The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS25 camera is an excellent point and shoot camera. It delivers on what it promises. The Intelligent Auto feature works really well in a range of shooting environments. One button at the top of the camera toggles between the iA function and last camera setting. Face detection and auto focus (AF) tracking on moving objects are quite cool features and useful features, especially when you are trying to get a good snap of your kids or pets. The camera works smoothly on MacOS X with iPhoto (although the boxed PHOTOfunSTUDIO software only works on a PC but you don't need or want it if you have a Mac). The photo quality is excellent. It's has a 3X optical zoom, and that's all I really need (it also has a digital zoom). The backlit display gives you a realistic preview of what you're capturing I don't miss a viewfinder even outdoors in bright light. Burst shooting with and without flash works well, although the photo res is reduced in this mode. The video recording is better than nearly all point and shoots in the price range (although it is not as great of the Lumix LX3 at approximately twice the list price of DMC-FS25) allowing for 16:9 wide-screen video recording: WVGA (848 x 480) at 30 frames per second. It also takes standard 4:3 (640 x 480) video. For charging you need to take the battery out of the camera, but the charger is quite small and it is compatible with worldwide 110-240V power, although you still need to bring a plug adapter. I've had my camera for several weeks (used it daily for photos and video) and I have only had to charged once after the initial charge up. The battery door looks delicate but it should be fine with normal use. In general the build quality is high, the black brush look is very cool, and the camera feels great to hold. It is much easier to slip into your pocket than the Lumix-TZ5. My DMC-FS25 outperforms my previous Sony Cybershot DSC P200 . The SD memory card is great. I have a 8GB SD card. You can get a lot more GB storage for less $ than with Sony's memory sticks.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS25 is great camera! The advanced features are definitely worth the extra dollars from the Lumix DMC-FS15 or DMC-FS7 models.The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS25 is a great camera for the money! Similar cameras with the same megapixels, features, and zoom ran much more when I was looking to buy a new camera. It feels durable in your hands, looks classy, and is a nice size; not too small but small enough to fit in my husband's pants pocket. We mainly use this camera for get-togethers with friends and family and vacations. Actually, the day we got this camera in the mail we left for a vacation to Florida. It took great pictures on the beach, of sunsets, and on a boat tour at night. It has a very nice zoom for a point-and-shoot camera and all of our pictures from our vacation turned out great! We were getting compliments on it our entire trip! We previously had a FujiFilm J10 and this camera is SO much better. It was easy to see the screen even in bright sunlight on the beach. The shutter speed is good (much better than the Fuji was). I had no problems taking pictures of my fast-moving niece. The video feature is good as well, don't buy the camera for this feature, but for short clips it gets the job done with audio and no delays. I have not read the manual that comes with the camera yet but flipping through it I found many more features that are not mentioned in the product description that looked neat. The software that came with the camera, PhotoFunStudio is easy to use and integrates well with a PC. I was able to still save all of the photos in MyPictures but access them through the Panasonic software. The battery life is great as well, it was charged right before our trip two weeks ago and has not been charged yet and we have taken about 300 photos in those two weeks!
I would recommend this camera to people who want a quality camera that takes great pictures of everyday moments, special occasions, and vacations. It takes excellent pictures; did not miss a moment of our vacation and worked well when snapping pictures of my toddler niece.Bought one of these cameras for myself. I took it on vacation and once I saw the ease of use and the resulting photos, I was so impressed that I bought two more as Christmas gifts for my son and daughter. They are also very impressed with their new cameras.
The pictures are very crisp (Leica lens) and the "Intelligent Auto" adjusts the camera exposure settings to produce a better photo than all but the most serious photographer could have done. The menus and controls could be a bit easier to use, but most of the time you will just press the "IA" (Intelligent Auto) button right there on top. The camera is just the right size, compact and very thin. Any smaller would be hard to hold properly.
The lens also provides a very usable zoom range. In my old 35mm days, I shot most pictures with lenses between 28 & 110mm. This camera gives you a zoom that just covers that range. If you want a long telephoto lens, or 15/1 zoom, look elsewhere.
Anyone looking for a small compact snapshot camera, that takes great photos with a minimum input from the user, should be very happy with one of these.I bought this camera to be something I could pop into my pocket so I didn't have to lug around my DSLR. The photos are decent enough but my biggest gripe is the build quality (and maybe the slow focus). I bought this back in September and by the end of October and about maybe 1000 images, the lens would not retract back into the camera after shooting. I sent it back to Amazon and got a replacement. Here it is February and I just sent that one back to Panasonic. Now the lens will not always extend when the camera is turned on and I get a message to turn the camera off, then on again. When the lens does this I have to turn the camera off and on 3 or 4 times before I can shoot. In addition to this a few weeks ago I noticed an attached ring that surrounds the lens started to detach from the camera. Every time I put the camera in my pocket this became more and more detached to the point I had to remove it since it was barely hanging on.
My overall impression of this camera is that it's just not made very well. My old small Canon that was handed down to someone else is a tank compared to this. I took the Canon on the Appalachian trail in all kinds of weather. I really don't know if I could ever trust this Lumix for that kind of trip.I love this camera! It's actually the second one I bought...had its predecessor for a couple years, then gave that one to my spouse and got this new one for myself. The viewer-LCD is huge and it takes great photos and video with sound. Only complaints: Not great getting video in darker conditions (even with increased exposure) and you can't zoom once you start a video. I'd recommend taking the time to go through the User's Guide to get a handle on all the features--many more than I'll ever use.
In spite of the couple video shortcomings, I love it and highly recommend it if you want a fairly easy-to-use camera that's small and fun.
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