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Product Description
From the Manufacturer
Panasonic LUMIX FH25
The LUMIX DMC-FH25 shoots high-quality 16.1 megapixel images and combines a 28mm wide-angle*1 LEICA DC lens with a powerful 8x optical zoom to take amazing photos. Redesigned with an easy-to-hold grip and slim and stylish profile, it features a 2.7" Intelligent LCD, 720p High Definition (HD) video recording and advanced iA (Intelligent Auto) for ease of use.
At the core of the LUMIX FH25 is the Venus Engine VI image processor with Intelligent Resolution technology for shooting clear and crisp digital photos and videos. The camera features a fast response time with shutter release lag times as short as approximately 0.005 seconds and, by adding Sonic Speed AutoFocus (AF), users can easily capture spur-of-the-moment photos. Using Intelligent Resolution technology, the Intelligent Zoom extends the powerful 8x optical zoom to 10x equivalent without compromising picture quality.
Venus Engine VIThe high-speed, high-performance Venus Engine VI is incorporated in the DMC-FH25 to enable the recording of beautiful images with higher quality signal processing including the Intelligent Resolution technology. An advanced noise reduction system in the Venus Engine VI applies noise reduction (NR) to luminance noise and chromatic noise separately. As a result, beautiful images with minimal noise can be reproduced all the way up to ISO1600 sensitivity at full resolution for beautiful night shots or dimly lit indoor shots.
Panasonic's popular iA mode, a suite of technologies that engage automatically with no setting changes needed by the user makes it easy for anyone to take beautiful photos. The LUMIX FH25 features two new iA functions AF (Auto Focus) Tracking and Intelligent Exposure. AF Tracking locks onto any subject and keeps it in focus even if it moves, while the Intelligent Exposure optimizes the exposure for each part of an image, preventing blocked shadows and blown highlights and helping ensure that gradation and details are reproduced beautifully. The automatic backlight compensation function activates whenever the camera detects the subject is in backlight. Other features of
Panasonic iA, which can be engaged with a dedicated button, include:
The MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer)* in the DMC-FH25 compensates for the blurring caused by hand-shake. Even slight hand-shake movement is accurately detected by a sampling frequency of 4,000 times per second, and compensated to produce sharp, clear images. The Venus Engine VI controls the shifting of the blur-stopping lens with even greater precision to further increase the detection accuracy and correction effect of MEGA O.I.S. It works for zoom shots and macro shots, which are especially susceptible to hand-shake, and lets you shoot in dimly lit rooms or evening illumination to preserve the mood. In short, it lets anybody take beautiful, blur-free shots with ease.
* MEGA O.I.S. is automatically turned on in iA Mode and can be turned on or off in Normal Picture Mode or some Scene Modes.
Intelligent ISO Control Motion Detection
The Intelligent ISO Control function* in the DMC-FH25 made possible by the Venus Engine VI detects subject movement and automatically adjusts the ISO setting and shutter speed to best suit the movement and light conditions. When it detects subject motion, it automatically raises the ISO setting and increases the shutter speed to prevent motion blur. On the other hand, when the subject is still and no movement is detected, it takes beautiful natural photos with a low ISO setting. The Intelligent ISO Control gives you stunning images with ease because there is no need for complicated settings.
* The Intelligent ISO Control function is automatically turned on in iA Mode, and can be turned on or off in Normal Picture Mode.
Face Detection AF/AE
Helps to ensure registered faces are captured in focus with appropriate exposure and unwanted red eyes are digitally corrected. The Face Detection AF/AE function*1 detects faces and automatically optimizes the focus and exposure settings. It prevents the blurry faces that happen when the camera focuses on something in front of or behind the subject, and keeps faces from appearing dark when shooting indoors or against the light source. It detects up to 15 faces at a time, making it extremely convenient for group photos. Once the camera detects a face, Face Tracking follows it even when the subject moves around. Plus, the system keeps detection on if a face turns sideways to the camera. The DMC-FH25 is also equipped with Digital Red-eye Correction (Red-eye Removal). The camera takes care of the red-eye effect that often happens when shooting with a flash, to ensure attractive facial expression*2.
