Panasonic's new 10-megapixel compact camera can do everything but cook your dinner in full auto-mode. Check out our in-depth Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 review.
Review summary of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20:
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 The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 has one of the best automatic modes we've seen, and its innovative control scheme solidifies it as a truly intuitive camera. Unfortunately, image quality doesn't similarly stand out, and Panasonic's noise-management (or lack thereof) continues to disappoint. For easy-as-pie photography, the DMC-FS20 nevertheless could fit the bill, as its as true to the point-and-shoot ideal as current cameras get. Release: February 2008. Price: $250.
Pros: Joystick control. Optical image-stabilization. Excellent automatic mode.
Cons: Problems with noise. Washed-out color reproduction.
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Full Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 Review:
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Design - Good
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 is a relatively nondescript camera (compare it to competing models). Button layout is typical of the point-and-shoot mold, with shutter and power buttons on top and the bulk of the controls on the back, next to the sizable 3.0-inch LCD viewfinder. We liked the inclusion of a twist-zoom around the shutter release and the power switch, which felt more responsive than a typical power button.
There is one surprise found on the camera's back. Instead of a standard four-way controller, Panasonic has instead opted for a four-way joystick. It's just the right size and works quite well, so we can only hope that other manufactures might follow suit; either a joystick or a wheel is considerably more refined than a jumble of buttons. The body itself is small, with a nice thumb-grip on back and a finger-hold running down the front-right. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 didn't particularly impress us as cool or aesthetic, but it is a perfectly usable design, which is ultimately more important.
Interface - Very good
Thanks to its twist-zoom and joystick control, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 handles far better than an average compact. Panasonic has also included a button labeled 'E.ZOOM' that instantly brings the lens to its maximal zoom. This isn't an earth-shattering feature, but it does get to 4x zoom faster than manually zooming (~one second vs. ~two seconds). There are also individual buttons for selecting modes, system settings and shooting parameters, so it's quite easy to skirt around the camera's sundry menus and functions.
Boot-up was just under three seconds, and power-down was a little bit quicker than that, both of which are slightly above average for the market. The shutter-release was decently responsive: in good light, the auto-focus typically locked within one second, but in low-light the camera was often subject to three or four seconds of focal waffling as the AF tried to lock. Regardless, once focus was locked or set to manual, there was no discernible delay between pressing the shutter and taking the exposure. There's also a 'Quick AF' feature that keeps the auto-focuser constantly locked, even on moving subjects, and this essentially nullifies AF delay.
The LCD screen is one of the camera's selling points. It's big, bright and relatively free of noise, even in low-light situations. It isn't the most fluid display we've seen – the image tends to judder even in a decent amount of light – but its size and luminance more than make up for it.
Features - Very good
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 doesn't have smile shutters or panorama assist, but it does have more subtle additions to its point-and-shoot feature set that, arguably, go even further. In addition to standard face detection, the camera has an all-out scene detection mode, which determines what sort of scene mode best fits the present conditions. For a simple example, low lighting = nighttime mode.
In theory, this should obsolete having to blunder through pages and pages of ridiculously specific scene modes, and it's an evolutionary step towards point-and-shoot cameras that you can literally point and shoot and still get good pictures. Granted, Panasonic doesn't seem that confident in the feature, as the DMC-FS20 still has 21 independent scene-modes intended for everything from 'candlelight' to 'aerial photos.' Still, eventually scene detection will supplant this scene-mode glut altogether, and the DMC-FS20 has taken a step in a good direction.
Scene detection is funneled into the camera's 'Intelligent Auto' mode, which also uses automated image-stabilization, ISO selection, face detection, red-eye removal and backlight compensation to render itself as close to fool-proof as cameras currently get. The caveat to all this is that the camera has very little manual control beyond ISO and white balance selection, but the full-auto mode worked so well that having manual control on a point-and-shoot camera might be becoming a moot point.
Image quality - Good
The Panasonic DMC-FS20 is designed for simplicity, and on that front it delivers. Its image quality isn't exceptional, but its ease-of-use and, more importantly, its ability to take good snapshots with practically zero setup is pretty exceptional. For taking off-the-cuff shots at a sporting event or no-fuss documents of a trip, the full-auto ease of the DMC-FS20 could be a good choice.
Panasonic has had issues with noise in the past, and while the DMC-FS20 isn't quite a botch in this department, it's still well below average for a modern compact. Noise is readily apparent at ISO-100, the lowest available sensitivity, and to our surprise, it appears that low-level noise reduction is applied even at ISO-200 (most cameras reserve visible noise reduction, which also reduces fine detail, for ISO-800 and up). Distortion becomes depreciative at ISO-400, and by 800 we could see the peculiar green splotches endemic to the Panasonic cameras we've reviewed.
Scene test
This is a good result from our scene sample. Detail is high throughout the brick edifice, and while there is some haloing along the edges of the house, this is kept to a minimum. There is, however, more noise in the shaded areas than we'd like to see in an ISO-100 exposure.
Edge test #1
Edge test #2
We turned intelligent-auto off for this edge test, so that we could force an overexposed background. This is a difficult scenario for any lens, and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 performed well, all considering. Blooming and diffraction are present throughout the photo, but never to a surprising degree. This second test, taken at 4x, is excellent, with very little aberration but with appreciably sharp edges. The detail in the bird is also decently preserved.
Context
Macro test
The macro feature performed well. This is once again more noise than we would have expected from an ISO-100 photograph, and overall the colors are somewhat muted. Still, detail in the berries is good, and the background is nicely defocused.
Price and availability
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 will start selling for $250 () in February 2008.
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