Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC40S 4MP Digital Camera w/ Leica Lens and 3x Optical Zoom, Silver

Other products by Panasonic

Product Details

Product Manual [4.79mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 3.5 x 4.2 x 2.6 inches ; 1.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• ASIN: B000069V27
• Item model number: DMC-LC40S
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,739 in Camera & Photo (See Bestsellers in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 8, 2002

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description
Constructed with world-renowned Leica DC lenses, Panasonic offers high-quality optics with the DMC-LC40S digital camera. Pictures are sure to come out sharp and brilliant thanks to the 4-megapixel CCD sensor, capable of resolutions of up to 2,240 by 1,680 pixels and quality prints to 11 by 14 inches and beyond. There are three lower-quality settings that you can use to save memory and store more pictures on the included 16 MB SD memory card.

The LC40S has an optical zoom of 3x and a 2x digital zoom, making the overall zoom capable of magnifying an image up to six times. The camera has several automatic and manual controls for focus, exposure, white balance, and flash. It also has a feature that allows you to take consecutive pictures at a fast rate (either 4 or 8 frames a second), ideal for those hard-to-capture moving objects and similar to regular full-motion video. Use the large 1.8-inch LCD monitor to keep track of all these settings and manage your photos.

Since the camera has full USB connectivity, you can easily transfer your photos onto a PC or Mac. Photo-editing software is also included for more creative uses of your photos. Also included in the package are an AC adapter, battery pack, lens cap, AV and USB cable, and strap.

Product Description
Hi Resolution 1280x960; Basic resolution 640x480; 2x Digital zoom; Store 15 to 100 photos; Auto focus; Four flash modes; Optical and 1.8IN. LCD viewfinder; Full feature indicator panel; B/W image recording; Send pictures from camera to computer/fax with supplied compact modem card.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost professional, May 8, 2003

By	Moshe Reuveni "gawad" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am an experienced photographer, having used my professional Canon SLR for years. The Lumix is my first foray into digital photography, its purchase a result of extensive research into the field. After several months of living with it, I can attest I hardly use my SLR anymore...

I consider its main advantages to be:
1. An excellent lens (depth of field, however, is a bit limited by the camera's top aperture value of 8; this limit is common to virtually all digital cameras which are not ultra expensive).
2. Excellent photo quality.
3. Available photo modes enable almost SLR like usage. For example, the camera has aperture/shutter priority modes, and manual exposure adjustments.
4. While not as compact as other digital cameras, it is quite ergonomic, enabling a stable grip at long exposures. It is still feather light when compared to my SLR...
5. Flash operation is not automatic. Unlike cheaper cameras, this one lets you be the judge on whether you want to use the flash or not. As someone who, under most circumstances, would prefer to use a flash only as a last resort, I value this a lot. Even if you're paranoid about forgetting it, you can always look at the screen and see whether the result is too dark; and besides, the camera does make its own recommendation.
6. Like all digital cameras, the cost of taking photos is virtually zero, the results are available immediately, and editing the photos is extremely easy.

Taking the camera everywhere I go has taught me of some of its disadvantages, too:
1. It requires a large memory card in order to store a decent amount of high quality photos, which is an extra cost.
2. The lack of a fully manual mode is something I miss from my SLR, especially for night time photography.
3. When compared to my Canon, the camera takes too long to focus (although that's mostly an advantage of Canon SLRs rather than a disadvantage of the Lumix).
4. When turned on, it takes a few seconds for the camera to "wakeup" before you can take photos. However, this "feature" is common to all digital cameras.
5. Battery life can be a limit on long days of photography.
6. The LCD screen is not perfect: It can often be quite useless in bright Australia; and given its size, it's quite hard to pass judgement on whether the photo is focused or whether it's blurry. Interestingly, the screen crops a bit off the edges of photos (you do get the cropped sections back when you download the photos).

