Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 - Good But Not Quite Supersonic

While I enjoy photography, unfortunately I am a very lazy photographer. I know I should use an SLR for the best shots but I can never be bothered to carry around a heavier camera or struggle with the focussing. I know a choice of lenses would help me take better pictures, but I can never be troubled with a huge camera case or lots of lens cleaning. I know an external flash takes the best shots, but I hate the fiddle.

So, even though many of the more “semi professional” cameras are much easier and quicker to use these days, for good or ill, I know I’m destined to be a perennial compact camera fan. I like the convenience of a small camera that slips into my pocket, and the ease of the point and push functionality.

As is the way of technology, time marches on, and I was acutely aware that my sturdy and trusty 6 mega pixel Casio wasn’t giving me the clarity I wanted. Likewise, the traditional 35mm format for the lens wasn’t the best for me, as I tend to take photos of places and views rather than people.

When I finally cashed out my $5,000 Epinions earnings earlier this year, I just knew what a proportion of my income was going to be spent on (in addition to the taxman’s share of course) – a brand spanking new Panasonic FX 35!

While I am pleased with my choice, I think the hype on this camera proved just a little too much; while the camera is great, the picture quality just won’t compete with those more fiddly bigger boys.


Why buy the Panasonic FX 35 Lumix?

I found three main reasons for my choice, and a few other subsidiary ones. As previously mentioned, I was attracted to the 25mm wide-angle Leica lens. This means I can get much more of the views I like to snap. When we visited the statue of the Angel of the North recently, I could take my photos closer to the statue and still capture the wide spread of the angel’s wings into my shot. My companion had to walk through a muddy patch and into the bushes to get her comparable shot! The obvious downside of course, is that close up people shots can look a little more distant, but this little camera also has a 4x optical zoom (meaning no loss of mega pixel quality).

I was also impressed with the thought of an anti-shake facility. I do sometimes forget that a digital camera is slower than the traditional cameras and so sometimes move my hand too fast. The Panasonic camera attempts to automatically correct some of the movement (but it is much more successfully when the zoom isn’t being used). I do find I get fewer duff shots than I did with the Casio.

Finally, the Panasonic FX35 looks a reasonably solid beast. After dinting a Minolta camera in the first week of purchase, I’ve always been careful to check build quality, and this neat little machine looks quite sturdy. The only slight annoyance comes with the little dial at the top of the camera, used to select the camera setting. This has sometimes moved a little in the camera case, meaning that rather than being in “intelligent auto” mode (the usual “point and push” setting), it might move to scene mode (where you can select a specific mode, of which there are 20) or “motion picture” (the rather grandly titled video type shot).

One little piece of extra functionality I like is the “clip board” function – this saves pictures to the memory of the computer, and is good for taking quick pictures of timetables and routes, just to save you having to write them down.

I also appreciate the instinctive functionality of this camera. I must confess I haven’t even opened the comprehensive instruction booklet until pulling together a couple of things for this review.

On the downside, the Panasonic lacked a couple of things I would have liked to see. I appreciate a separate old-fashioned style viewfinder, just in case that impressively large but delicate screen is damaged. I appreciate it would make the camera a little bigger, but I like that insurance policy.

I also like to buy a camera that uses a traditional battery format, so it is easy for me to buy spares (and the lazy photographer in me rarely takes the battery charger). As it happens, the battery provided with the camera is excellent, and I have taken over 300 shots without recharge. One nice touch is that the battery indicator seems to be reasonably accurate (when the charge is half spent, it indicates it is half spent).

In terms of picture quality, the Panasonic FX35 takes great shots in good light; although sometimes faces seem a little dark when taken against a bright background (fill flash doesn’t seem to kick in automatically). The flash as expected with a compact camera is a little lacking, but I have to say I took some group photos at a restaurant, which turned out much better than a comparable photo with my Casio would have.

To sum up, I am very pleased with my purchase, but don’t get suckered with some of the media hype that suggests that this camera is every bit as good as a more expensive SLR. However, I can agree that the Panasonic FX35 is one of the best compacts you can buy for the money.

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cr01 asserts his right to be associated as the author of this review -2008-