Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Camera Review- Panasonic Lumix

This week, I received a camera to review.  The camera is Panasonic Lumix.  The camera is nice and compact, and fits into the palm of your hand.
IMG_8868


I really liked the look and feel of the camera.  There is something to be said about a nice compact camera.  It is nice and light, a great camera to throw in your purse or bag.
IMG_8871


In terms of the camera itself, there are some really nice features.  The scene mode has more scene options than most of the cameras I have had in the past, including special settings for snow, fireworks, and food as well as the standard modes like portrait, scenery, and sports.  The menus and settings seem fairly easy to use.

One thing important to note is that while there is a place to control the exposure, I do not think there is a way to control the shutter speed, ISP, or f stop, so this is a very basic camera.  This makes it a great starter camera, or a nice camera for young adults.

There is 70 MB of built in memory, which is nice if you forget to load a memory card; you can still store a few pictures or some video in the internal memory.  I like this feature, because I have, in the past, forgotten to put my memory card back in the camera, and lost photo opportunities as a result.

The quality of the photos is not bad for as 14.1 MP camera, but for someone used to a more powerful point and shoot, like I am, the images can seem a little fuzzy, even with the image stabilizer.  Close up photos are fairly good, but the zoomed pictures are not as clear as I would like.
P1000013
natural light

P1000012
flash

The same pretty much applies for the video quality.  Good for the level of camera, but not as good as I would prefer.  My husband was happy to perform for a sample video.

One thing I am totally unimpressed with is the software that comes with the camera.  It did not install easily, and some components would not install at all, so I did not get to mess with the software much.  What I did see of it, however, did not impress me at all.  I will not use the software, and will instead continue storing photos on my external hard drive, and using other programs to edit and upload.

So overall, a nice little camera for casual picture takers, beginners, or teenagers.  But the software leaves a lot to be desired.



I received this camera to review as part of the Amazon Vine Voice  program.