A small camera compromise champion

Ease of use matters!

When it comes to cameras, it's easy to let your desire for perfection get in the way of letting you take as many pictures as you should. I ooh and ah over the gorgeous, near noiseless photos from my Digital Rebel SLR (also 6 megapixels). There I can save the RAW picture files and turn problematic pictures into masterpieces in Photoshop with only a few hours of labor (oh joy).

But after 3 years of this, I realize there are many shots I missed because I didn't want to bring my big cumbersome camera along, or I didn't have time to set it up, or something. Even compact cameras are too large for pocket carrying convenience--only a subcompact can offer maximum freedom to use.

Now, with the FX01 I have saved many more memories. Photos are less perfect, but I love having not missed them, and they're quality is still enjoyably acceptable. What I needed, and what you might be wanting, is a small, easy to carry, quick and simple to use camera that compromises the least.

One big thing:

There's a lot of small cameras out there. Once you use one you'll realize a wide angle lens is critical. It lets the camera see a 60 degree sweep rather than just 45 degrees. For nearly all indoor shots, shots with groups of people, etc, you capture 33% more scene. Where other cameras need 2 pictures to capture a scene, the wide angle often gets it all with one--which is usually all you have opportunity for. It's essential--a really important feature. The FX01 is the smallest currently available wide angle camera as far as I know.

The noise problem

Noise is that color blotchiness that increases as light levels drop. It's very hard to make a tiny sensor with enough light sensitivity to get low noise in a subcompact camera. Fuji has the only one I know of, but it's paired with a mediocre quality non-wide angle lens (model F30). The Leica in the FX01 is way better (less fringing than reported on the Fuji). If the FX01 had Fuji's sensor it could run for president!

Combatting noise

The more light you get into the camera, the less noise. Panasonic's sensor seems, sorry to say, comparatively noisy. Fortunately the FX01 gives you image stabilization so you can use a longer handheld exposure (more light) without shake blur. It works very well except for fast moving objects which are usually not what you're capturing in low light). For that, Panasonic lets you trade off resolution (reducing the 6mp to 1.5mp effective)--so you can choose the lesser of the evils: way lower resolution or visible motion blur.

Quick to shoot

Except for exposure compensation, the FX01 has few manual overrides. But the many scene modes cover almost any situation. Startup is quick, just over a second, so it's easy to take a quick picture. You won't miss many opportunities.

Tidbits

• You get an included cable for viewing your pics as a slide show on a TV. Resolution is low though. If you have an HDTV, you'll need to move files to a computer with a robust video card and connect digitally. My Powerbook DVI to my 1080p HDTV using iPhoto looks awesome. • There's a stunning 640x480 resolution 30fps movie mode that makes Quicktime files. With a fast (?133X) 2 GB card (max. for the FX01) you can get a 20 minute movie! Unfortunately you have to preset zoom and can't change it during shooting a movie. For Apple users, the movies go seamlessly into iMovie for editing. Audio is mono. • Battery life is excellent. • Flash is short range only (13 ft.). • You can set the LCD so you can see it for handheld overhead shots. • The 2.5" lcd has more resolution than most (207k pixels) but is susceptible to glare. • Shutter delay could be less. • You can accidentally activate the on switch while sliding it into a tight pocket.

For movie buffs

Movie resolution is great at 640x480 pixels and 30 frames per second. You can even get 848x480 in widescreen mode. Enough detail so that there's plenty of movie clarity. Good thing, because to change the zoom you have to stop, change zoom, and restart recording. The resulting video files are huge: 10 mb/min. The data output from the FX01 seems very slow (about .6mb/sec.) when connected directly via USB 2.0, even using an ultra fast 150X memory card. In a USB card reader the same card transfers at a fast 20 mb/sec.

Overall: very impressive!

It's so small you can always have it with you. It starts fast and almost always gives you a usable picture and captures a lot more scene than other small cameras with its wide angle lens. Controls are simple, easy (don't need menus most of the time) and easily learned. Most of the time the photo quality is plenty good enough for pleasing prints, even at 8x10. If this camera doesn't let you get the pictures you'll wish you hadn't missed, nothing will.