Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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.

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:-)

I own a DCM-FZ30 that I like very much, however it isn't a camera that I could put in my pocket. Since I am used to Panasonic's menus and features I decided to say with Panasonic for a pocket camera.

Things I don't like about the camera are few. There is no manual exposure mode on this camera. Sometimes you have to make the camera take the picture you want, but with auto only modes, you can only get the photo the camera thinks you want. There is no convenient mode knob on the top of the camera, instead there is a small button next to the LCD screen. The LCD doesn't have a raised rim around it to protect the LCD from scratches.

Things I like about the camera are numerous. The image quality is great. The 14.1 mega-pixel image size allows a lot of cropping and still retains a sharp image. The image stabilization is very good. To test it, I shot a photo of under the dash in my truck in the iA mode with no flash. Shutter speed was 1/8 and the focal length was 28mm. The image is sharp enough to read the writing on the wires and air lines. Normally I have found digital zoom to be a joke. On my older point and shoot cameras, it was nothing more than image cropping in the viewfinder and resulted in a smaller image saved. The digital zoom on the FH20 actually digitally zooms and enhances the image. The digitally zoomed image is a little noisy compared to a similar optically zoomed image, but image quality is still good. I didn't use a tripod on either image and that might have made some difference. Still I was well pleased at the sharpness of a 800mm equivalent hand held image at 1/100th shutter speed.

Low light images are good, but not great. But I haven,t seen to many low light photos that were great even in film cameras. With film cameras, you had film grain that showed in low light, with digital you get "noise." Same concept, different name, basically there isn't enough light for the film or CCD depending on the mode.

The videos also surprised me with their quality. They are in a wide screen format and while not quite up to HD standards the videos I shot still looked good when played on my 50" 720p plasma TV. Unless you are shooting a play or a sporting event, the 8 minutes length of the video files should be adequate.

Batery life is also very good. Having used cameras that used AA batteries like they were potato chips, the battery in this camera seems to last quite a long time, and the recharge time of about 1 hour is quite fast. I ordered a spare battery with mine which is a little longer lasting than the stock battery.

On a 8GB SD card you can get over 1500 images which is like having a 35mm with 62 rolls of film. With the 4:3 format fast becoming a thing of the past, I have my camera set to the 35mm frame format of 3:2.

For me, the camera was well worth the price and I would recommend this camera to anyone.

I bought the Panasonic Lumix DMC - FH 2O as an upgrade for a camera that I use for vacations and concerts. My sister has another Lumix camera, I am unsure of the model number, that she had bought a few years and recommended I get one. I had read a few of the reviews, taking note of both the good and the bad before deciding whether or not this was the camera for me. It was after reading them and knowing the quality that the Lumix cameras possess I decided to go ahead and buy it.

The camera not only has great quality, it is also quite easy to use. Some claim that the buttons are too small and hard to press without getting the wrong one. I did not have that problem. The first time I really used the camera was at a concert where the only light I had was those coming from the stage. When my pictures didn't come out as I had hoped, due to the crowd getting it front of the lens at it took the picture, I found the buttons easy to press. I like that it has a nice wide view screen which made it easy to get a good shot.

The only problem I had was matching up a back up battery. I had researched several sites to cross check model numbers making sure I had the right number so that I would have the camera and a back up battery right away. It was upon reading another lady's review that I found the correct numbers. I have left a review for that but I will also include that here to follow the generosity of a previous reviewer. If your original battery's model number is CGA-S/106B, the replacement battery you need is DMW-BCF10PP. I don't recommend buying 3rd party batteries because I believe I saw on Panasonic's website the newer cameras aren't recognizing them.

Other than that, my experience with the camera has been flawless. It's a great camera at a very reasonable price. If you want a camera that has great quality and is easy to use then look no further than the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20.

I purchased this camera after needing to replace my other Lumix that died after just a year and a half. Since that time there have been alot of advances and prices have come down. I wanted the biggest zoom I could find and most megs at the cheapest price. First I bought a cheaper Samsung that had a tiny memory but returned it. This Lumix takes great pictures and I'm happy with the zoom. Simple to operate, nice and small so it's easy to carry, and I hope it's more reliable than my last one. Love the rechargeable battery that only takes a short time to recharge. I'm very happy with it so far!

