Customer Reviews

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20K 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 8x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Black)

5 star:		(123)
4 star:		(58)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

I purchased this camera specifically for a vacation to Rio de Janeiro. I also have a Nikon DSLR that I adore, but didn't want to risk carrying it around Rio. I wanted something I can easily put in my pocket and pull out to quickly take pics.

I investigated several different point-and-shoot cameras, and they all suffer that is pretty much standard issues with Point and Shoots - not dealing well with low light, blurry when compensating for low light, lag time, etc. These things are pretty much a fact with point and shoots.

After playing with a few different camera's, I opted for the Lumix DMC-FH20. The main reasons where the zoom - 8x optical, and then up to 32X digital with the right settings.

On my trip, this camera did not disappoint. Sure I had to play with the settings a little bit to get the desired effect, but I pretty much only used the Auto, Landscape, Nighttime landscape and Macro settings. All of these worked perfectly.

In low light, I had to stabilize the camera on a bench or fence, but that's expected, and not a downfall of the camera.

Overall, I love this camera and considered it well worth the price I paid (about $180us). I feel it far exceeds any other camera I have played with (around the same price point).

I would buy this same camera again - without question.

Having used only 35 mm cameras and definately not being a photo-pro by any means, I decided to get a digital camera. I was overwhelmed and confused by the information on so many makes and models and became frustrated by contradicting reviews of same-type features from both Consumer Review Reports by professional photographers, as well as customer reviews.

About to give up, I came across a review from a professional photographer (a dedictated Canon user) who tested the Panasonic and gave it's performance an excellent review from all aspects.

I purchased this and haven't looked back. It's excellent. It feels substantial when you hold it; it's easy to use and priced right. The pictures are extremely clear and sharp regardless light conditions or movement. The video is also excellent. Friends who have other makes and models admitted they were highly impressed.

What more can you ask for in a camera. I highly recommend this camera and couldn't be happier with my purchase.

I bought this camera because i wanted a small camera that was easy to carry around for a 4 day trip to Disney World. As the owner of a panasonic lumix fz50, I was very excited to see this small and compact camera, since my other lumix is bulky (10MP, 12X), When i saw the price for this camera, a 14mp, 8X I knew i had to have it. I took it to my trip to disney with a full charged battery and the battery sustained up to 14 hours of continuous photo sessions in different places around the park, it never died on us, but we charged it every night to make sure the next day it would last the same. The pictures are great, they do have some noise in dark places but that is to be expected. The image stabilization does an amazing job at getting pics without flash that are taken in the dark, i was surprised with that. We took some really awesome pictures with this camera. It weights close to nothing and it fits right in my pocket, it was the best purchase i ever made for the trip. I do have to say i am not particularly impressed with the video quality, except for the HD. the HD is pretty cool, but you need an sd card with massive storage to get a good recording time because it takes a lot, a lot of space. I bought an 8gb sd card which held about 1200 pictures at 14mpx, but i took my pics at 10 mp since i don't think i will be printing this pics at a large size. Overall i think this camera is amazing, it also has a pretty awesome lcd which is big enough for you to know what you're doing, and there's no viewfinder, which i like to use every now and then, but i can live without. I love this camera!!!!!!!!

I bought this camera for times when I cannot easily take my larger equipment. Although it is made in China,the quality seems remarkably great on the outside. Since I have only had it for a few weeks, it has not had a chance to stand time yet.

I have not been so attracted to a small camera since my wife purchased my first Elph years ago. It has quite a few features that one sets by the menu system. I found that I need to reduce the exposure compensation at least one full stop or it overexposed most of my outdoor pictures. Also, most people will probably want to set the ISO at 400 so that pictures are not blurry.

I do miss the Nikon software on my digital SLR that allows me to save the picture in RAW format and a smaller JPEG to mail people at the same time. Surprisingly, it doesn't take a long time for a 14 megapixel file to save to the card. I am using class 4 memory cards with no problems.

I bought another battery through Amazon. You have to use the actual Lumix battery. Panasonic says this is for your safety, but I think it really is for their bottom line. They run around $30. My replacement battery, however, was made in Japan instead of China and had more power than the original. You need to have a spare battery because you just can't find these everywhere. Just figure this into your cost.

The 8x zoom is all I need in this type of camera. It is amazing that an 8X zoom will fit in a camera that is about 1 1/8" deep, 2 1/4" wide, and 3 7/8" long. I
give Panasonic a minus five for not giving accurate dimensions anywhere. As with most products from Asia these days, the instructions and information about the product is far from stellar.