Intelligent Scene Selector - Scene Detection
Select the best option from: Macro, Portrait, Scenery, Night Portrait, Night Scenery and Sunset by detecting the environment. When the camera is in iA Mode, the Intelligent Scene Selector automatically sets the Scene Mode to Scenery, Portrait, Macro, Night Portrait*1, Night Scenery or Sunset. The camera judges it from various detection results including focus and brightness level of the circumstance*2. You are free from choosing different settings every time the scene changes when taking images with these frequently used Scene Modes to get beautiful results.
LUMIX Image Uploader
DMC-FH25 gives you a new form of communication by letting you share your photos and movies. All you have to do is checkmark the photos and movies you want to share and connect the camera or SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card to a computer. Uploading automatically starts by simply following the guidance. Facebook can be used for photos and YouTube for movies. You can join these social networking services without having to install any special software. It's easy to share photos and movies on the spot, which means that your friends don't have to wait for you to come back home to see them.
Easy Computer Connection
Select photos and movies on the camera menu.
Upload Photos and Movies
The software is launched after connecting the camera or SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card to a computer.
Share with Your Friends
You can share the URL by e-mail right after the upload!
Intelligent LCD
Detects the lighting conditions and controls the brightness level in 11 fine steps, to display the most appropriate setting.
Intelligent Exposure Light Detection
The Intelligent Exposure function* increases the exposure only in under-exposed areas by detecting the brightness level part-by-part in the image. If the background includes the sky, which tends to be easily washed out, the camera automatically adjusts the aperture and shutter speed to keep the setting slightly under-exposed to prevent wash-out while brightening the darkened area by increasing the ISO only in that area. If the background of an indoor portrait receives insufficient lighting from a flash and becomes dark, the ISO sensitivity is raised in only the low-lit area to make it brighter without causing graininess in the subject's face.
* The Intelligent Exposure function is automatically turned on in the iA Mode and can be turned on or off in the Normal Picture Mode.
Scene Modes
A total of 28 modes, such as Baby, Pet and Sports, allows the user to choose the setting and the camera do the rest. Users can also record the name/birthday of a child or pet and embed the information in the photo and have it printed if desired.
The Scene Mode lets the camera make the optimal settings for you automatically, so anybody can take superb photos with ease. The versatile Scene Mode range, which handles just about any situation and subject type, is a major LUMIX feature. And to make it even simpler to use, the icons and display are designed for easy visibility.
The DMC-FH25 lets you store a frequently used Scene Mode setting in the My Scene Mode.
DMC-FH25 Scene Modes
Built-in memory 70MBTake photos even when you don't have an SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card* on hand. The built-in memory holds up to approx. 70MB of image data, which you can later copy to an SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card or computer. You can also copy images from a memory card or computer to the built-in memory, and view them on the LCD anytime you like. In addition to providing extra memory when your memory card fills up, this is a great place to store your favorite photos so you can view them anytime you want.
What's in the box
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH25 Digital Camera (Black), Battery Charger, Battery Pack(Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery Pack), AV Cable, USB Cable, Hand Strap, Software CD-ROM and 1-Year Panasonic U.S.A. Warranty.
SDHC Memory Cards and SDXC Memory Cards can be used only in equipment that is compatible with their respective formats. If the computer being used does not support SDXC Memory Cards, a message prompting you to format may appear. (Doing so will cause recorded images to be erased so do not choose to format.)
Available Warranties for This Item
Customer Reviews
The focus is fast and accurate just as I was expecting on a Panasonic - they usually have very good focus (accurate) on full auto in the point and shoot camera category. On the widest angle setting, outdoors, the picture quality is very nice. Once you start to zoom, picture quality is not the greatest but still OK. Macros are very good on this too. It's very easy to operate if you are a novice. You can set it on iA (intelligent auto) and the only buttons you have to operate are the shutter button (press half way down to focus; press the rest of the way down to take the picture) and the zoom toggle on the top of the camera.
I wasn't super happy that there was no dedicated movie button (it's in the menu) but I knew she would not likely use the movie function. I also knew that most of the photos she might take would be of her son and grandson, so mostly wide angle (better photo quality) would be fine for her and a little zoom on this still gets you a decent image in terms of quality. I liked the size and weight of this - slim and light weight. I liked the size and shape of it so much that I almost bought one for myself but I prefer different features and better image quality when fully zoomed out.
