Customer Reviews

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX48 12MP Digital Camera with 5x MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5 inch LCD (Black)

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

 

 

I gave this DMC-FX48 a Thanksgiving weekend test and it failed miserably.

The key problem? The ultra wide lens creates ultra distortion on the ends of the frame. I tried shooting my mother and sister on a Harley and they looked like rubber comic book characters on a bat bike. I'm not kidding. If I were laying down on my back shooting the sky, I'm sure the wide view would look simply amazing. But not for everyday shots, folks. 35mm is a much more natural view for a human being's eyeball. Oh, you're a realtor? Then maybe tone down and go for a 28mm instead to get those interior shots completed.

The video? HD was lousy as compared to my little Canon SD780 (which is ironically lousy for stills) - very grainy or nousy even as camera tries to adjust itself. However, these LUMIX cameras seem to shoot much better via WVGA video.

I returned it and have had much better results with a NON-wide angle lens camera with no HD video for only $110 and its the Panasonic DMC-FS7. I was shocked and still am. Macro also looks better on the FS7 which has outperformed a handful of cameras I tested it against at more than 2x its price. This includes testing shots in AUTO mode, outdoor, indoor, sports, sunset and video in VGA & WVGA.

Good luck! Finding the right camera can be a never ending search....

Purchased this as a pocket camera. I have a DSLR, sometimes portability is key. It starts up relatively fast, focuses quick, and is almost always ready for the next shop. Only gripe is charging, it doesn't use a mini-USB. One has to remove the battery or use the proprietary AC adapter.

The pictures are great. It was a great purchase for us.

I'm a DSLR junkie and needed a compact camera that I could bring with me anywhere and take decent shots. This is the camera! Love the image quality as well as the look and feel of the camera. Would give a perfect review, but the lcd on the back is blurrier than my t1i, which is understandable given the price difference of the two bodies.

This is the 3rd Lumix camera in my household. I wanted a truly pocket'able camera for my hiking & biking activities.

My choice came down to the Canon SD1300IS and this FX-48. After reading all the reviews and from my own good experience, I picked the Lumix. So far, I have been using for taking outdoor and indoor shot and the picture quality is superb.

The iA setting get most of the exposure etc right most of the time.

Highly recommend this little gem.

Great camera! I bought this one after my FX-9 after 5years of hard use had the backlight go out. Picture quality is upgraded from the FX-9 plus has a higher megapixel. Zoom feature and stabilization are excellent. The iA feature works pretty well. I have yet to have any issues with it. The only "down" side is the lag time between when a picture is taken and when the next one is ready after initial review. This could be something as simple as a setting that I have yet to look for. This is a backup and work use camera to a DSLR and it works great for what I need. Lightweight and portable, so far so good. I would recommend this camera for anyone looking for a backup or more compact camera on the go.

I recently had to replace my previous Lumix which fell in the swimming pool. I loved that camera so I was keen to get the latest Lumix FX. I am generally happy with this camera but with a couple of reservations. Its design is super - its so tiny and the quality of the hardware is great. I recently took it on holiday to a hot and humid country, carried it around in my pocket and never had an issue with it. I am especially impressed with the quality of the HD movie - hard to believe such a tiny camera takes such good movies, the sound and picture quality are both good. Of course there's no zoom feature but thats a small price to pay for the convenience of not having to carry around a camcorder.

The only area I am a little disappointed with is the image quality. The pictures are coming out dark and with a yellow hue even though I have tried to program the white balance several times. I've compared it to pictures I took with the old Lumix in the same light situations and locations and the pictures are dark and a different color. Also the picture quality when taking shots without flash were excellent on my old Lumix but not quite so good on this one and I'm not sure why. Overall I'm happy with this purchase and still willing to give it a chance while I spend more time working with the settings and options.

This camera, which can be bought around $200 plus or minus $25, is pretty good. I have an $800 Leica D-LUX4 and this camera is sort of a little brother to the D-LUX, and even the controls are virtually the same. It's much slimmer and smaller than the D-LUX.

STRENGTHS:
tiny dimensions, big screen
decent battery life
wide 25mm Leica lens
2.8 lens relatively fast (though the D-LUX4 for example has a faster 2.0 lens)

WEAKNESSES:
high ISO performance is mediocre, 800 is just usable.

I bought this new camera for my wife shortly before a reunion visit with high school girl friends. She loves it and when the other girls saw the photo results at least one remarked, "I need to get a new digital camera". When the wife is happy, everyone is happy.

I really like the FX48. It's very portable, exposure control and color are great, and the 25mm wide angle lens is amazing. The images are very pleasant to look at. But if you're into really analyzing image detail, images are quite soft, especially in the corners or along the right edge depending on where within the 5X zoom range the lens is. You're not getting anywhere near 12 megapixels worth of image detail, but unless you plan to crop areas out of your photos, you don't really need 12 megapixels of detail anyway. If this camera had a lens with better sharpness I would have rated it 5 stars.

Another annoyance is that Panasonic's new firmware does not allow cheaper aftermarket batteries to be used. You're stuck with pricy Panasonic batteries, or one option in aftermarket batteries that I found that work (bestbat dot com).

This camera has many practical functions I usually use. The price is unbelievable with free shipping and free tax. I have never been more satisfied with than this purchase.