Now they just need to come up with a great extended warranty to give people more peace of mind.

I have an older Lumix that I have been using for 5 years. I was very happy with MOST of the improvements found in the FH20. It was easy to use, much smaller and there was a much shorter lag time between photos and pre-photo than in my old model. BUT, I ended up returning it because you cannot adjust the zoom in video mode! I was very surprised that a feature in my 5 yeard old camera didn't exist in this new 'improved' model. You can zoom in before starting recording if you want, but you cannot adjust zoom while you're videoing.

Just wanted to warn anyone who plans to use their new camera for videos. I'm probably going to buy an older model like one of the ZR's because I like to take quick videos with my camera.

We bought this camera because of its 8x optical zoom and it hasn't disappointed. The stabilization feature really makes it possible to zoom that much and yet obtain a crystal-clear picture. The optical image stabilization has also allowed us to shoot pictures from moving ships and cars with great results. While the pictures taken outdoors really convince with natural colors and crispness, the images taken indoors at low light show quite a bit of graininess, the only complaint really that we have. So far we haven't made too many movies, but we bought a class 6 SDHC card after realizing that otherwise it takes a long time for movies to download to the computer. The battery life has also been satisfactory, however, if you intend to use the camera to take HD movies, battery life will very likely be much less. So far we have been able to take >200 pictures with one battery. If you buy the optional battery, which has more power, it'll last even longer. Oh, and to be able to take movies you have to browse through the menu, there is no designated button just for that. But it's not too bad and the menu is easy to handle.

I bought this camera to replace a Sony DSC-W90 8 Mega Pixel camera that I really love and got lots of use from. I suppose technically I didn't need to buy a new camera, but the Sony had started to get a little glitchy and I'm going on some trips in the near future that I knew I'd want to document. Plus I had a little extra money to spend...

I was prepared to spend $250+ on my new camera, but after looking at lots of reviews, I decided on this one.

When I got the camera, the first thing I did was to take some test shots (indoors and outdoors) with the Panasonic and my old Sony. Initially, I was little disappointed with the indoor pictures my new camera took compared to the old camera. The outdoor pictures were clearly superior, however.

After playing around with it a little, though, I figured out that all I needed to get the indoor pictures up to snuff was to adjust the exposure by +1. This made a world of difference. Outdoors in bright light, the Auto Intelligent feature works great.

I'm sure as I encounter different environments for taking pictures I'll have to play with the settings a little more, but I'm confident this camera offer superior quality to my Sony and is a good replacement for simple high-quality point and shoots needs.

It would be nice if the Auto Intelligent feature took care of all this right out of the box. Hence the four star review as opposed to five. Other than that I am happy and would recommend.

We bought this camera for a trip to Japan, and couldn't have been happier with how it performed - an all-around fantastic point-and-shoot camera. It's small, so it fit in a pocket or snugly in a knapsack. The default settings were perfect for posed shots with people as well as scenery, and the automatic stabilization meant that ZERO pictures came out blurry (this impressed me since my pictures always seemed to blur with my previous camera). The most impressive thing wasn't even a feature we bought the camera for though - while on Odaiba (an island in Tokyo bay) at night, we had an excellent view of the lit-up Tokyo skyline and Rainbow Bridge. We decided to take a picture using the Night Scenery setting, not really expecting much but willing to give it a shot. WOW. Easily the best picture this total photography neophyte has ever taken. Clear and vibrant like we were still there. Very, very happy with this camera!

I bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20K Digital Camera for a Xmas gift for my wife. Took pictures Xmas morning & following days. After first recharge of battery the camera would not turn on. I put battery back on charge & green lite showed full carge. Reinstalled battery & camera flickered briefly but did not turn on. I removed memory card to download pics to computer(sucessfuly). Upon replacing card the camera flickered briefly. Turned out that if I wiggled the card the camera would flicker on and off. Seems card slot is defective. I contacted Panasonic SEVERAL TIMES! Panasonic's company policy is that they will replace my NEW, full retail price camera only with a USED REFURBISHED unit that may or may not be the same as that purchased. If I had known this policy I would never have purchased the camera & now that I've experienced this problem I have to wonder if I got a refurbished camera from the beginning. I believe that if I paid NEW full retail price for a defective camera, Panasonic should replace it with a NEW exact replacement.

I LOVE this camera. My old digital had a big delay, so I was very pleased to find out this camera takes virtually instantaneous pictures. However, and this is a big one for me, it has no viewfinder. I missed several great shots of my kids tubing because it's impossible to see the screen on a sunny day!