

Image quality has been improved since the last generation of Lumix models, carrying on where the recent DMC-FX07 left off. Panasonic have improved noise performance, so that ISO 400 on the FX55 is about equal to ISO 200 on the older models, which increases the camera's low-light capabilities. ISO 100-400 still isn't particularly versatile, but the usual excellent optical image stabilisation system makes the FX55 a more adaptable camera than its predecessors, 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, resulting in smaller print sizes, 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 soft by default.

Despite the poor performance at higher ISO speeds, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 is a fantastic point and shoot digital camera that anyone in your family can use. If you're interested in the very effective combination of ultra-compact size, wide-angle lens and simple ease-of-use, then the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 should definitely find a place on your shopping list.

PhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 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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