Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX48

The Lumix DMC-FX48 was announced earlier this year as part of Panasonic's lineup for the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) tradeshow held in Las Vegas. Its predecessor, the FX38, was unveiled last July, and we thought that was pretty fast of the Japanese company to release the next iteration. Looking at the FX48's literature, the most significant enhancement is probably the resolution which has been bumped up from 10 (on the FX38) to 12 megapixels. Also, the intelligent Auto (iA) mode gets slight upgrades to make shooting pictures easier. But that doesn't hide the fact that the point-and-shoot was slow to startup in our tests. The image quality can satisfy the average consumers, but a more discerning eye will be able to pick out flaws we noticed.

Design

One look at the FX48 and you probably will not be able to tell it apart from its predecessors. Some critics may say that the design is boring and has not been given a revamp since the early FX-series of cameras. Also, it doesn't stand out among competitors like Canon and Sony, which have stylish templates for their point-and-shoots.

The Lumix camera is small enough to slip into most pockets without leaving much of a bulge, but those with larger hands may find the FX48 too small to operate comfortably with one hand. Most of the controls are situated on the right. When we used our thumbs to change modes or navigate menus, we noticed we didn't have much of a grip on the shooter.

What we found most convenient was the locations of the zoom lever around the shutter button, the recessed mode dial and the shooting/playback switch. These three functions were most easily accessible with our thumbs and forefingers, which made the shooting experience pretty intuitive and snappy.

Features

Although the FX48's basic shooting specifications remain similar to the FX38, it has been given some feature upgrades. One function Panasonic is promoting is advanced facial recognition which allows you to register up to six faces in the camera. The shooter will then give them priority the next time it detects the profiles in the frame. You can also input names for the subjects and they will appear below them when the camera "sees" the faces. We tried this and found it to work quite accurately, though when our subject put on spectacles and changed hairstyle, the camera didn't detect him.

What we really liked was the 25mm ultra-wide-angle lens with 5x optical zoom. This focal length was wide enough for our landscape shots and the zoom, which maxed out at 125mm, came in handy when we took pictures of wildlife from a distance.

Panasonic's intelligent Auto (iA) is a permanent fixture in Lumix cameras, and for the FX48, it gets upgraded with more functions. The face detection feature is incorporated with the above-mentioned facial recognition mode, and there is also AF tracking which allows you to lock focus on a subject and let the shooter adjust accordingly even when the subject moves about. This mode was accurate in our tests, though when our subject, a five-year old, started to run, the mode had some difficulty keeping up with him and eventually lost the focus lock.

For amateurs, there are 26 scene modes to choose from. Some new additions to this function are Pinhole and Grainy Film. Although we liked the effects, we felt it would have been better if we could snap the shot at full resolution instead of at 2 to 3 megapixels, depending on the aspect ratio of the frame you choose. There is also a High Speed Burst mode which rattles off at 10 frames per second, but only at a reduced 3 megapixels. We found this to be useful when we were taking pictures of fast-moving subjects, but do note that the exposure settings for the first shot will be applied to subsequent snaps. So do ensure that there aren't any drastic lighting changes if you use this function.

As with most Lumix compact cameras, the FX48 has a 720p-quality video-recording feature. However, the Lumix camera does not allow optical zoom when filming clips. Instead, there is an option for digital zoom but we advise against using that as it may degrade the quality of the video, especially when the environment is dimly lit.

We are curious as to why Panasonic hasn't increased the screen size for the FX48 even after several iterations of this camera. At 2.5 inches, this display is the minimal we can accept for a digital camera these days and we would have liked the camera better if it had a larger screen.

Panasonic claims the new lithium-ion battery can take 350 shots on a single charge. We've taken over 100 pictures and the battery indicator still shows that the cell is full. But note that depending on your usage pattern, the battery life will vary.

Performance

The startup time for the FX48 was not impressive in our tests. It took the camera slightly under 3 seconds to boot up, which was pretty sluggish compared with other point-and-shoots in this class such as the Canon Digital Ixus 980 IS which requires only about 1 to 2 seconds to power up.

The shutter lag on the FX48 measured 0.05 second, which was typical of other compact cameras on the market.

For the full-resolution burst mode, the camera was speedy at 2fps for the first second, after which it slowed down to 1fps. However, the write speed was fast, although we used a normal SD card.

Focusing was zippy, even in dimly lit environments. By activating the Quick AF function, the camera would constantly adjust its focus, and this made taking shots faster. However, note that this feature will drain the battery faster, so switch it off when you don't need to take quick shots.

Image Quality

The FX48 incorporates Panasonic's latest imaging engine, the Venus V, for processing pictures. However, that hasn't resolved the issue of slightly soft-looking photos. It was as though there was a thin veil between the camera and the subject. However, the softness probably would not manifest itself in 4R-sized prints, so it shouldn't be an issue for most consumers.

The ISO sensitivity range of the FX48 spans from ISO 80 to ISO 1,600. There is a High Sensitivity scene mode which ramps up the sensitivity to ISO 3,200. However we wouldn't use that unless necessary because pictures taken at this setting lack details, and as with some of the other scene mode settings, the resolution is reduced to 3 megapixels.

Photos taken at ISO 80 to ISO 200 were clean and rendered a good amount of details. In fact, a non-discerning eye might not be able to see the differences. Only when we looked closely did we notice minor increment in noise level in the darker areas but they were hardly noticeable. At ISO 400, the edges of subjects were slightly jagged and we detected slight hints of digital artifact dotting the picture. However, fine details were still rendered properly and didn't appear smudged. It was only at ISO 800 that we saw a significant jump in the noise level. While larger objects could be seen clearly, tiny details were lost. Beyond that, at ISO 1,600, the photo was heavily processed to remove color noise, though the end result was a picture that lacked details.

At optimum settings, the FX48 is capable of producing color-accurate photographs which are pleasing. Even for our 8-second exposure night shots, the picture didn't have any traces of noise that are typically produced when you expose the sensors in point-and-shoots for an extended period of time. The white balance was spot-on as well whether we took a picture with fluorescent lighting or under natural sunlight.

Conclusion

The FX48 is suitable for shutterbugs who prefer to let the camera decide on the exposure settings. The iA mode is a breeze to use and the extensive scene mode settings should be able to tackle most tricky lighting situations. However, the slow performance may not go down well with some users who want a quick snapper for candid shots, and we also didn't see much improvement in image quality. That said, the Panasonic camera will find itself popular with beginners for its ease of use.

If you don't require the 12-megapixel resolution, you can probably pick up the FX38 which has a 10-megapixel sensor. Its price will drop after the new FX48 launches. At press time, Panasonic was not able to tell us when the shooter would be available in Asia, except that this could be some time in the second quarter of the year. Price-wise, it will probably cost the same as the FX38's original list price, which is S$499.