Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX50

Manual Control Options
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX50 isn’t designed for total manual control, although it does have some bright spots. Its modes are mainly automatic, with its most manual mode being the Normal shooting mode. This provides access to a host of ISO options and even more white balance options. Interestingly, the FX50 is geared toward point-and-shooters with its 18 scene modes but it still has Kelvin temperature adjustments and a manual white balance mode.

Focus
Auto Focus (5.25) 
The auto focus system works well as long as the lighting is good. The camera is fitted with an orange auto focus assist lamp, but it isn’t very powerful or even effective. There are five auto focus modes selectable in the Normal shooting mode: 1-point, 1-point high speed, 3-point high speed, 9-point, and spot. There is a noticeable difference in speed between the normal and "high speed" modes; both work well in bright light and not so well in low light so users might as well just use the faster auto focus modes. Normally, the FX50 can focus from 50 cm at the widest focal length and 120 cm from the most telephoto. The range shortens in the macro mode, which can be found on the mode dial as a flower icon, when the camera can focus as close as 5 cm in wide and 30 cm in telephoto. Overall, the auto focus system works well in bright daylight or when the flash is used. Otherwise, it is quite unreliable. Even when the green indicators on the LCD screen show that the camera is focused, subjects appear fuzzy and slightly blurred when not using the flash and not in optimal light.

Manual Focus (0.0)
There is no manual focus mode on the Panasonic FX50.

Exposure (6.5)
The exposure compensation is easy to find on the multi-selector. It has the typical +/- 2 adjustments available in 1/3 steps – except for in the Simple mode where a "backlight" is either on or off. This just brightens the image. For users who aren’t sure exactly what exposure value they should use, there is an auto exposure bracketing option available when the joystick is pushed up toward the exposure compensation icon twice. Like the white balance fine tuning, this option is quite hidden. Still, the lucky users that find it have access to a sort of "burst" mode that snaps three pictures in increments of +/- 1/3 to +/- 1. Users can also be conscious of the current exposure by pushing the LCD Display button and viewing the live histogram. The FX50 doesn’t have manual control over shutter speed and aperture to adjust the exposure, but for being a point-and-shoot it still fares well with its other options. Our biggest complaints are that the exposure bracketing is hard to find and the live histogram is also somewhat buried.

Metering (6.0)
The FX50’s metering system is directly linked to its auto focus system. The camera meters from the points which are in focus. That means it can be one point, three points, or up to nine points. Panasonic’s "Intelligent Multiple light metering" system seems to work well. As long as the auto focus mode is correctly set, the subjects should turn out properly exposed. For instance, backlit subjects should use the spot or central auto focus modes; as long as that happens, subjects will look fine.

ISO (8.0)
The Panasonic FX50 has a wider ISO range than Lumix cameras manufactured before this year. This model has 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1250 manual ISO settings. There are also two automatic settings: a standard automatic and a new feature called Intelligent ISO. According to the user manual, "The ISO sensitivity is adjusted according to the movement of the subject and the brightness" in the Intelligent ISO mode. Most digital cameras adjust the ISO according to the brightness only, so Panasonic’s concept of adjusting the ISO based on the subject’s movement is quite unique. This feature is another way, in addition to the image stabilization, to keep moving subjects from blurring. There is also a High Sensitivity scene mode that uses up to ISO 3200 settings for those low light shots without the flash.

White Balance (7.0)
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX50 has more manual control over white balance than would be expected from a mainly automatic point-and-shoot digital camera. There are Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Halogen, and White Set (custom) modes, as well as a fine tuning adjustment available in the preset modes. Pushing the joystick toward the exposure compensation icon three times enables the white balance fine tuning. There are 21 steps from -1500 to +1500 Kelvin temperature from red to blue. There is a live view, of course, so making this adjustment is simple. The custom setting is also simple to set with the on-screen directions. Overall, the white balance selection is decent and seems to be accurate too.

Shutter Speed (0.0)
The Panasonic FX50 does not allow users to manually adjust the shutter speed most of the time. There are a few exceptions. The Starry Sky mode has choices of very lengthy exposures: 15, 30, and 60 seconds. There is also a Slow Shutter option in all of the recording modes except Starry Sky, Night Scenery, and Fireworks. The Slow Shutter lets users choose between four options: 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, and 1 second. Besides these two manual adjustments, the shutter speeds are otherwise controlled automatically between 8-1/2000th of a second. This is an adequate range for this type of digital camera.

Aperture (0.0)
The Panasonic FX50 has a two-step aperture system that cannot be manually controlled at all. Instead, the camera chooses either f/2.8 or f/8 at the widest focal length and f/5 or f/16 at the most telephoto. This two-step aperture setup doesn’t provide a lot of flexibility in terms of depth of field – especially when there is absolutely no manual control over it.