Panasonic's hybrid touch-screen compact is put to the full test. Read the full Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 review here.
Review summary of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500:
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 Hybrid touch-screen functionality is what the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 is all about and we had mixed feelings about its performance within the shooting aspects of this camera. Playback with the touch-screen interface was highly intuitive, and we got much more out of the image review feature than adjusting the shutter speed and aperture via onscreen slider bars. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 is sleek, sexy and highly portable. We liked certain design elements like the shutter button zoom toggle and 25mm wide-angle lens. However, image quality was not up to par, even when compared to members of its own family tree. We highly recommend taking the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 for a test drive if you're hell-bent on a touch-screen interface, though we'd opt for Panasonic's interface over Sony's any day. Release: May 2008. Price: $400.
Pros: Great touch-screen Playback functionality. Nice 25mm wide-angle lens. Highly portable and good-looking.
Cons: Panasonic’s hybrid touch-screen compact is put to the full test. Read the full Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 review here.
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67%
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Full Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 Review:
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Design - Good
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 looks like any other slab of brushed metal in its class, sporting a rigid rectangular chassis and pronounced circular lens platform. However, it's what's in the back that distinguishes the Lumix DMC-FX500 from the typical higher end compact. We're talking about the 3-inch hybrid touch-screen LCD. Then what's with the joystick, you ask? We'll tackle the Lumix DMC-FX500's hybrid functionality in a minute. This camera is super small and weighs in at just under half a pound. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 managed to find its way into our front jeans pocket, and its feathery weight made us forget that we were toting along a compact 10-megapixel box.
We liked the shutter button zoom toggle and the On/Off switch allowed us to keep the camera in a standby state with a mere half-tap of the shutter button to wake it from its slumber. We weren't very fond of the flash placement because our fingers had a tendency to obscure the light at times. Then again, everything is cramped on a pocket-sized point-and-shoot, so expect some road bumps along the Shot Composition Highway. We're major fans of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500's sexy looks, and this is one of the more appealing facades we've seen on a compact in quite a while. The Component/AV/DC jacks are secured by a rugged door, but the battery hatch is flimsy beyond compare, attached to the frame of the camera via a flexible plastic hinge. Overall, this is a solid design, but the camera's touch screen interface is the main attraction at this carnival.
Interface - Good
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500's warm bread and butter is its attractive 3-inch hybrid touch-screen LCD, dominating the glossy black panel along the camera's backside. What Panasonic means by "hybrid" is that the Lumix DMC-FX500 shares its tasks with the neighboring joystick that is embedded to the right of the LCD. This might be slightly bewildering for most shooters, and we had our hang-ups initially. Navigationally, the touch-screen functionality only came into play when we wanted to select a particular shooting mode or Scene mode. We still had to use the joystick to access the Main and Q. menus, and our first inclination was to touch every option onscreen. There we were, standing in the middle of the sidewalk mashing upon unresponsive controls, adding more fingerprints to an already cloudy display.
The hot touch-screen finally came into play when we wanted to make image adjustments, but only a select few were supported. Like Sony, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 allowed us to touch a particular region on the screen we wanted to focus on and the camera would hone right in. The touch focus was surprisingly accurate and we were able to shift focus points rather quickly. In Manual mode, we were able to set the shutter speed and aperture via horizontal and vertical slider bars. We liked the ability to smoothly shift the parameters of each control without having to feverishly tap the joystick, but we found it quite difficult to fine-tune the exact shutter speed or aperture stop we wanted because of the jumpy nature of the slider bars. In Shutter and Aperture Priority modes, the sliders do not move in tandem, which completely negates the purpose of both modes. We had to manually select each value, which made shooting in either mode pointless.
Playback was more suited to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500's touch-screen operation, and our favorite feature was the ability to drag an image around with our finger instead of using the sluggish joystick. Of course the joystick can be used in nearly every place the touch-screen can, but we found the touch-screen functionality to especially shine in Playback mode. We were able to touch to zoom, scroll through image indexes, and pretty much operate all Playback menus with our fingers. Of course the Main and Q. menus were not supported by the touch-screen, but most of our actions transpired outside of those menus. If Panasonic could somehow inject more touch-screen into the shooting half of the deal, we'd have a fairly competitive hotrod on our hands. As it stands, we still prefer Panasonic's touch-screen to Sony's. It's much quicker, smoother and welcoming. Unfortunately, based on what we saw with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX580 in Miami this year, the touch-screen was devoid of any enhancements.
Features - Good
Amidst all of the touch-screen fluff, we mustn't forget about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500's other treasure chest goodies, like Auto Focus Tracking. We were highly impressed with the Lumix DMC-FX500's performance, as our subject remained framed no matter how quickly we jolted the camera about. This was ideal for moving subjects and the accuracy with which the Auto Focus tracking exhibited was commendable. We also had good luck with the Lumix DMC-FX500's Intelligent Auto Scene Detection mode, though only in bright light. If we buried the camera in the face of a subject of object, it would automatically engage Macro mode. In low light, we couldn't get the Lumix DMC-FX500 to recognize the fact that there was an exceedingly minimal amount of light within the frame.
