Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01 First Impressions Review

Viewfinder
There is no viewfinder on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01. This really isn’t a huge loss considering the small size and inaccurate frames produced by "real image" optical viewfinders most often found on point-and-shoot and compact digital still cameras.

LCD Screen
The LCD screen for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01 measures 2.5 inches and consumes at least two-thirds of the camera’s back face. This 2.5-inch LCD has a resolution of 207,000 pixels which makes it a far superior viewing device compared to compact cameras like the SP-320 released by Olympus at PMA 2006, which is only equipped with 115K resolution. The LCD screen was clear to see when viewed on the convention floor and didn’t appear to suffer from solarizing when viewed at a variety of angles.

Flash
Unfortunately, the flash on the Panasonic FX01 is poorly designed and placed. The flash is positioned above and to the left of the lens center, so photographers should expect to see shadows cast from left to right across their subject. This is rarely a flattering effect and the uneven dispersion will lead to impaired image quality compared to images from a camera with a flash positioned on the lens axis.

Flash settings on the FX01 are activated and cycled through by pressing the right arrow on the four-way control. When activated, the flash control allows the user to set the flash to auto, auto/red-eye reduction, slow sync./red-eye reduction, forced on and forced off. Panasonic quotes the FX01’s flash range in wide angle at 0.6 to 4.0 meters while in telephoto the range is 0.3 to 2 meters, when shooting in Auto ISO.

Zoom Lens
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01 has a 3.6x Leica DC Vario-Elmarit lens with 7 elements in 6 groups with 4 aspherical lenses/4 aspherical surfaces. It is housed in an extending lens barrel with a focal length of 4.6 mm to 16.8 mm which is equivalent to 28mm to 102mm on a 35mm camera body. The maximum aperture for the FX01 is f/2.8 in wide angle and f/5.6 in telephoto setting. The zoom is controlled via the zoom ring that surrounds the shutter button on the top of the camera. A small tab extends out from the ring and allows clean and concise movement through the zoom range without stuttering or uneven zoom speeds.