Why no FX5 talk?

[adder]

You know, I have to say though -- I haven't seen ANY digital camera
adds, commercials, etc., except that rather stupid and misleading
Minolta Z1 commercial (where the camera flies through the air to
show off its aerodynamics -- why? -- and they brag about it having
a 40x zoom when it only had a 10x zoom). Admittedly, I don't have
a subscription to Photography Magazine or anything of the sort, but
when it comes to advertising to John Q. Public, I don't think any
manufacturer is really doing much of that (other than buying store
shelf space).

--
Chris

Well "technically" it has a 40x zoom {10x optical + 4x didital} . But it is missleading. I do have a sub to a Photo mag (eDigitalPhoto) & regularlly read others, & your right manufactures don't do alot of adverts. AND most of the adds in the mags come from questionable stores. Whats worse is if y0u are looking for info, most of the time you can't even fond it ont the OEM web sites.
--
adder

 

[John_Reed]

Yes, that's kind of true, though I have seen Kodak and HP digital camera ads. Where I think other vendors make the difference is in developing a relationship with walk-in photo shops, where the salespeople will tout those cameras that they've been taught to like. I asked a salesman at a local Photo shop why they didn't carry Panasonic cameras. He said, "We don't carry cameras made by movie camera makers." I said, "What about Sony?" He shrugged. Sony has their foot in his door, Panasonic does not.

Well, Canon and Olympus don't rely on "word of mouth," and they
sell a helluva lot more cameras than Panasonic does, you can bet on
that! Odd thing about the "Circuit City" thing was, following
Adder's cue, I went to the Circuit City main site and put "DMC-FX5"
in the search window; it replied "Your search for 'DMC-FX5'
revealed 0 names." So I went to Price Grabber, looked up the same
phrase, and it returned Circuit City as one of three vendors (CC
was the cheapest price, at $399). I clicked on the link, and there
I was on an FX5 page within the Circuit City site. Go figure?

--
John Reed

I also found the same thing when looking for FZ1 and FZ10 prices.
Some pricing sites would say that Circuit City offered the FZ1 or
FZ10, but when I would click on the "Check Inventory" or "Buy Now"
link to make sure they had it and at what price, it said that it
couldn't find this item and suggested I select another item to buy.
Haha.

You know, I have to say though -- I haven't seen ANY digital camera
adds, commercials, etc., except that rather stupid and misleading
Minolta Z1 commercial (where the camera flies through the air to
show off its aerodynamics -- why? -- and they brag about it having
a 40x zoom when it only had a 10x zoom). Admittedly, I don't have
a subscription to Photography Magazine or anything of the sort, but
when it comes to advertising to John Q. Public, I don't think any
manufacturer is really doing much of that (other than buying store
shelf space).

--
Chris

--
John Reed

Panasonic DMC-FZ1 (w/FZ2 upgrade), Dusty Nikon CoolPix 4500

 

[Bluegrass]

Thanks!! Looking good.
bob

 

[jack scholl]

John,

Good to hear from you again. The exposure controls in "normal mode" on the FX5 are identical to the FZ10 with respect to exposure, auto bracket, w. balance, pic size, quality, spot mode, audio record, color effect, stabilizer, flip animation, and digital zoom. There are three major differences.
1. Sensitivity goes to ISO 200

2. "auto focus trigger" can select shutter vrs focus (sort of a focus lock) as opposed to cont AF
3. pic adjustment is for all 3 variables together, not separately.

"Simple mode" has a pict mode choice w/enlarge, 4x6 and email options and are what most of the shots posted were shot with which includes exp matrix metering.

