Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01

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By Damian Koh
Mar 21, 2006

Every once in a while, we put our pens down and ask ourselves: When is enough really enough? The same thought must have crossed the minds of the Panasonic Lumix folks. While we were waiting in anticipation for the FX9's successor (presumably the FX10), the Japanese manufacturer sprang a surprise by releasing its FX01 at a launch recently. And unlike the 6-megapixel Lumix FX9, which has an extra megapixel over the FX8, engineers at Panasonic have stopped fighting the resolution battle and decided that six is just right.

Pity there are still no manual features, no optical viewfinder, and no ability to zoom during movie recording on this shooter--at least not yet.

Design
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Apply that theory to Panasonic's Lumix FX series and you have the FX01, looking nearly identical to its predecessor--the FX9. Nonetheless, there are some cosmetic enhancements on this new shooter.

	The FX01 in silver and the FX9 in black. Notice the difference in the layout of the directional keys.

Unlike its previous incarnations, the directional keys on the FX01 have been merged into a circular pad. What each key does, however, remains the same. Pressing left lets you set a 2- or 10-second timer, while hitting right alternates between the various flash options. Up brings you to the exposure compensation and auto-bracketing menus, while down reviews your last taken picture.

Everything else remains--including a 2.5-inch LCD (207k pixels), Display/LCD mode button and a Delete/Continuous shooting key on the back of the unit. There are five selections on the mode dial: Playback, Record, Simple, Macro, Scenes and Movie.

The AV/USB and DC-in connectors take up the right side of the unit behind a metallic snap cover. Along the bottom edge are the tripod receptacle and a compartment for the Lithium-ion battery and memory card. We like the manual lock on the cover which prevents accidental opening, which was present in the FX9 as well.

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