Bottom line is - she loves it and actually uses it! Before this, any camera was too complicated for her to even give it a try. This one is not intimidating. This camera has plenty of settings to try out too and I encourage you to try those (sports, portrait, landscape, etc) as you can often get even better results with those.
It was between this and Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with Full 1080p HD Video (Silver). I thought the Elph might actually be too small for her to be comfortable with AND you have to be willing to work the settings more to get the best photo. I find the full auto on the Elph does not consistently lock in on the right subject when focusing - so I knew any camera she had to "fiddle with" would not be the best choice for her. The image quality on the Elph is a bit better but ONLY if you work with the different settings and modes (it also didn't have 8x zoom).
If you want a budget camera that you can put on full auto and get the right subjects in focus, this is the one I would recommend. 16MP is too many for this small sensor. 9 or 10 would be much better in my opinion in terms of image quality BUT, in terms of what I was looking for and the budget P&S camera category, it is a 4.5 star rating. In terms of all point and shoot cameras in the world, I would say 3-ish so I gave this 3 stars. I wish camera manufacturers would stop playing the mega-pixel race game and concentrate on image quality.
I've uploaded several sample photos taken on iA too, so check those and others out for more of a feel of what you can expect from this camera.
I try to make my reviews as helpful as possible so please let me know if this review was helpful to you by clicking the "was this review helpful" button - or ask a questions in comments. I am happy to answer if I can. :)
The two big problems with the canon were most photos even bright outdoors had way too much noise. The other problem was no matter what setting and focus type, only the center areas were in ok and i mean ok focus. All four corners of the photos were on the blurry side and that's just unacceptable. Compared to this Panasonic...wow, much better and much sharper. When fully zoomed in there was a bit of noise but its expected. Night shots depending on how you take them also have noise but again depending on how and what you can work around it a bit.
There are minor differences with the two cameras like the zoom smoothness was a bit better on the canon and the user interface and menu screens were also a bit better on the canon. Not a deal breaker at all because I'd rather have quality over cosmetic things. The other minor things i found were that the Panasonic has the af assist light very close to the top corner of the camera where you put your fingers. Also the on off and photo/play aren't buttons they are switches which i'm a little worried about breaking so we'll see how they last.
One of the biggest differences is that this camera is faster. I found that saving photos is almost instantaneous on the FH25 but on the canon it was about a 4 sec pause to save before you could take another (a "busy" icon shows up. Most of all the functions on the FH25 are faster and i like being able to grab the camera and take photos quickly.
Overall i'm all about quality and sharp photos and this camera does that. If you don't care about the spare battery cost or that the user interface and menus look like 20 years old, i think you'll be happy with this camera.
Photos for the most part are well exposed and using the full Ai seem to always come out perfect. There will be a slight bit of noise in certain shots but sharpness is never an issue. The whole thing about higher mega pixels is better isn't completely true, its all about the sensor size. Do some research about that as I did but believe me, this camera really does a great job. I've posted a few sample photos.
UPDATE 8-17-11
Still loving the picture quality of this small camera. I even tested out the new Canon SX230 and again this FH25 was sharper and photos were exposed better. The full iAuto setting is amazing and it really
does a great job, I've taken photos with it that I will be publishing in my second book next year. That's how good I feel the quality is.
Update: there are batteries available for only $10.00 making this camera a great choice.
Advertised as 8x optical zoom but that's video. It's 10x in photo mode, 22.5x if you employ the digital zoom as well.
16.1 mp is amazing for a camera in this price range. I actually used the max digital zoom and still got good resolution photos.
About 2 dozen scene modes (portrait, beach, sunset, etc) that work well and are easy to select. Text scrolls across the screen explaining its use as you you move from mode to mode.
Very easy to use. About 1/2 hour with the manual and camera and you can understand and begin using all the features.
Image stabilization sems very effective. I shot every thing hand held even at max zoom and liked the results.
Great battery life. I chrged it 1x on a week vacation but that was just in case. Could have gone all week with 100s of shots.
Like most digitals the camera has very little built in memory so you need to buy a memory card. I chose the PNY 16 GB that has more room than I think I'll ever need.
One negative this camera shares with most point and shoots: you miss a viewfinder in very bright sunlight. But the screen is bright enough to make it manageable so I still rate this very highly.
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