Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX33

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Design

The FX-33 is the lowest end of the three new cameras that Panasonic has launched and it is also the smallest. However, at 132g, some may accuse it of being weighty though it hardly strained our back pocket except for a telltale budge.

For more details on the FX-33's design, click on the image.

Available in four colors (black, brown, blue, silver), the FX-33 has minimal button controls. There's a small control wheel for quick function switches, but its stiffness takes some getting used to. The shortcut buttons are equally small. However, as they are well-spaced, big-thumbed folks aren't going to be frustrated… much.

Because the FX-33 is built to be automated most of the time, the user interface is simple and unlikely to throw anyone off. The in-camera menu is made up of just two tabs and the quick access menu (which is displayed as an overlay during shooting) has tweaks for image stabilization, burst mode, white balance, ISO, rate of megapixel capture and image fineness.



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The 2.5-inch LCD is just average for its class, but there's a nice enhancement--hold down the LCD mode and you can select from three brightness levels. Choosing the highest level will render the LCD so bright that its viewing angle is increased to the point that you can hold the camera over your head and still see the screen.

Performance

In our Lab tests, the FX-33's time to first shot (2.9 seconds) compared disfavorably with other 8-megapixel shooters such as the Canon IXUS 950 IS (1.2 seconds) and the Sony Cyber-shot T100 (1.2 seconds). However, its shot-to-shot times (0.54 second without flash, 2.17 seconds with flash) was one of the speediest. Its burst mode was average for a new camera--1.83 frames per second.

Image Quality

The auto white balance performs very well on the whole, whether it is under a florescent or in an outdoor environment. Image quality at lower ISO levels (ISO 100-200) is very good, with slight noise at ISO 400 and very visible speckles at ISO 800. Beyond that, the detail softening and noise at higher ISO make it suitable mainly for low-light compensation.

But the most important question is--how did the Intelligent Auto Mode fare?

Well, for one, there were misses. White balance was not spot on sometimes. But it scored more hits primarily because of the way this camera is designed--with very few onboard manual controls; it makes sense to leave it on autopilot rather than attempt to fly it without a control stick. Pictures usually turned out better in auto.

« Are automatic cameras very smart?