I was in the Royal Marines for 11 yrs. I retired to study geophysics and have been a freelance con...
I was in the Royal Marines for 11 yrs. I retired to study geophysics and have been a freelance consultant since 1980. I live with my wife in West Dorset and travel through my work about 6 mths per year. I have worked in over 50 countries worldwide.
Member since:20.03.2003
Reviews:33
Members who trust:4
I am the proud owner of this Lumix and love it to bits.I have had 3 previous digital cameras.
The first was a huge Casio QV 3500 EX (see my previous review) which I purchased in 2000 and is a museum piece now - how rapidly these machines have advanced since then. Even at 3 Megapix it did take some great photos though.
The second which I purchased in 2004 was a much more modern Pentax - great little camera but I lost it and the reason was that it was in one of those velcro wallets which you are supposed to put on your belt.
I know it must have fallen off when I was getting out of my car and I didn't notice. I will never use a velcro strap attachment again.
This LUMIX camera has a loop to slide through your belt if you are a bloke, I don't know how the ladies carry them. I keep mine on my belt a great deal but more often I just stick it in my trouser or coat pocket. It is only mobile phone size. Also
the camera wallet which was suppied has a wonderful magnetic snap-shut lid which has never failed and I see little likelihood of it falling out.
My 3rd camera which I bought in 2006 was a red Casio Exilim EX-S770. It was super slim and super cool. However I found the picture image quality to be poor and I wasn't happy with it. I would have kept it for a while I suppose but I left it in the seat magazine pocket of an Emirates Airbus on my way home so that was the end of that.
I need a camera every day in my work and decided to buy one in Singapore Airport. For anyone lucky enough to go to Singapore, their airport has to be one of the best airport shopping sites and indeed best most relaxing airports in the world. Their duty-free electrical goods are very comprehensive and I asked the salesman which camera he would recommend. Without hesitation he said "the Lumix" and he showed me one adding "everyone is buying them."
Well despite the fact that he was a salesman and salesmen often sell according to the profit they make rather than the quality of the product, I believed him and I think he really knew his cameras, unlike most of our superstore salesmen in UK today.
Now I would like to pause at this juncture, and say that I have read the excellent review of this camera by Rik 12345 called "Prince of Digital" and agree with almost everything he said. He does a wonderful technical description of the camera and some diehard reviewers may frown, but to avoid repetition, I would ask anyone wanting the hard technocrat details, to read his review too.
I offer this review as a hands on user who is not very careful with the tools of his trade and therefore needs his tools to be rugged and reliable. I literally chuck mine around. and it comes back for more and still looks as good as new - well almost. (it is a handsome black and silver model )
What is more it never seems to need recharging - if I go away for a month and take 500 shots plus 20 or thirty film clips it never runs dry. I have given up packing my charger.
I also wisely bought a 1 Gb memory card. I couldn't possibly use it all up plus I am always downloading most of it on to my PC. I carry the originally supplied card as a spare just in case the 1GB card crashes - unlikely I think though.
The beauty of it is its simplicity. Switch it on, turn the dial to play - switch it one lick clockwise to see the result and when you get home take out the card and download it - no camera power needed for this operation.
Do I have any criticisms. Yes I do but I am a professional critic and it is easy to be critical of anything if you so wish.
Number One Complaint. My aging eyes don't see through the large viewfinder easily in bright daylight. That isn't Panasonic's fault. I tend to point and shoot knowing that if the picture is a bit lopsided I can easily take two or three and edit the best one on my Laptop later.
Number Two Complaint. I use the camera for family, friends and hobbies too , of course.
I had the opportunity to picture some wonderful tropical butterflies whilst in Papua New Guinea this year. I tried the Macro setting, and the results were always disappointing.They were OK but didn't display that crystal clear clarity you see in professional photographs. In the end, I used just the bog-standard normal setting and got better results.
I suppose if I were to be more serious about it or if I was a "twitcher" I would use a more professional camera with the lense quality to deal with that sort of situation.
But really for everyday photographs, this camera is a winner for me and has hardly ever let me down.
Number Three Compaint I am not a techno-nerd and find the many features difficult to access in a hurry which is when I need them. I nearly always use it in the more basic modes. It is hard to see how Panasonic could make it simpler to explain all the many features in this tiny piece of modern-day electronic wizardry.
Despite my own lack of high-techskills I have no doubt that it would give hours of excitment to nthose that possess them.
In summary, I will keep this camera, even if 10 megapixels or more would become out of date. I am perfectly happy with the picture quality of this camera and unless I lose it or it becomes a battered mess due to the way I treat it, I won't buy a replacement.
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Advantages: ease of use, image quality, build quality, large LCD monitor, stylish design Disadvantages: does not perform so well using zoom and flash combined, small memory card
Advantages: High quality images, Optical image stabilisation, wide angle lens, compact, light, easy to use Disadvantages: Perhaps a tad small, noise level.
Advantages: ease of use, image quality, build quality, large LCD monitor, stylish design Disadvantages: does not perform so well using zoom and flash combined, small memory card
Advantages: High quality images, Optical image stabilisation, wide angle lens, compact, light, easy to use Disadvantages: Perhaps a tad small, noise level.
Dec 23rd, 2007
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