Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS3 Digital Camera

Posted on May 19, 2008
Filed Under Digital Camera Reviews |

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS3 packs and eight megapixel resolution CCD with a 3x Leica-branded zoom, optical image stabilisation and a 2.5in LCD screen in a well-made aluminium shell. There’s no optical viewfinder or handy shooting dial, but there is a tiny switch for playback or shooting, as well as a mode button for the record mode and scene pre-sets.

An additional Q menu button provides a short cut to everyday features, though we’re at odds to know why it couldn’t be used to select shooting modes too. The main menu is welcome, apart from the slightly suspect layout and some unusual animated windows. It’s still a little too clunky for our liking.

At it’s widest setting the 3x optical zoom is a little wider than most which makes a difference compared to rivals, but as the equivalent to a 33-100mm, it’s still not as wide as we would like.

Intelligent Auto - This mode works by combining automatic scene mode selection, shake, face and motion detection, the FS3 can be quite happily left in iA mode for most snaps without concern.

Motion Detection - The DS3’s motion detection raises ISOs and in turn shutter speeds to prevent motion blur and shake from the wobbles.

Face Detection - The AP system of he FS3 can detect up to 15 faces in a scene, track them and still provide optimal focus and exposure.

Memory - Although the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS3 supports both SD and SDHC memory cards, it does have a handy 50MB of internal memory as backup.

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