Panasonic bares new digicams

Panasonic is not a household word in this country when it comes to digital cameras – at least not yet.

But in many parts of the world, Panasonic has already overtaken some of the most established camera brands in total sales and has vaulted itself to a strong No. 2 in key markets behind Canon.

Surprised? You shouldn’t be – at least not until you’ve seen some of the recent digital cameras it offers, which we did when we checked out Panasonic’s press introduction of its latest line of Lumix digicams at the Garden Tent of Westin Philippine Plaza two weeks ago (which also saw the launch of Panasonic’s new Viera line of plasma and LCD TVs).

The star of the show was the DMC-LX1, a stunning 8.4-megapixel, full-manual compact camera with the world’s first 16:9 CCD with a 28mm wide-angle Leica DC lens.

The DMC-LX1 is an advanced compact offering elaborate manual controllability while accommodating entry-level users through a variety of scene modes and auto-setting functions.

The aspect ratio can be selected between 16:9 and 3:2 – in addition to the conventional 4:3 – with a switch on the lens barrel on a shot-by-shot-basis to best suit the composition of the image. Even after shooting, the 16:9 ratio can be converted to 3:2 or 4:3.

Panasonic’s Mega OIS (Optical Image Stabilizer) is standard on the DMC-LX1. Every slight hand shake movement is detected 4,000 times per second and is compensated for to render clear, sharp images.

MEGA OIS is equipped with two selectable modes: Mode 1, which continuously compensates for vibration, and Mode 2, which suppresses hand shake only at the moment the shutter button is pressed.

Panasonic’s high-speed, high-quality image-processing LSI Venus Engine II renders clear images in detail, compensating for any color aberration. This engine boasts an industry-leading release time lag of 0.01 sec to achieve stress-free operation.

The DMC-LX1, which has a large 2.5" LCD, offers manual focus and manual exposure, and both are adjustable via an easy-to-use joystick. A switch on the side of the lens barrel lets you quickly change the focus mode to MF, AF or Macro AF.

In addition to the conventional 4:3 VGA moving image recording, the LX1 can record moving images even in the 848 x 480 16:9 Wide VGA format at 30 fps, making the most of the industry’s first 16:9 CCD.

Shooting is one thing but viewing is another, and you will be suitably impressed by the 16:9 moving image when it’s displayed on a wide-screen TV.

Other high-end Lumix models that made their debut were the six-megapixel Leica lens-equipped DMC-FX9 and five-megapixel FX8, two stylish compact cameras that also boast Mega OIS, large 2.5" LCD screens, extra-long battery life (270 shots per charge, more than double that of the renowned FX7), Superfast shutter response and MegaBurst consecutive shooting capabilities and 3x optical zoom, among a host of other features.

Both the FX9 and FX8 incorporate the Venus Engine Plus LSI for high-performance image processing in both speed and image quality. Their industry-leading release lag time of 0.006 sec helps you capture spur-of-the-moment shots.

The FX9 is available in silver, black, red and gray, while the FX8 comes in silver, black, blue and pink, each with a specially textured coating pleasing to the touch.

Middle-range models are the new DMC-LZ2 and LZ1 with the AA-battery-powered LS1 representing the entry-level user model. These three are easy-to-use compact digital cameras with Mega OIS, 14MB of on-board memory (expandable via SD/MMC card), 2" LCD screens, Venus Engine Plus image processing and up to 6x optical zoom.

The LZ1 and LS1 are 4-MP cameras, while the LZ2 is a 5-MP camera with Superfast shutter and MegaBurst capabilities.

Last but not least are two high-end prosumer digicams: the DMC-FZ30 and the DMC-FZ5. The FZ30 is an eight-megapixel CCD, 12x optical zoom (equivalent to 35mm to 420mm on a 35mm film camera) camera, boasting Mega OIS, a Leica DC Vario-Elmarit lens, ultra-fast Venus Engine II image processor, Extra Optical Zoom (extends the zoom ratio by using the center part of the high-resolution CCD to achieve 15.3x for five-megapixel and 19.1x for three-megapixel images with minimal deterioration) and a newly developed long-life lithium-ion battery that delivers up to 280 images on one charge.

Two rings on the lens barrel of the FZ30 provide manual control of zooming and focusing, allowing quick and fine control that cannot be achieved with button operation. The shutter speed can be selectable from 1/2000 to 60 sec, and the aperture from F2.8 to F11, to meet wider-ranging shooting conditions.

The DMC-FZ5, meanwhile, is a 5.0-megapixel CCD, 12x optical zoom prosumer, also with a Leica DC lens, Mega OIS and many of the range-toping FZ30’s features.