Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20

Manual Controls

Normal mode (what others would call Program AE) gives you the most freedom to adjust settings, including picture size, white balance and autofocus mode. You can set a manual white balance, and set exposure compensation. There are no direct manual controls over aperture or shutter speed, no manual ISO setting and no manual focus option.

Focus

You can select single-point, multi-point or face detect autofocus. Macro mode is also available, with a close focus distance of about 2 inches (5cm). There is no manual focus capability.

ISO

The standard ISO range is 80-1600. A High Sensitivity scene mode is available that boosts ISO up to ISO 6400 for night shooting at reduced resolution.The user has no control over the ISO setting.
 

White Balance

In addition to the auto white balance system there are presets for daylight, cloudy, shade and halogen lighting and, surprisingly in this highly automated camera, the option to take a custom white balance reading.

Metering

The FH20 uses a multi-segment metering system, with no manual options for the user, Exposure compensation is available, though, with a ±2 EV range in 1/3 EV increments.

Shutter Speed

Standard shutter speeds range from 1/1600 second to 8 secodns. In the Starry Sky scene mode, 15, 30 and 60 second exposures are possible. Manual shutter speed control isn't available.
 

Aperture

Aperture settings at the widest lens angle range from f/3.3 to 5.9, and at full zoom it's f/5.9 to f/18. There is no manual aperture control.

Image Stabilization

The FH20 uses optical image stabilization, wihch can be turned on or off.

Picture Quality & Size Options

Shooting in the standard 4:3 aspect ratio your size options are 14M (4320 x 3240), 10M (3648 x 2736) 5M (2560 x 1920), 3M (2048 x 1536) and 0.3M (640X480). There is also one resolution option each for 3:4 format (12.5M, 4320 x 2880) and 16:9 (10.5M, 4320 x 2432). There are no alternate JPEG compression settings, and RAW shooting isn't supported.
 

Picture Effects

TIn addition to the standard color mode, Vivid, Natural, Black & White, Sepia, Cool and Warm options can be selected while shooting.