Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX580 Digital Camera Review

Color

Our first round of testing is for color accuracy, and like in so many of our other tests, the FX580 didn't perform very well at all. Test photos are shot under bright studio illumination, and we look at how far from the known color values of the X-rite ColorChecker chart the camera deviates. More on how we test color.

The chart below shows how each of the cameras, in their most accurate color modes, compare to the ideal values shown in the leftmost column. As the comparison graph below shows, the Panasonic was substantially less accurate than the other cameras in our comparison group. It had significant trouble dealing with blues, oranges, red and some dark greens.

Color Modes

Most cameras have a set of color modes, like Vivid or Soft, which change the emphasis of the colors, and often shift the saturation. The FX580 doesn't have any of these. It does let you tweak contrast, sharpness, saturation and noise reduction, though, which mimics many of the effects of color modes.