The FX5 seems to like a -1/3 ev as does the FZ10. Must be a product of the Lumix sensor/algorythms combo. It is a nice solution for us.
Jack
http://www.pbase.com/jrs40

Thanks, Jack! A nice group of photos. Looks like Panasonic has the
exposure matrix pretty well figured out. Can you adjust exposure
bias on the FX5 like you can with FZ1 or FZ10?
--
John Reed

Panasonic DMC-FZ1 (w/FZ2 upgrade), Dusty Nikon CoolPix 4500

 

[John_Reed]

Pretty sweet combination, it seems. The FX5 could be the "poor man's LC1," only pocketable, and with an image stabilizer! Sounds like you're taken with the camera? ;-)
--
John Reed

Panasonic DMC-FZ1 (w/FZ2 upgrade), Dusty Nikon CoolPix 4500

 

[jack scholl]

I've turned into a "Stabilization Junkie". . if it isn't stabilized, I won't be buying it in the future. IS just has too many advantages for the way I enjoy taking pictures.

Hence our entire Olympus 750 system will be going on Ebay sometime soon even tho it is still a really good camera. Just won't use it with IS cams around.
Jack
http://www.pbase.com/jrs40

Pretty sweet combination, it seems. The FX5 could be the "poor
man's LC1," only pocketable, and with an image stabilizer! Sounds
like you're taken with the camera? ;-)
--
John Reed

Panasonic DMC-FZ1 (w/FZ2 upgrade), Dusty Nikon CoolPix 4500

 

[PT]

Australia the same.
Regrds
PT

 

[keith157651]

Hi Jack

I learned that you have the FX5. I would like to know more of what you think of this camera. I am thinking of getting one myself. Hope that you can post more pics taken by the FX 5 with image stabiliser on.

Thanks
Keith

Pretty sweet combination, it seems. The FX5 could be the "poor
man's LC1," only pocketable, and with an image stabilizer! Sounds
like you're taken with the camera? ;-)
--
John Reed

Panasonic DMC-FZ1 (w/FZ2 upgrade), Dusty Nikon CoolPix 4500

--

 

[mud]

Where do you buy them? I haven't seen any advertised. One user,
Jack Scholl, has one, has posted here, seems to be happy he has it.
One other guy too. Very rare camera at this point. Looks like a
good one, though.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you think the FX-5 is a rarity, try running down an FX-1(the 3mp version), especially in the US. Doesn't seem to have darkened our shores yet. Not even mentioned on the Panasonic website. What's the deal? Seems like it would be an excellent camera for indoor snapshots in available light using slow shutter speeds.

mud

 

[jack scholl]

Keith,
There is a section on our pbase site of FX5 pics. Take a look.

It is a neat camera. The IS makes a lot of good things possible and having the same menu system as our FZ10 makes life simple.

It is surprising that Panasonic seems so indifferent to the marketing world, as has been stated so often in this post. But that's their problem. . as long as they keep developing these neat camera, we'll just to have to do the research on our own.
Good luck.

Jack
http://www.pbase.com/jrs40

Hi Jack

I learned that you have the FX5. I would like to know more of what
you think of this camera. I am thinking of getting one myself. Hope
that you can post more pics taken by the FX 5 with image stabiliser
on.

Thanks
Keith

 

[deecee3]

B&H Photo in New York (highly reputable dealer) has the FX5 listed as "in stock" and priced at $419 plus shipping. It's on their website but not in their print ads in PopPhoto, Shutterbug and the like.

dc3

Thanks!! Looking good.
bob

 

[keith157651]

Hi Jack

Thanks for your feedback on the camera. i saw the pics that you posted up, but if possible I would like to see more pics of this camera that you got. I heard that pics come out unexposed and the night shots are bad. Does it come with noise reduction? I hope that you can shed some light on that. I am hoping to get the blue colour FX-5.

Thank you very much.

(anyone has more pics aken from this camera?)

Jack
http://www.pbase.com/jrs40

Hi Jack

I learned that you have the FX5. I would like to know more of what
you think of this camera. I am thinking of getting one myself. Hope
that you can post more pics taken by the FX 5 with image stabiliser
on.