We liked the fact that we could shoot in 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 aspect ratios for creative purposes, but Panasonic's Color Effects were a little lame compared to what Canon brings to the table. The good news is that we were able to adjust Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation and Noise Reduction, which are features found on the high end Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 also has an extensive selection of focusing modes, including Face Detection, 9 Area and Spot. The Auto White Balance performed well in nearly all shooting situations, but we stumbled across certain environments that required a manual adjustment, especially warm low light scenes. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 is not loaded with features, as this camera is more of an Auto all-star than a power shooter champion.
Hardware - Good
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 is equipped with a standard 10-megapixel 1/2.33" CCD, which is quite common within this class of compacts. Panasonic has recently retaliated in the megapixel wars with the new 12-megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX580. Both cameras sport the same size sensor, but different processing, so it will be interesting to see what a little overhauled circuitry will do.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 manages to pack in a 5x optical zoom, which was sufficient enough for many shots, but if you're looking for stalker-grade magnification, the Lumix DMC-FX500 is not the ticket. The Lumix DMC-FX500's lens is a 25mm wide-angle, so we were able to frame a lot more content into our shots. A rechargeable Lithium Ion battery powers the Lumix DMC-FX500 and the camera captures images to SD/SDHC cards.
One disappointing trait is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500's Power On to first shot time, which clocked in at around three seconds. The second shot fired off slightly quicker, but we found that this camera will take its sweet time depending on what mode we shot in. In Sports mode using the flash, we missed out on some crucial subway shots because the Lumix DMC-FX500 was too busy processing what it just captured.
Image Quality - Good
It appears as though Panasonic poured so much of their time and effort into the design of the Lumix DMC-FX500's interface that image quality was left on the back burner. Well, we found that it wasn't entirely left for dead, but we've seen better performances from the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 and Lumix DMC-FS5, two 10-megapixel peers that sport the same 1/2.33" CCDs. The pillar of our complaints constituted the detection of a moderate level of noise throughout every image. Dynamic range performance also wasn't too hot, but most cameras in this price range cannot handle severe contrasts. Colors and detail were solid, but at full resolution we couldn't help but be introduced to a heavy dosage of noise. Even in bright light the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 performed exhibited a smidgen of noise here and there.
Scenes
Financial District Scenery
In very amicable lighting, albeit no glaring sun, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 performs well, but this image is far from perfect. In Program AE, the camera would often choose a wide aperture, which compromised the overall focus of objects at different depth levels. The fopcused portion of this image is sharp, but there's still noise lurking about the entire frame. We could have used a little more detail in the shrubberies, but this is still a decent performance for a basic imager.
Soup and Burger
At full resolution, we get a large helping of noise with a side of underexposure with this image. We'd actually rather have a burger, but amateur nature of this image makes us lose our appetite. Colors are fine, but sharpness is faltering and noise levels are just gobbling this image up.
Yawning Lion in Truck with Old Man
Again, noise is the primary issue in this image. We love the naturalistic color palette and exposure inside the truck is great. The sky is a bit blown out, but that can be attributed to the dynamic range plague attributed to many compacts in this class.
Color and Detail
Fiesta
Goop Thing
We've been very impressed with Panasonic color, and it's beginning to give Canon some serious competition. The first image handles hues quite well, and there's no bleeding or washing out within the sequins of the hat or the neon bars. We do run into some issues with the sequins that have caught the sunlight, as they seem to be glowing. This is not a huge dilemma though, and noise levels are surprisingly low. The second image displays an excellent color performance with vibrant, crisp hues. However, the figure is blown out in certain areas, which wash some of the color out. Regardless, the focused portion of the figure is a prime example of stellar Panasonic color.
Brooklyn Bridge
Who's to say the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 couldn't deliver in the sharpness arena? There's virtually no fringing along the cables of this classic piece of architecture, which is highly commendable for a camera in this class. We do get treated to a hefty amount of noise, which is exploding along the bricks. Also, we could have used a little more exposure, but shooting with a tripod in Manual mode would have solved that issue. Still, this is not a bad image for merely pointing at the bridge and firing off a single shot.
Boombox Macro
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 has a great Macro mode that allowed us to bury the camera into the supersonic speaker of this vintage sound machine. Detail at full resolution is very good, but it's not top notch. Overall, this is an impressive macro performance.
Low Light
Graffiti at Dusk
Thanks to the expiring light of another brisk New York day coupled with a few streetlights, we were able to achieve a killer exposure with this image, though at full resolution we found the focus to be lacking. This was due to the fact that the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 had to drop the shutter speed in order to accommodate the lack of illumination. Still, this is a decent performance for night time shooting with a compact.
The Sluggish R Train
We jumped into Manual mode, engaged the flash, and pumped the ISO to 800 in order to capture this image at a shutter speed slow enough to accommodate the movement of the train. Unfortunately, we're left with a blurry mess of an image at full resolution, but focus is great. The already sloth-like R Train is trapped in time, thanks to the swift shutter of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500. Action shots are not this camera's strengths.
Trophy World
A Candlelit Gathering
In extreme low light we experienced difficulty with exposure, and the first image reveals poor dynamic range via the underexposed shadows beneath the façade and blown out neon signs. Noise is also hyperactive in this image, so it really depends on the lighting at night in order to capture an acceptable image. The flash solved many issues for us, but the images looked unnatural. In the second image, we attempted to use the Candlelight Scene mode, but we achieved better results in Program AE mode. Exposure is too low and the overall color temperature leans far toward the warm side. We also could have used a little more sharpness, but the color gradation within the candle is fairly smooth.
Price and availability
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 can be found online for approximately $260.
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