Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 Review

Review Date: July 7th 2008
Author: Mark Goldstein

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Page 1
Introduction / Ease of Use
Page 2
Image Quality
Page 3
Sample Images
Page 4
Design
Page 5
Specifications
Page 6
Conclusion

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 10M Fine (3648 x 2736) JPEG image size option, which gives an average image size of between 4-5Mb.

Noise

There are 5 ISO settings available on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 which you can select at any time if the camera is in the normal shooting mode. There is virtually no discernible noise at the slowest settings of ISO 100 and 200, and ISO 400 also looks good. Noise and slight loss of detail is apparent at ISO 800, particularly in the shadow areas, and at the fastest setting of ISO 1600 image quality has deterioated a lot. There is a High Sensitivity mode that goes up to ISO 6400, but it should be avoided at all costs as the results are terrible. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

 
 
   

File Quality

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 has 2 different JPEG image quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

10M Fine (4.63Mb) (100% Crop)
10M Normal (2.31Mb) (100% Crop)
   

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are perfectly fine at the default sharpening setting, and don't really benefit from any further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level, with five different settings available.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

   
   

Chromatic Aberrations

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 dealt very well with chromatic aberrations during the review, with limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, especially at the telephoto end of the 5x zoom.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)
Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)
   

Macro

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 5cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro

Macro (100% Crop)

   

Flash

The flash settings on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 are Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced Flash On, Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction and Forced Flash Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (25mm)

Auto Flash - Wide Angle (25mm)

ISO 64
ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (125mm)

Auto Flash - Telephoto (125mm)
ISO 64
ISO 64
   

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On setting or the Red-Eye Reduction option caused any red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
   

Flash - Red-Eye Reduction

Flash - Red-Eye Reduction (100% Crop)
   

Night Shot

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds in the Starry Sky Mode scene mode (there are also 15 and 30 second options) and 8 seconds in the Night Scenery mode, which is good news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 15 seconds at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like. The camera takes the same amount of time again to apply noise reduction, so for example at the 15 second setting the actual exposure takes 30 seconds.

Night Shot

Night Shot (100% Crop)
   

Anti Shake

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here is a 100% crop of the image to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length

Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)

Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/8th / 25mm
1/3rd / 125mm
     

Overall Image Quality

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 produced images of very good quality during the review period. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 dealt extremely well with chromatic aberrations, with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with little red-eye and adequate exposure. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 60 seconds allowing you to capture plenty of light. Anti-shake is a feature that sets this camera apart from its competitors and one that works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. Macro performance is average, allowing you to focus as close as 5 cms away from the subject. The images were sharp enough straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting and don't require any further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop. You can change the in-camera setting anyway if you don't like the default results. The 1/2.33 inch, 10.1 megapixel sensor used in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 produces noise-free images at ISO 100 and 200, with ISO 400 also looking good. ISO 800 does have some visible noise and softening of fine detail, and ISO 16000 is even noisier, but overall the DMC-FX500 improves on the previous generation.

Page 1
Introduction / Ease of Use
Page 2
Image Quality
Page 3
Sample Images
Page 4
Design
Page 5
Specifications
Page 6
Conclusion

DIWAPhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 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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