Reviews4,313 Reviews

All Reviews > Hardware > Cameras > Compact cameras

PC Advisor Best Buy

April 19, 2007

Panasonic DMC-FX12

The FX12's styling has a distinctly retro flavour. With its clean lines and simple layout it harks back to traditional film cameras of the past. But there's nothing old-fashioned about the Panasonic's specification. This includes a 7.2Mp sensor capable of still image captures just over 3,000 pixels across and video clips up to 848x480.

The FX12 features customary Leica glassware and a 3x optical zoom (35–105mm in 35mm terms). It's fitted with an f2.8-f5.0 aperture spread and an optical-stabilisation system that effectively smooths out small amounts of camera shake.

There's a respectable array of ISO settings on offer, maxing out at 1,250. You get a broad range of shutter speeds, too. These venture from 60 seconds to 1/2,000th of a second, although it's a shame there's no manual exposure control to capitalise on this. More usefully, the FX12 stocks a sizable assortment of automatic and manual scene modes. Build quality and comfort levels are extremely high. And if there are compromises, these would concern only the slightly ponderous startup and zoom times and a 2.5in screen with a lower resolution than the others. But while the LCD may lack a little detail, the photographs it produces certainly don't.

We were nothing but impressed with the FX12's performance. Fringing is only slight, white balance is highly adept and noise levels are well managed. Indeed, images remain surprisingly clean up to an ISO setting of 400. Venture beyond this, however, and the noise-reduction function starts to eat into detail. In short, the Panasonic FX12 is a gem of a camera. It has balanced specifications, impressive image quality and, at £170, is fantastic value for money.

Read PC Advisor's review of Adobe Photoshop PS3 here. More digital photography news, reviews tips and tricks here.

VERDICT >
1 | 2 | NEXT >

null null

Keep up to date by adding PC Advisor Reviews to your iGoogle home page or Google Reader

What is this?

Subscribe to PC Advisor now and claim your FREE gift

Question of the day!

Does your smartphone replace your need for a laptop when on the move?

Question of the day!

Does your smartphone replace your need for a laptop when on the move?

% of PC Advisor readers agree with you

Yes
TBC
No
TBC

What tasks can your smartphone do that would have traditionally been done on a laptop?

119 characters remaining

Follow the conversation at @SmartphoneFocus

web browsing, search facilities, voip, email, word processing everything RT @Graham_D_C

Mainly email but getting better at spreadsheets etc, RT @IDGdan

Total reviews: 4,313

See product specs

expert rating

Build quality

4.5/5

Features

4/5

Value for money

5/5

Overall

4.5/5

expert rating

Panasonic DMC-FX12

READER REVIEWS


Google


Recent reviews

Reviews index


Latest reader reviews

Latest reader reviews


Top news

News index


Latest blog entries

Blogs index


Sponsored Content

  • Take the internet to new places with the Nokia N800
    Communicate how you want to, where you want to with instant messaging, email and internet calling. View movies, browse the internet wirelessly and watch TV on the high-resolution screen and listen through high-quality stereo speakers with headphone jack.
    Buy now