Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20

Auto Mode

The Intelligent Auto (iA) mode has its own dedicated button on top of the camera. Shooting in iA mode, the camera turns on optical image stabilization and face detection, and attempts to match the current shooting situation to one of six scene modes (macro, portrait, scenery, night portrait, night scenery or sunset).

 

Movie Mode

The FH20 will shoot 720p high-def video at 30 frames per second, storing the results in Motion JPEG format -- more memory-consuming than the advanced AVCHD used in higher-end Panasonic cameras, but easier to edit. Recordiing at a widescreen848 x 480 resolution and standard-def 640 x 480 is also supported.
 

Our primary concern with movie mode isn't shooting high-def video, but watching it, since there's no HDMI or component video output to display HD video on an HDTV

 

Drive/Burst Mode

Panasonic claims the camera can manage 1.5 shots per second in continuous shooting mode. Seems high, but we were fiddling with a pre-production model, so judgement will have to wait for lab tests. There's also an interesting high-speed burst mode, promising 4.6 frames per second at a reduced 3M resolution. Three- megapixel files would be fine for on-screen viewing and even 4x6 printing, and 4.6fps would be great for capturing racing children or sports action. 

The self-timer lets you choose from a 2-second or 10-second delay.
 

Playback Mode

The playback display can be toggled between two levels of detail, or information overlays can be removed entirely
 

Zooming out while viewing a single image brings up a thumbnail display with 12, then 30 thumbnails. One more press accesses a handy calendar view, with your photos sorted by date taken. Heading in the other direction, zooming in from a full-screen photo display magnifies the image in stages, up to 16x.
 

The slideshow utility is fairly robust. You can choose whether to include all images or only certain categories, choose from a variety of transition effects, and turn background music on or off.
 

As for image editing, photos can be resized or trimmed -- that's about it.
 

Custom Image Presets

Over two dozen scene modes are available, including Portrait, Soft Skin, Transform, Self-Portrait, Scenery, Sports, Night Portrait, Night Scenery, Food, Party, Candle Light, Baby1, Baby2, Pet, Sunset, High sensitivity, Hi-Speed Burst, Flash Burst, Starry Sky, Fireworks, Beach, Snow, Aerial photo, Film Grain and Photo Frame (which surrounds the photo with a border of your choice).You can adjust the settings of a scene mode and save it in the My Scene slot for quick access later.