Review on Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 14 by Diane Hubert

the first Panasonic. I really like it because it comes in an incredibly small and thin package. Of course it's not perfect, but no camera is perfect. After playing around with it for a while, here are my thoughts: Color: I was a bit skeptical before ordering the purple camera, but I really like it. To tell the truth, I was a little tired from the endless parade of silver cameras and was ready for something new. This lilac is not caramel lilac, but looks quite classy and pleasantly reserved, especially with the matt metallic finish. Pros: size and weight. The FH20 is ideal for those looking for lightness. I still can't believe how they packed so many features into such a small and light package (sorry for repeating myself). Price. At around $170 this is a very good deal and the price influenced my decision to buy this camera. If you look at other brands and models, most cost a little more with comparable megapixels and zoom. The combination of 14 megapixels and 8x optical zoom is great and was another deciding factor for me. I'm planning to take this camera with me on my upcoming vacation and feel it offers the versatility I'll probably need when shooting all sorts of scenes. It is better to carry a heavy and bulky Canon Powershot SX10IS. The autofocus is fast and accurate. Locks securely in place even in low light, much better than any of my previous cameras including the Canon SX10IS mentioned above. One of my favorite features of this camera! Easy to use. I didn't really need to consult the manual, which by the way is only available in PDF format on CD. The printed manual included in the scope of delivery only covers the basic functions. But as I said, working with the camera is very simple and logical. At first I was a little apprehensive about the tiny size of the camera and the small buttons that come with it, but it works very well and I do NOT have particularly small hands :-) - Lots of scene modes available for almost every imaginable situation. There are even two different portrait and landscape modes (i.e. landscape) - Normal and Night! Cons (if you can call it that): - No manual control of aperture and shutter speed. Personally, I don't see that as a downside just because this camera wasn't designed for these types of photographers, but I know some people who like this option, so I'm including it on my list for that reason only. that image noise is very dependent on the zoom setting, even at lower ISO settings like ISO80 or ISO100. While the camera shoots impressively well at short focal lengths and low ISOs, it doesn't fare as well at longer focal lengths (with digital zoom). This isn't too much of a problem when printing regular 4x6 or 5x7 prints, but enlarging an image taken at full zoom can be problematic. That's more or less the same with every camera, of course, but I still feel (admittedly subjective) that the FH20 doesn't do the job and has the same noise level (if not more) than my 4 year old Canon Powershot. A700 6 megapixel digital camera with 6x optical zoom. It disappointed me a little. The white balance didn't work for me either. Images taken indoors often have a very yellow tint that looks unnatural. However, the white balance settings can be changed and also allow for manual adjustment, so this isn't too much of a problem. Conclusion: Overall I am very satisfied with this camera. I did a lot of research before buying and I still think the combination of price, size, weight and features is hard to beat. With every camera there is something that one likes and another not much, often it's a subjective compromise. But anyone looking for a great, lightweight, feature-packed camera will probably not be disappointed if he/she remembers that this is a true point-and-shoot camera for people who want to take good pictures without having to photograph lesson first. Finally, when looking for a camera bag for the FH20, I compared many sizes of different bags to make sure they would fit the FH20. In the end, I chose the ultra-compact Caselogic TBC-302 camera bag with storage compartment (magenta). It fits and gets the job done without the extra weight and also holds a spare battery. Just thought I'd add that in case you don't want to search for the right case for too long.