Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS15 12MP Digital Camera with 5x MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Black)

My purchase was the result of a month or more of research. My goal was to find an ultracompact camera for $200 or less that would produce very good images and provide a wide angle lens with at least 4X optical zoom. I learned photography on a Nikon FT2 SLR and although I enjoyed selecting aperture and shutter speed for each shot I was willing to give into an automode digital camera for the sake of convenience and speed. So the search began. Canon seemed to be the obvious choice at 1st, but after handling a few of the different models, I found them to feel not solidly built. Yes the reviews are good but I was never one to follow the masses. So I began to look at Nikon and Panasonic. Nikons just don't seem to have the quality they were once noted for and the reviews were just OK. So I looked at the Lumix with a Leica lens. The price was right and a wide angle 29mm to 145 mm, 5X optical. Nice. Reviews were not as numerous as the Canons but indicated good satisfaction on the part of owners. So I took the plunge. This seems to be a very versatile camera. A point and shoot at its best. More importantly I'm having fun taking pictures again. I can't comment on image quality/noise as I have not enlarged any images so far but quite frankly it probably will be a non issue for me as I am not a professional and just need a clear images to record events, people, and maybe a video or two. So far I'm very happy with the camera features. The IA setting allows you to shoot away without worrying about selecting scene modes with very good results. The LCD is bright and clear. Love the placement of the control buttons. I have large hands and have no problems with the small buttons. The menus are very easy to follow even without reviewing the manual. The flash is more than adequate. I got some great portraits using it in doors. I shot a video off the TV zoomed at 5x and wow it came out great and was very stable. I purchased a Transcend 8 gig memory card with a USB reader for the camera. Worked great with my Macbook 1st try. Camera start up is very quick. Image reviewing is easy and fast. I'm looking forward to trying out different modes and options. This is going to be a favorite for me with travel, sporting events, and family photos. The size and weight is optimal for the shirt or jacket pocket. I found a few of the Canons to be too small for my hands. Also, most of the Canon line only have a 2.5 inch LCD vs a 2.7 inch LCD in the Lumix. You also have to pay a $50 + premium for wide angle and a 5X zoom in the Canon. So this was a good buy IMHO. I plan to post a few images in the near future. Panasonic name has always been good to me. Good job Pany!! A great camera. Also...see Panasonic.com for a free 4 gig card and camera case when you purchase this camera. Highly recommended.

I have a Canon A650, which is pretty large. I wanted something smaller, something that could fit in my pocket. It also had to be wide-angle (so you don't have people getting cut out of group shots), have a fair amount of optical zoom, a 2.7" or greater LCD, ability to shoot movies, optical image stabilization, an orientation sensor (so I can have a program auto-rotate those shots where I'm holding the camera vertically), and use SD memory (which I already have). The Panasonic FS15 really seemed like the only camera with all those features, at least in this price range. I'm sure there are more expensive cameras with these features. There was also the Sony W220 in the same price range, but that one has a little less optical zoom and apparently doesn't have an orientation sensor, and it also doesn't use SD memory. Some of the Casio Exilim cameras also have most of those features, but then I've read that they don't remember the date/time after you take out the battery, so I didn't bother to consider them. So I got the FS15, and took various test shots with it. On my wall I have 15 pieces of paper, 3 rows each with 5 pieces of paper. Each piece of paper has letters all over it, printed out in various font sizes. I took pictures of the big rectangle made out of these pieces of paper so that I could see how uniform the sharpness of the lens is. I have done this before with other cameras, and in some cameras, some of the letters look sharp in some areas but blurry in other areas of the photo. The photos I took with the FS15 look OK in the center and top-left (but it is not as sharp as my Canon A650). But the letters start to get blurry as you move to the bottom and right portions of the photos. The bottom-right is the blurriest part of the photos (and these pictures were taken with the flash on). In addition, the letters on the right side and the bottom parts of the photos have blue-ish edges as well as a soft yellow glow around them. The lens definitely has some issues. I don't expect it to be as good as the lens on my more expensive Canon A650, however, I do expect it to at least have uniform quality across the entire lens - but that is not the case here. I also took photos of various objects, with and without flash. With flash, the photos looked decent, although the flash seems a little weak (the same photos taken with my Canon A650 were brighter). Without flash, the photos have some serious noise problems. All of the photos I took without flash had a yellow hue to them. When I zoomed in 100% on them, I saw that there were small yellow blotches all over the place (one photo even had a bunch of purple spots in some areas). Walls that were supposed to be white looked yellow and disgusting. I checked my Canon A650 and it shows a tiny amount of yellowing when flash isn't used - the problem is much, much worse on the FS15. And these photos were taken at ISO400 (on both the FS15 and A650), not an extremely high ISO. Looking around on the internet, this seems to be a problem with the Venus engine used by Panasonic cameras - it apparently does not handle sub-optimal lighting conditions very well. Outdoors, I took a few photos on a sunny day and they looked good. I also took a few photos on a cloudy day in the late afternoon, and they weren't very sharp - a little bit blurry. The menu system is kind of annoying. You would think that the "Menu/Set" button in the middle would be the one you press to go to a submenu, but it's not. If you press that, it cancels out of the menu system. So in conclusion, I am disappointed with this camera. If you are going to use it outdoors and/or always use the flash, then it might be OK for you. Otherwise your photos might have a yellow hue to them and/or be blurry. Then there's the problem with lens uniformity. I will probably return this, and try a more expensive camera, one that is not a Panasonic.

After having already owned and loved Panasonic cameras, my mother wanted one that was smaller than the old one (sorry don't have the model with me now). I have a DMC-FX07R that I purchased through Amazon in July of 2007 and still use. Everyone loves the photographs taken with it. The only problem I've noticed in the grainy look of pictures in poorly lit areas such as in a warehouse style shop where we often have family cook-outs. First of all the color of the camera itself is great. On a table of everyone's cameras, there is no mistaking which one we own. The LCD screen is fantastic. There are different settings that we have never needed to try because on regular settings you can always see it fine. Photographs come out clear. It is very easy to use and can be set for iSo to automatically adjust itself. I prefer to change the modes from sunny, cloudly, shade, etc. Always works great and I prefer to use her camera over mine now (for obvious reasons, more MP and better optical zoom). Absolutely worth the purchase, whether you want to use all the great features or not.