The original FX7 was announced in July 2004 and went on to be one of the best-selling cameras of the year thanks to its winning combination of cool styling, compact dimensions, big screen and image-stabilized Leica lens. This, the fourth incarnation (the FX7 was followed in fairly rapid succession by the FX8 and FX9), is on the face of it another minor facelift, but it does offer something still pretty unique in a camera in this class - a true wideangle zoom, covering a useful 28-102mm (3.6x) zoom range. It is, in fact, the world's smallest camera with a 28mm lens. Other changes (detailed below) include a high sensitivity mode (offering sensitivities of up to 1600) and a new 16:9 widescreen movie mode. What we haven't worked out yet is why it's the FX01, not the FX10 (I suspect a typo early in the production process that was too expensive to fix).
- 6.4 megapixel CCD
- 28-102mm equiv. (3.6x) Leica DC Vario-Elmarit optical zoom
- 4x digital zoom
- Advanced Mega Optical Image Stabilizer
- New 16:9 840x480 pixel 30fps movie mode
- 2.5-inch, 207,000 pixel LCD with high viewing angle option
- 16 scene modes
- New High sensitivity mode (ISO 800-1600)
- Venus Engine PLUS
- Color options: Silver, Black, Pink, White (not all available in all areas of the world)
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX9 vs FX01 (main differences)
Panasonic FX01 |
Panasonic FX9 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Announced | Feb 06 | July 05 |
| Lens range (35mm equiv.) |
• 28-102mm equiv • 3.6x optical zoom |
• 35-105mm equiv • 3x optical zoom |
| Movie mode | 640 x 480, 320 x 240, 30/10 fps |
640 x 480, 320 x 240, 30/10 fps |
| Battery life (CIPA) | 320 shots | 300 shots |
| Sensitivity | • Auto • ISO 80 • ISO 100 • ISO 200 • ISO 400 • High Sensitivity mode 800 - 1600 |
• Auto • ISO 80 • ISO 100 • ISO 200 • ISO 400 |
| Scene modes | • Portrait • Sports • Food • Night Scenery • Night Portrait • Baby 1 / 2 • Soft skin • Candle • Fireworks • Party • Snow • Scenery • Starry sky • Self portrait • Underwater • High Sensitivity |
• Portrait • Sports • Food • Night Scenery • Night Portrait • Baby • Soft skin • Candlelight • Fireworks • Party • Snow • Scenery • Starry sky • Self portrait |
Although the changes are fairly sparse, they are pretty significant - especially the wider lens range.
28mm vs 35mm
It may not sound a lot, but the difference between 28mm and 35mm equivalent lenses is significant, and allows you to fit a lot more of the scene into the frame (around 10 degrees more diagonal field of view). This makes the FX01 ideal for landscapes, interiors and group shots.
 |
 |
| 28mm (75.3° diagonal F.O.V at infinity) |
35mm (63.4° diagonal F.O.V at infinity) |
|---|
Panasonic DMC-FX01 Key specifications
| Street price | • US: $299 • UK: £249 |
|---|---|
| Body Material | Metal |
| Sensor | • 1/2.5" CCD, 6.37 million total pixels • 6.0 million effective pixels |
| Image sizes | • 2816 x 2112 |
| Movie clips | • 640 x 480 (10 / 30 fps) • 320 x 240 (10 / 30 fps) • 848 x 480 (10 / 30 fps @ 16:9) • With audio • Limited only by storage |
| Lens | • 28 - 102 mm equiv. (3.6x zoom) |
| Focus | • Normal: 0.5 m - Infinity |
| Shooting mode | • Portrait |
| Shutter speeds | • 8 to 1/2000th sec • Starry Sky Mode: 15, 30 or 60 seconds • Motion picture mode: 1/30 to 1/2000 |
| Sensitivity | • Auto • ISO 80 • ISO 100 • ISO 200 • ISO 400 • High Sensitivity mode 800 - 1600 |
| White Balance | • Auto • Cloudy, daylight, halogen, white set • White balance fine adjust: +/- 1500k in 150k steps |
| Image parameters | • Color (Natural, Vivid) • Color effect (Cool, warm, B&W, sepia) |
| Continuous | • 3 fps high speed, 2 fps low speed. 1.5 fps unlimited |
| Flash | • Built-in flash • Auto, on/off, red-eye reduction, slow sync with red eye reduction • Range (ISO auto): W 60cm - 4.0m |
| Storage | • SD/MMC • 16MB supplied |
| Viewfinder | None |
| LCD monitor | • 2.5" TFT LCD • 207,000 pixels • High Angle LCD function |
| Connectivity | • USB 2.0 Full speed • A/V out • DC-IN |
| Power | • Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery pack • Optional AC adapter |
| In the box* | • DMC-FX01 camera |
| Other features | • PictBridge |
| Weight | • 125 g (without battery and card) • 153 g (with battery and card) |
| Dimensions | 94.1 x 51.1 x 24.2 mm (3.7 x 2.01 x 0.95 in) |
* Supplied accessories may differ in each country or area
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