Thanks
Keith

 

[camerex]

B&H Photo in New York (highly reputable dealer) has the FX5 listed
as "in stock" and priced at $419 plus shipping.
dc3

I see that thenerds.net have 15 of them, and they're selling
them for 362.00 + shipping.
I haven't dealt with this company, but I recall quite a few
people bought their FZ-10's through them.

Jim

 

[Bluegrass]

Hello Jim

I looked on the Nerds' site, but could not find them;could you post a link please. Thanks,bg

I see that thenerds.net have 15 of them, and they're selling
them for 362.00 + shipping.
I haven't dealt with this company, but I recall quite a few
people bought their FZ-10's through them.

Jim

 

[jack scholl]

Keith,

I've uploaded some more pics on the FX5 section of the pbase site. Hope they help.

Have had no problems with underexposure and have not tried any night shots. As far as know it does nothing particular re noise reduction. But having IS and f2.8 does wonders for low light shooting.
Good luck,
Jack
http://www.pbase.com/jrs40

Hi Jack

Thanks for your feedback on the camera. i saw the pics that you
posted up, but if possible I would like to see more pics of this
camera that you got. I heard that pics come out unexposed and the
night shots are bad. Does it come with noise reduction? I hope that
you can shed some light on that. I am hoping to get the blue colour
FX-5.

Thank you very much.

 

[keith157651]

Hi Jack. Thanks for the pictures. Are they straight out of the camera or there was post processing done? I believe the pictures are all taken with IS mode 2 turned on?

Thanks a lot. I kind of like the pics. They look sharp to me. Those taken in the house with the heaps of clothes and the dinning table are taken with the flash off but with IS on?

Thanks
Keith

I've uploaded some more pics on the FX5 section of the pbase site.
Hope they help.
Have had no problems with underexposure and have not tried any
night shots. As far as know it does nothing particular re noise
reduction. But having IS and f2.8 does wonders for low light
shooting.
Good luck,
Jack
http://www.pbase.com/jrs40

Hi Jack

Thanks for your feedback on the camera. i saw the pics that you
posted up, but if possible I would like to see more pics of this
camera that you got. I heard that pics come out unexposed and the
night shots are bad. Does it come with noise reduction? I hope that
you can shed some light on that. I am hoping to get the blue colour
FX-5.

Thank you very much.

 

[camerex]

Hello Jim

I looked on the Nerds' site, but could not find them;could you post
a link please. Thanks,bg

Hi bg,
Here's the link for the nerds.
http://www.thenerds.net/productpage.asp?d=6&pn=DMCFX5&s=1

Jim

 

[jack scholl]

Keith,

All photos are with IS on, no flash and no post processing, straight out of the camera.
Jack
http://www.pbase.com/jrs40

Hi Jack. Thanks for the pictures. Are they straight out of the
camera or there was post processing done? I believe the pictures
are all taken with IS mode 2 turned on?

Thanks a lot. I kind of like the pics. They look sharp to me. Those
taken in the house with the heaps of clothes and the dinning table
are taken with the flash off but with IS on?

Thanks
Keith

 

[Bluegrass]

Hello Jim

I looked on the Nerds' site, but could not find them;could you post
a link please. Thanks,bg

Hi bg,
Here's the link for the nerds.
http://www.thenerds.net/productpage.asp?d=6&pn=DMCFX5&s=1

Jim

 

[jack scholl]

Steve's review of the FX5 was just posted at
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/fx5.html

It is amazing to me that there is no mention of the value of IS on low light shooting. There seems to be a disconnect between IS and low light applications. My wife is getting razor sharp indoor night shots at 1/10 of a sec purely because of IS.

Steve sending buyers to a LC70 "If you don't need an extremely durable all-metal camera", is missing a major feature of the FX5. Just my 2 cents.

If it weren't for IS, the FX5 would not be on my short list. With IS is clearly wins for our criteria.
Jack
http://www.pbase.com/jrs40