All in all, this camera will cost you significantly less than a professional digital camera, yet it would offer you 80% of the functionality a professional camera will give you, and much more than that in quality. And even if professional photography is the last thing on your mind, it is still very easy to take high quality photos with it - simply point and shoot...

Highly recommended.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent digital for serious amateurs, December 28, 2002

By	Conrad Benedict (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I recently purchased a LC40 while on business in Singapore. Since getting home I've been taking all sorts of macro closeups, landscapes and portraiture photos with the camera. The blurbs described the Leica lens as a nice soft-focus type- though what this meant escaped me until I started looking at the photos I'd been taking of all sorts of subjects. The Lens or Camera, i can't work out which, do in fact take 'soft' focused photos. This is how I describe its ability to have very lifelike photos almost leap off the page and screen, without any sort of jarring colour distortion - they literally come out as good as your memory recalls. The screen at the back of the camera also has accurate colour matching - meaning that apart from size, there are no nasty surprises once you go to your LCD display on the desktop to see what the photos really looked like.

All up, I am extremely happy with this camera, and am settling down with Photoshop, a good close up macro lens and my teleconversion lens for a good several years of serious digital photography. I cannot recommend the camera enough! I'll be kissing my SLRs goodbye alot sooner that I'd expected

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best camera I ever owned, August 15, 2003

By	Owen Arthur Laprath "The Artistic Scientist" (Tacoma, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been through a few SLR bodies and a couple of point and shoots. My lense kit ranges from 28mm to 400mm for the 35mm cam, a Pentax ZX-M. I was skeptical about the digital breed, and the Fuji2600 I bought 18 months ago was ok, but developed into a battery hog. The 4 MegaPixel LC40 has retired them all though! I couldn't believe that I finally had a Leica lens at a bargain price, and the optics make a huge difference. I have compared my pics to some others taken with a 5MP Sony, and the Panasonic/Leica LC40 has better colors, slightly better resolution, and far more natural contrast. The Sony made a waterfall appear, as if the water had been pasted onto the rock formmations in a qick and dirty PhotoShop! It took me a little while to get used to it, but an important lesson was to keep this camera locked at 100 ASA sensitivity whenever possible. Otherwise the automatic override can at times switch to a higher sensitivity, resulting in some minor rainbowing color noise effects around solid dark objects. This is only visible in larger printouts though (8x10 and bigger). I also use it fairly exclusively in the Aperture priority mode, which allows me to quickly check and adjust my shutter speed, while always having a good idea what the depth of field will be. While the 100ASA fix makes for great colors, I have also found this camera to make pictures superior to other models in low light conditions, with less noise ("grain"). The battery life is simply outstanding! I haven't charged my LC40 for about 3 or 4 days now, have taken around 50 shots, and still a better than 75% charge in the battery! I have to mention here, that I use this camera like an SLR, in that I keep the LCD monitor turned on for framing purposes and setting checks and also instantly review my pictures with the zooming feature. This a big no-no with many digicams if you want more than just a few shots, but not this camera. It keeps on going like the Energizer Bunny!
My pictures are sharper and actually have better resolution (yes, I do mean better than 35mm film!) than ever, I can print whatever, whenever, and in what size I want, buying and getting film processed is a thing of the past, and thanks to my home computer I am even getting into the kind of special effects photography I always dreamed of, but never had a darkroom for.
Like I said, it took me while to get the settings right, but now this is a better camera for me, than my SLR ever was or could be!
Kudos to the Leica and Panasonic engineers for getting together and creating this new line. I wouldn't trade back to film anymore!
As a final note: I am still trying to figure out the difference between this camera and the Leica Digilux1/Panasonic-LC5 (they are nearly identical) model. The LC40 is more compact, but that seems to be it, aside from being half the price, which makes it a far superior deal to the other (usually only 2 or 3 MegaPixel) cameras in this price range!
Get it while you can - it's sold out in a lot of places!