Panasonic Lumix FX55
- Brand: Panasonic
- Subject: Digital Cameras
- Category: Digital Cameras
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IFA Report
Panasonic introduces the new Lumix 8.1 Megapixel DMC-FX55 camera of 28mm wide angle LEICA DC lens with 3.6x optical zoom (equivalent to 28mm to 100 mm on a 35mm film camera) featuring f/2.8 brightness. Despite its remarkably compact body and slim profile, the stylish Panasonic Lumix FX55 digital compact camera boasts a 28mm wide-angle Leica DC lens that lets you fit more people in a photo when space is tight or capture beautiful portraits of people with sweeping scenery or large structures in the background. The Panasonic DMC-FX55 incorporates a 3.0-inch large LCD. Effective resolution has been increased to 8.1 Megapixels, which supports the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55's enhanced functions.
Panasonic Lumix FX55 - Stabilizer
Panasonic also made an epoch in digital photography by providing all Lumix cameras with Intelligent Image Stabilization system that comprehends MEGA O.I.S.(Optical Image Stabilizer) to suppress hand-shake and Intelligent ISO Control to prevent motion blur, allowing anyone to take clear, beautiful pictures with ease. Even going far beyond that, Lumix cameras pursue both the beauty of picture and the ease of operation at the same time to newly include the Intelligent Auto mode. In addition to two of the essential image stabilizing systems, this mode further features three new functions.
Panasonic FX55 camera - Intelligent operation
The Intelligent Scene Selector automatically sets the appropriate scene mode according to the scene you’re going to take. It is selected from most frequently-used scene modes such as portrait, scenery, macro, night scenery and night portrait. The Face Detection system helps the camera to recognize a human face and focus and set AE. The Quick AF system allows the camera to start focusing on the subject even without pressing a shutter button halfway, to get best result out of a shutter chance by minimizing the AF time. These multi-capable functions happen automatically, so you can shoot without the bother of adjusting settings every time conditions change. Lumix and its powerful Intelligent Auto Mode does all the work for you. You can enjoy easy, trouble-free shooting in any situation and get the satisfaction that comes with capturing clear, beautiful images.
Panasonic Lumix FX55 compact camera - ISO and Venus Engine III
The high-speed, high-performance image processing LSI is the Venus Engine III, which renders exquisite images with minimal noise. It also realizes the newly added High-Speed Burst shooting mode that lets you snap off a lightning-fast seven shots per second, as well as a new High Sensitivity mode that provides a maximum ISO setting of 6400. In addition, when using the High Sensitivity mode, the built-in flash reaches as far as 16 m, letting you capture clear images even in dim lighting. With the newly incorporated Intelligent LCD, the camera detects the light condition and automatically boosts the LCD backlighting by 40% when shooting outdoors in bright sunshine, and boosts signals with pixel-mixed readout method when shooting under low-lit situation to secure a clear image in any circumstances. The Panasonic DMC-FX55 will be available in silver and black, each with a specially textured finish. The new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 is a beautifully designed and featured -packed digital camera, ideal for recording and preserving all those precious moments that life gives.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 camera - Optical zoom lens
With the Panasonic DMC-FX55, Panasonic has packaged a 28mm wide-angle LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT lens with f/2.8 brightness and a 3.6x optical zoom (equivalent to 28-100mm on a 35mm film camera) plus a 8.1 Megapixel CCD into a body that is slim, stylish and conveniently compact. Comprising seven elements in six groups, including five aspherical lenses with six aspherical surfaces, this advanced lens unit passes Leica's stringent standards and delivers an exceptional optical performance. Further, in 3 Megapixel resolution mode, the Extra Optical Zoom function uses the centre part of the CCD to provide additional magnification, extending the zoom to 5.7x.
Panasonic FX55 digital compact camera - Portrait photography
Panasonic incorporates both MEGA O.I.S.(Optical Image Stabilizer) to compensate for hand-shake and Intelligent ISO Control system to detect and suppress motion blur into all Lumix cameras, which are the industry’s most advanced countermeasures against blurring. In addition to these two paramount anti-blurring technologies, Panasonic keeps pursuing its own ideal that anyone at any technical level of photography can take beautiful pictures with ease, and Intelligent Auto mode is newly incorporated into Lumix. Increasing numbers of scene mode is one thing and taking advantage of them is another, and that’s why here comes the Intelligent Scene Selector that automatically sets the appropriate scene mode according to the scene you’re going to take among the most frequently-used scene modes such as Portrait, Scenery, Macro, Night Scenery and Night Portrait. The Face Detection system helps the camera to recognize a human face and focus and set AE. Up to 15 human faces can be recognized simultaneously. The Quick AF system allows the camera to start focusing on the subject even without pressing a shutter button halfway, to get best result out of a shutter chance by minimizing the AF time. These multi-capable functions happen automatically, so you can shoot without the bother of adjusting settings every time conditions change. Lumix and its powerful Intelligent Auto Mode do all the work for you. You can enjoy easy, trouble-free shooting in any situation and get the satisfaction that comes with capturing clear, beautiful images.
