Customer Reviews

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC43 4MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optcial Zoom

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

 

 

If you're looking for a quick, easy to use digital camera with excellent resolution, this is it. It doesn't offer much in the way of manual operation, but it makes up for it in convenience. I got the DMC-LC43PP because it is small, fast, and has the 4 megapixel spec. Press the shutter half way to focus and determine the exposure, then fully to take the picture - it works faster than other models I compared it to. I wish the LCD screen could be pivoted to see easier, but look at the price - other cameras with the same specs are twice the price! Don't bother to buy a card reader for your computer either - the USB cable that comes with the camera will allow your computer to see the camera as another drive. Very fast. I do wish the flash had a bit more power, but like everything else, it's a trade-off. I'll use this camera more often simply because I'll carry it with me more often. Clear and sharp pictures, especially outside where there is good lighting.

Cameras like this one are the reason that film will be nearly extinct within the next 18 months. This camera will reliably take well-focused, perfectly exposed, brilliantly colored pictures over and over again with little hassle or fuss. After evaluating several 4 megapixel pocket cameras, I selected this one for my 11 year old daughter for her Christmas present, and she now routinely takes darned good pictures with it.

Important feature: the camera has an optical viewfinder. This is very important in my opinion. I am of the opinion that it is very impractical and difficult to take pictures using just the LCD on the back of the camera as many small pocket cameras require. Not to mention the fact that this will dramatically decrease battery life. Optical viewfinders are the way to go.

Quibbles are minor. The pre-flash of this camera is somewhat intrusive, but the flash does work if you don't expect too much of it in terms of distance. The camera, in common with most pocket cameras, takes its best pictures outdoors in natural lighting, but the built-in flash can help via "fill flash" to illuminate shadows under these conditions.

This camera and others like it are why there is simply no reason for anyone to stick with film. You can produce excellent digital pictures at less cost, with immeasurably less hassle, and you can see what your pictures are like ahead of time (further reducing your cost, since you can cull the losers before printing them).

Other comments: this camera is well-made, with a nice sturdy metal body. The lens is an excellent Leica lens. One of the things I really like about the camera is that it uses the ubiquitous AA batteries, so for trips you are always going to be able to have batteries handy--many cameras of this type use proprietary batteries, requiring you to lug a dedicated charger along on trips.

Panasonic has done a good job putting it all together in this excellent camera.

I was hesitant to buy a digital camera because I am know very little about film camera and nothing about digital. The amazon reviews for this camera were an enormous help in comparing with other brands. Ordered this camera from amazon reseller for &260 plus $5 handling. The reseller shipped in 2 days and I had the camera in 5 standard shpping days. It was advertized excellent condition, used. It arrived in pristine condition, not a mark on it with all in original unopened packaging. Used the quick quide to take some photos and learned how to review pics on the lcd in about 1 hour. The manual is sparse on instructon and does tell you everything you need to know if you follow step by step in using the features and in downloading the pics to your pc via usb cable (supplied with camera). The photos are clear and crisp with excellent colors and detail. I was delighted at how easy it is to take motion film with audio. Camera is compatible with my pc programs: lexmark printer/software; photoshop and paintshop pro software; generic microsoft photo software. I have 20 photos with 4 10sec. motion clips on the 16mb card that came with the camera. Will order a 128mb card for a trip upstate which will store lots more photos. The AA batteries drained after shooting pics for 1 afternoon and then downloading photos to the pc that night. Am buying the dc adapter for downloading. Will be using the supplied rechargeable batteries for the trip (with couple AA batts just in case) For the money, am very happy the camera performance and ease of use. Read the prior reviews, they are on target. Camera light enough to put in your pocket, but subtantial enough in design to feel good in your hand when taking photos. Would give 5 stars if panasonic had supplied the dc adapter (I would not mind paying the cost if it came with the camera, am annoyed at having to take time to buy it extra. It does not make sense to waste battery life in downloads to the pc).

Just to try this thing out when I got it, I took a picture of some print across the room (20ft away) that I can't read with my eyes. I could read it in the blowup of the image. If I can see things in the photo that I can't see with my eyes, the resolution is 110% fine for snapshots. The color balance and exposure isn't perfect, but it's close enough that you can fix it with Photoshop without too much work (autolevels does the job usualy).
Battery life with the included rechargeable AAs is sufficient for my needs. You'll need a better memory card, though, as the included 16mb job only holds ~13 pictures. It is good that it uses SD, which is a standard, rather than the proprietary MemoryStick that most of the Sony cameras use, so you can find a 256mb card for under $60 if you look around.

I got this camera a week ago after going to steve's digicam review and printing out sample pics from this camera, lc40, stylus 400 and sd100. I found the lc43 produced the best overall picture with bright color and good depth perception.

I first bought the camera via online. During my first 365 day stretch, I've took many pictures and dropped it about as many times also. But the worst thing thats happened so far was on a trip to Baghdad, i dropped it off the ring mount of my truck. i picked it up and it was half-way open, and i though i surely broke it. But i just snapped it back together and it turned right on, and functioned like it never happened. All i gotta say is US Army approved.

Good things: I previously got an Olympus....and this one was great...great price, great quality photos....and most important: easy to use. I mean I popped it out of the box and in a half hour had loaded all the software on my computer, took pictures, sent them by email and set up a slide show on my tv (the easy av thing is cool...sort of like a slide show back in the day in your folks' livingroom...). I also liked the battery life.

Bad things: no case (who cares???), and like all the dig. cameras they give you a lousy 16 mb card..

The camera is easy to use and takes beautiful pictures, but after four months it just stopped working. There was power, but the lense would not open. The Panasonic Service Center was anything but helpful and wanted to charge 75% of what I paid for the camera to fix it. I am now shopping for another digital and I shall not be looking at a Panasonic.

I bought this camera about a year ago and was very pleased with it. After six months it totally shut down and would not power up. I sent it in to an authorized service center and $165 later I was back in business. It just recently died again. I'm moving on to another brand. If you own one I wish you the best in having a better experience than I.

I've only had this camera for about a month, so I can't speak to the long term maintainence issues discussed in a couple of other reviews (all digital cameras in this price range appear to have similar problems). Nevertheless, the picture quality is fantastic, particularly once you learn to adjust the settings for your lighting conditions.