Customer Reviews

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35S 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This camera is GREAT. But you have to realize WHY it is great. It is great due to the ULTRA wide angle lens. 25mm is unmatched (except for the hard to get v570) so this is a MUST have for Realtors, and all others will LOVE taking shots of friends at parties and not having to back up 10 feet.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35S is good for outdoor photos, but indoor flash photos have not met expectations. Using the flash results in circular blotches in some photos, and washed-out yellow-tinged appearance in others. Outdoors, the wide-angle lens has been great for large-group pictures. So far, I have relied only on automatic settings, as I have no particular expertise in photography.

The title says it all. OK, one possible shortcoming: You cannot operate the zoom while shooting video. I haven't found it to be a big issue, because I know to plan ahead... and the HD is so good it really doesn't make a big difference.
The camera is durable... it survived all of the (non-water) rides at Disney FL in my pocket for a week with no issues or blemishes to the case. It seems to take very nice photos of very large mice and ducks.
Get the extreme III chip... it allows you to shoot faster photos. That's a key point... if you have kids or other creatures that move quickly, this is a good tool to capture the moment. Burst mode exists, but I've rarely had a need for it.

I had the fx33 previously, and was hopeful this camera would overcome the shortcomings. It is the first camera to offer HD video (720p rather than 480p) - but strangely, uses quicktime, and more importantly, does not allow zooming during shooting. Canons and others allow at least digital zoom to function (no optical zoom so the motor is not heard on the audio recording). In my mind, this makes the video very boring - I'd rather have good SD video than bad HD video.

Other than that, the camera really is quite nice. The image stabilization is spot on, the all auto feature is pretty accurate, and besides the noise at low level (which all compact cameras have), I have no complaints. If you don't care about video, then this is a great camera.

While I like the camera design and menu layout I'm disappointed with its performance in situations where it is low light. While it does get a picture off they have lots of image noise. I also purchased this camera for its video recording capabilities and while the video looks great although it doesn't seem to focus once you start recording (I can get over this) the sound quality is horrid. Everything I record has so much hissing you can't even hear the sounds. This is the most disappointing part of the camera I really wanted to record small things for my wife but instead I find myself pulling out the full video camera anyhow. Also when taking videos outside if the sun hits the sensor it will turn a portion of the video purple. I'm not sure if this happens on others camera but I never had this problem on my old Sony Cybershot.

This camera has been really good when we are outside at a park and where light is plentiful.

If I was to make this decision again I would probably look at a Canon or Nikon camera. I would not recommend this product.

First of all, a lot of people complain about the noise with this camera in low-light conditions. Well, people, it's time to realize two things:
- given the ultra compact size, the sensor will obviously we much smaller than a slightly bigger camera. This comes with drawbacks, and one should not expect a high-end SLR high-iso capability on such a small camera.
- Panasonic is notorious for its noise issues. It started a while ago when they entered this segment, and it has not really been taken care of...
You can prevent that noise problem, to some extent, by limiting the highest iso setting on the camera (feature called intelligent iso)

However, this is a very very fun camera to use for outdoors hence 4 stars. The ultra wide angle makes it fantastic for landscapes, and it comes with nice and nifty presets, easily accessible, unlike on a Canon that has very unfriendly menus.. At wide angle, outdoors, the pictures are VERY crisp, thanks to the Leica Lens (keep in mind that Leica has the exact same lineup as panasonic - but much more expensive...)
Ultra compact means that you can just take it anytime, forget it in your pocket (check before you do the laundry...) and take it out very quickly to shoot a great scene.
It is light, has a good autonomy and allows you to shoot HD movies. Beware: the zoom mechanism is actually really close to the microphone, therefore there is no zoom capability when you take movies.
It is SDHC compatible: couple the camera with a fast (at least 133x) SD card, with, say 8gb or 16gb, and you're good to go for ever! I'd recommend Transcend.
Last but not least, this one has been replaced by the newer FX37, much more expensive; at ~$170 this one is a steal! The newer version does not really bring much more and I read some reviews complaining about worse noise issues.
Overall, an EXCELLENT ultra compact camera.

The camera has met all expectations I had hoped for. The features are easy to use compared to other cameras. I highly recommend this camera

I have never liked this camera much at all. It takes sooo long to take one picture after another. I've had it repaired once because half of a picture will be dark and the other half will be light. Now I'm having the same problem again.

I am a semi-retired Professional Photographer that uses digital for most small jobs. Team sports pictures, small parties, both indoor & and outdoor (with an aux slave flash or forced flash on for close-up outdoor shots), advertising & most commercial photographs can all be handled with my 3 compact Panasonic cameras.

Since around 1976 I've been shooting with a Leica M5 & M4 camera with 5 lenses. The DMC LX-3, TZ-5 & FX-35 do more than my old Leicas ever thought of. They also have a Leica lens and a good strong feel to the cameras.

I keep the FX-35 in my front left pocket at all times. Several times I had lay down my camera to eat, use the rest room, etc., when a photo opp. appeared. That little FX-35 was there & up to the task! I could tell no difference in it's pictures & the others when all shown together. When I needed an 11x14, it delivered like a champ.

The silver case is so well made, that after well over a year of pocket carry, it shows almost no wear. Remember, it is a pocket camera, but a very good one!

Build quality is good enough.
In video it sometimes make bright vertical lines artifact when direcly exposed by high contrast and bright light areas.
Wide angle is good.

For this price , this camera rocks.