I wanted a small pocket camera for when I travel. I looked at several other cameras from Nikon, Fuji, Kodak, etc and decided to give the Panasonics a tried. Read so many positive reviews that I decided to give the DMC-FH20 a try. At first I thought the size was perfect. Small easy to hide in my pocket. Very light weight. But under use, I found it too small for my hands and the lens performance was not to my liking. I felt my fingers were getting in the way of the camera's flash and sensors. Some of the pictures just weren't sharp enough for me. I also forgot that with small cameras it is easy to mess a shot up when pressing the shutter release. You push down and that will move the camera downward. With slower shutter speeds, the picture comes out slightly blurred. After years of using large heavy cameras, you learn to compensate for the size. I find myself over compensating in movement. At any rate I exchanged it for the DMC-ZS5. A bit larger. Nicer hand grip and better lens. While the FH20 has a great lens, I have found the more glass up front translate into better image quality. It is not a bad camera, just didn't feel right in my hands.

I can't say enough about this camera. After hours of research I decided on this one based on the positive reviews across many websites. I could not be more pleased with the performance, ease of use, and wonderful pictures that this camera takes. We have a big trip coming up and I wanted a smaller camera that still had a lot of megapixels and good zoom. I tried it out on a recent weekend getaway and couldn't believe how great the pictures came out. There were so many times where we were flying down the highway and saw a great view. I could just turn the camera on, point and shoot, and even at 75mph there was not one blurry picture! I love the image stabilzer and the iA option is great when you don't want to fiddle around with settings. It is very easy to swith to B/W. sepia, vivid, etc. It is a small camera that fits easily in the side of my purse for easy access. I only had to charge the battery once during the whole trip and that was because I didn't start with a full battery. Great camera that I would recommend to friends and family.

I did an extensive amount of research before deciding to purchase this camera, and I don't regret it. This camera was voted best overall in its category (relatively inexpensive point-and-shoots) for 2009, and I've been more than happy with it so far. It is a beautiful color and looks sturdy with its metal casing. It is slim enough to fit in a pocket and not too heavy. It The LCD screen is nice and wide and the buttons are very easy to push, even with gloved hands. The 8x optical zoom is an oddity for cameras in this price range where typical zoom is 3-4x. Pictures taken at high zoom still look crisp and clear. The wide-angle lens takes a little getting used to as it will capture a wider field in close-ups; taking self-portraits no longer requires that one strain with the camera at maximum arm's length; it can capture two people's faces easily from about 6" away. The automatic settings do a good job getting great pictures, but manual settings are intuitive and also provide good results. I don't find that I use the "intelligent Auto" setting too often as I prefer the special scene modes depending on the situation, but I have read that it does a good job. The range of special modes is impressive and sometimes mysterious: what does "soft skin" do? Why are there two baby modes? A special "self-portrait" mode lets you see the last picture taken and decide whether to delete it without entering playback mode. Many lighting situations are covered, from "night portrait" to "party" to "candlelight" to "sunset" to "fireworks" to "starry sky" to "aerial photo", "beach", or "snow". It films video in HD which is nice but makes HUGE files so beware of that. Zooming is not allowed during video filming. I was very impressed with the battery life at first, but now my camera occasionally gives me a "this battery is unusable" error for no apparent reason that disappears if I turn the camera off and then on again. I am using the factory-supplied battery but have also purchased an extra in case I go on a longer trip. That was actually a drawback for me, that the battery is specific and not AA. I find that more of a hassle since I always have AA batteries lying around but may not have my charger with me when my camera dies.

Overall I am quite impressed with this camera and strongly recommend it to anyone who needs a versatile, compact, durable camera but doesn't want to spend a ton of money. I see the biggest perks as the large zoom and plethora of scene modes. The biggest drawback is the battery error, but that may be a manufacturing defect with my camera/battery.

I did a lot of research on line before deciding on a new digital camera. We have pets and small children, and the auto-focus feature and quick response have been fantastic. I am impressed with the picture quality in all lighting situations - low, bright background, inside and outside... The price is right and the quality that I have experienced so far has been outstanding. I highly recommend this camera.