Panasonic Lumix FX55 - Processor and Sensitivity
With its multi-task image processing capability, the Venus Engine III boasts outstanding response time. In the burst shooting mode, it is possible to shoot at three frames per second in full resolution. And in High-Speed Burst shooting mode, it fires off an incredible seven shots per second. You also get unlimited consecutive shooting - which lets you keep snapping until the memory card is full. The Venus Engine III separates luminance noise from chromatic noise, which has a greater effect on picture quality, and greatly suppresses the chromatic noise to maintain high resolution. The Venus Engine III also supports a new High Sensitivity mode that lets the Panasonic FX55 record at a setting of up to ISO 6400 - sensitive enough to capture subjects in near-total darkness without using a flash. This advanced processing engine is also energy efficient. Its low power consumption means you can shoot around 280 images on a single charge, for a full day of shooting fun.
Panasonic Lumix DMC FX55 digicam - Monitor and Resolution
The Panasonic DMC-FX55 incorporates an easy-to-see 3.0-inch large 230 k pixels high resolution LCD for comfortable viewing while both monitoring shots and playing back the results. The Intelligent LCD of both models detects the light condition and automatically boosts the LCD backlighting by 40% when shooting outdoors in bright sunshine, and boosts signals by pixel-mixed readout method when shooting under low-lit situation to secure a clear image in any circumstances. The High Angle mode, which can be accessed quickly and easily via a dedicated button, makes the LCD screen extremely easy to view when the camera is held high, such as to shoot over a crowd.
Panasonic DMC55 photo camera - High Definition
With TV screens getting bigger and picture definition getting higher, consumers want to be able to shoot higher-quality still images and motion pictures. Panasonic has long focused on making photography more enjoyable, such as by letting people view their images easily on a Viera TV, with its internal SD card slot. With the Panasonic FX55, you can shoot high-definition 1920 x 1080 pixel photos that are ideal for full-screen viewing on a wide-screen (16:9) TV. Panasonic also offers the DMW-SDP1 HDTV Photo Player, which makes it easy to view a slideshow of Lumix photos in 1080i high-definition quality. In addition to recording standard VGA (640 x 480), the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 can record WVGA (848 x 480) motion images at 30 frames per second. Fitting a wide-screen TV perfectly, these wide -aspect motion images captured by the Panasonic DMC-FX55 make for extremely impressive viewing. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 also offers an exceptional function that lets you select and display thumbnails of nine sequential frames from a motion image, which can then even be saved as still images. This is useful, as an example, for analyzing the way you swing a golf club or tennis racquet.
Panasonic DMC FX55 digital camera - Focus and Low light
The Panasonic FX55 gives you a choice of six auto-focusing methods: face detection, 5-point, 3-point high-speed, 1-point high-speed, 1-point normal-speed, and spot. Choose the one that best suits the shooting conditions and position of the subject. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 also adds an auto focus assist lamp that is helpful in low-light situations, when focusing can be difficult. The result is easy, stress-free shooting and the ability to capture sharply focused photos on a moment's notice. The newly added Face Detection system helps the camera to recognize a human face to capture it bright and clear. Up to 15 human faces can be detected simultaneously. The detection keeps working on the faces even if subjects are moving so that the time for AF is minimized before you click away the shutter.
Panasonic Lumix digital camera - Flash memory and Photo features
Approximately 27MB of built-in memory is provided, and the camera accommodates large-capacity SDHC memory cards. Also interesting is the new Title Edit function, which allows inputting text as an additional information of the picture, for example, names of children or pets, and travel places. When combined with Text Stamp function, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 can show on which day of the trip a photo was taken together with the place you went in addition to showing the date a photo was taken for pictures using Travel Date function. It can also stamp your baby or pet's age in months on a photo together with his/her name, after you've taken the shots. These dates, which can be helpful when making a photo album, can be stamped on photos whether you print them yourself at home or have a photo shop do them. The Panasonic FX55 also provides Category Playback function, which sorts images into such categories as portraits, scenery, night scenery, events, baby, pet, food, travel date-stamped and motion pictures, so you can play back or make slideshows of a particular type of image. The Panasonic Lumix DMC FX55 also offers a Clipboard function that lets you use the camera to hold and retrieve useful information on a trip. For example, you can quickly and easily take shots of a map or train schedule, and view them when needed.
