Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 8x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Blue)

by Panasonic

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.9 x 1.1 x 2.2 inches ; 5.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B003960EQM
• Item model number: DMC-FH20A
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,752 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 20, 2010

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

This Stylish Compact Does It All from Wide-angle to Zooming

28mm Wide-angle Lens
The 28mm wide-angle lens* lets you easily capture large groups of people indoors or expansive architectural structures and scenes with dynamic width and rich perspective, even from short distances.
* Converted to standard 35mm camera equivalent, at the maximum wide position.

Powerful 8x Optical Zoom
The DMC-FH20 sports a powerful 8x optical zoom lens (35mm camera equivalent: 28-224mm). This gives you highly natural expressions from people and animals that you can't get close to. And its slim, compact, pocket-sized body can easily go wherever you do for both everyday snapshots and traveling.

iA (Intelligent Auto) Mode

When you don't know which mode will give you the best shooting results, or when a sudden photo opportunity pops up and you don't have time to make any settings, simply choose iA (Intelligent Auto) Mode by simply pressing the dedicated button and let the camera do it all for you. You just choose iA Mode, aim at your subject, and shoot. 4 detection and correction functions are simultaneously activated to optimize the settings, so you get stunning photos every time.

HD Movie Recording (1,280 x 720 pixels at 30 fps in Motion JPEG Format)

The DMC-FH20) can record motion images in high-definition (1,280 x 720 pixels at 30 fps in Motion JPEG format). The pixel mixed readout method enables bright motion-image recording even in low-light settings. The DMC-FH20 can also record full-size motion images in WVGA (848 x 480 pixels at 30 fps) or standard motion images in VGA (640 x 480 pixels at 30 fps) and QVGA (320 x 240 pixels at 30 fps).

Extended Battery Life

The energy-saving Venus Engine IV image-processing engine and the efficient, rechargeable lithium-ion battery which has been slimmed down to fit into thinner camera bodies work together to extend the shooting time of the DMC-FH20. This lets users take approx. 300 shots on a single battery charge*.
* Based on the CIPA standard.

Product Description

The DMC-FH20 sports a powerful 8x optical zoom lens (35mm camera equivalent: 28-224mm). This gives you highly natural expressions from people and animals that you can't get close to. And its slim, compact, pocket-sized body can easily go wherever you do for both everyday snapshots and traveling.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars pleased with panasonic, May 17, 2010

By 

LANCE (CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 8x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Blue) (Electronics)

I bought this camera because I wanted a compact camera with more than 4x zoom and 8+ MP. I was going to buy the Panasonic DMC-Z1 (I think that's the model); But that camera has been discontinued in favor of the DMC-FH20. I was not happy at first; but I sure am happy now. DMC-FH20 is a great don't need to think camera. It's everything I needed and it takes great pictures too. It's small and light; comes in array of colors (I got cool blue). I would recommend this to everyone looking for a compact camera. I was also considering Canon cameras too; but you can't get the 8x and up zoom for less than $250. Plus, the reviews on Canon's haven't been so great lately. I have a lot of friends who have Canons from a couple of years ago and they are happy. But the new Canons are the ones with the less than stellar reviews. This is a great camera and I have no regrets about this purchase. Oh yeah, the price is great too; I've seen it for as little as $160.

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great little camera, August 19, 2010

By 

R. F. Smit (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 8x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Blue) (Electronics)

I got this to replace a 3 MP Kodak bought 8 years ago.

You need at least a class 6 card to take HD video, so I also bought a 16 GB Class 6 SDHC card made by Sandisk. (I don't think there's any additional benefit to buying Class 10 or SDXC with this camera, but it may speed up "Burst Mode" continuous shooting.)

I added a Panasonic-branded high capacity second battery, and a suitable hard case. Got these through Amazon partners. There may be issues with non-Panasonic batteries. Read the reviews!

I went for a Panasonic camera because they're the only company using optical image stabilizing (OIS). I've used this previously in a camcorder and it's nicer than digital image stabilizing. It's a correction in the lens itself, not a cheap fudge. Given that it's an optical correction, a shaky had doesn't mean blurry images. I've used this camera handheld on full zoom with artificial light, and the image was still incredibly sharp right down to the pixel level.

This camera takes great pictures. I love the speed it powers up. Taking multiple shots, if you press, release, press, & so on, the camera has to reanalyse, refocus, etc. between shots. By holding down the shutter release button, you activate "Burst Mode", where the scene analysis is done only once, and the camera stores pictures every 1.5 s or so. This may be where a Class 10 SDHC or SDXC card comes in, but I don't have the funds to test this theory!

The battery lasts several sessions between charges. Before I used it, I was concerned that I'd have to have three or four batteries with me on vacation, but it turns out two will be more than enough; plus, as others have pointed out, they charge relatively quickly. (I was using high capacity NiMH AAs in the Kodak, and found I had to charge almost daily, and take alkaline backups with me.)

I like the picture taking modes with automatic tagging. Quick access to flash and macro.

Downsides:

1. The decidedly stupid toggling between movie and photo mode -- seriously, put another switch on there guys.
2. The now ubiquitous nonstandard USB cable, so when (not "if") you misplace the cable among all your other USB cables, you have to use a card reader to get pictures and movies off. Okay, so it doubles as an AV cable. So... seriously, who uses AV out from a camera? Drop the gimmick, or put MiniDP on there as well.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Camera!!, May 28, 2010

By 

Kimberly - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 8x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Blue) (Electronics)

4 years ago when I purchased my very first camera, It was a Canon and it cost me above $400 bucks for everything and the camera was great for me at the time. When I was looking at the canon's, they were still pretty pricey but the quality from before is lacking in the newer ones. A friend of mine has a Panasonic Lumix and I absolutely loved the quality of the camera and the pictures it took which led me to do some research on the Panasonic digital cameras and what I found was pleasantly surprising. All of their cameras have very good reviews (4 stars or higher) and they have a pretty decent selection of them as well. I decided on this Panasonic Lumix FH-20 blue(blue is my favorite color) and I am very glad that I decided to purchase this camera because this camera is amazing!! The quality of the pictures and videos is great! I have taken several pictures (I will upload a few) and I am beyond happy with the purchase. I'm still a little new when it comes to using all the features but when I get the hang of it and become a pro, I will upload some more pictures. Oh, and the HD video is great!! I saved the videos to my desktop which I have plugged into my HDTV and it was as if I was watching something that had been professionally video taped in 720p:-)