Context:
I have owned several very compact digicams (digital cameras) before this, including the Casio QV-R40 and the Pentax Optio S4.
I generally buy only very small (ultra-compact) digicams, because my usage pattern is that I need the camera with me almost at all times. On a personal level, I like to take spur-of-the-moment pictures. I hike and cross-country ski and take lots of pics then - some I may print as blow ups and display. For work, I inspect the interiors of houses/apartments, so I end up taking lots of descriptive pictures. They don't get blown up, but they do have to be clear and suitable to e-mail to a work client or print a 4"x6".
Bottom line is for me though, that a camera is useless if it cannot fit easily near-invisibly into a jeans pocket and become a part of my daily life. Yet I do demand quality and clarity to a certain extent. Obviously not SLR (Single Lens Reflex) quality, but clear pictures with good detail.
With this in mind, I have previously bought (and never quite been satisfied with) first the
Casio QV-R40. and then
Pentax Optio S4. (the links take you to my reviews of those cameras). The Casio has superb ergonomics & flash ability for its size. But image quality was not quite there and size was a tad big. The Pentax was unbeatable size, but image quality again not quite there. My full list of past Epinion reviews is here.
http://www.epinions.com/user-skagen/show_~content
After scouring review websites and sample images on www.pbase.com, I decided that the Panasonic DMC-FX7 might be the camera I needed. I liked the image quality I saw and the size seemed right.
While in New York City over Xmas, I bought one for US $410, plus 8% tax. I got it at a store called DataVis on 5th Avenue. They were quite dishonest and tried to pawn off a beat-up display model on me after I paid. I refused and insisted on getting a proper new one. I was just lucky I bought it instore. What would i do if I'd bought it from them online and that turned up at my house? So I'd recommend NOT to get this camera from that place. Use a more reliable place such as B&H Photo Video instead.
The DMC-FX7: What Comes in the Box:
In the box was a solid package:
- The camera,
- one battery
- one wall charger
- a wrist strap
- a manual
- an install CD
- a USB-to-4pin mini USB cord (for connecting the camera to computer)
- a [RCA video(yellow) + RCA mono(white)]-to-4pin mini USB cord (for connecting the camera to a TV to view pics)
The battery is a 3.7V, 710 mAh unit, named Panasonic CGA-S004A. This battery is actually just rebadged version of the ubiquitous "NP40" battery, which is standard on many Fuji and Casio cameras. Therefore, if you want to buy a spare or a replacement, look for a generic NP40. Note that this is the
slim one (at 710 mAh capacity). There is a 1100 mAh version of NP40 too, but that one is twice the thickness of the 710 mAh one. So don't get excited and buy that one to use on your FX7. It won't fit! (I don't know why there are two different physical sizes of "NP40" - what are model numbers for?)
The battery charger is excellent (Panasonic Model No. DE-991B). It is extremely light, shorter than the camera, about same thickness. Specs of charger(70mm x 48mm x 30mm). It has no cord, just folding prongs. You take out the battery, stick it in and plugs directly into the wall. Universal voltage of 100-240, 50/60hz. The best camera battery charger I have seen so far. It is well thought out. Excellent for traveling - much better than the bulky charger units with cords which plug into the camera.
The install CD contains USB drivers (not needed for Windows XP) something called "SD Viewer", ArcSoft Software suite (PhotoImpression 5, Panorama Maker 3, Photobase 4.5). I installed these on my laptop, but to be honest, I have never used them, not even once. So I can't say if they are good or not. I just have a habit of downloading the pictures on my laptop and using ACDSee 7.0 software to manage/catalog/edit them.
My Experience With The Camera So Far:
Setup
I have owned the DMC-FX7 for about two and a half months now and feel like its a decent time to review it. I generally don't like to review any gadgets the first couple of weeks, because one usually gets caught up in the "new toy"/"Honeymoon" excitement and downplay the negatives. But this camera and I have been in daily operation for a while now and I think I now have a good handle at this point on what do and don't like about it. On to the meat of the review....
The initial setup was quite easy. I charged the battery for the time stated in the manual, put it into the camera, turned it on and began running though the menus to set up what I wanted. This is simple and easy process if you have some knowledge. You will need to have some basic information about how cameras work, for example to understand what ISO is and what to set it as. If you don't, then you can just put the camera on full automatic mode and it will sort it everything out for you as you take the picture.
There is a whole slew of setup possibilities, including whether you want the camera to show PAL or NTSC pictures etc. Very comprehensive.
Ergonomics
Ergonomically the camera is very good. Most buttons are well placed and clear. The menu system is easy to navigate and can be toggled between a simple mode and an advanced mode.
The mode control is a roller wheel on the top right. This allows you to change modes between auto (i.e. point&shoot), record mode (i.e. taking a picture with more control/customiation), view pictures mode, video mode, macro (closeup) mode, etc. The "shoot" button and (integrated) zoom toggle are also on top and work well.
On top, in the center - is the "on-off slider, which in my opinion, is the only ergonomic error. The location is correct, but it should have been sunken. As it is, I find that occasionally I can slide the camera on by mistake. The folding lens seems to have a very good sensor/auto-retract if it meets any resistance, which is a good thing! But I have got a run-down battery twice because of this (i.e. the camera being on and I didn't know).
One ergonomic tip: the horizontal silver bump on the front of the camera (with FX7 stamped there) is not merely a visual feature! It assists you to curl/rest your middle finger on the front when you hold the camera in its proper grip - with your thumb upper joint on the raised spots on the back and camera sitting on the fat part of your thumb. This grip in the http://www.dpreview.com/news/0407/Panasonic/hands-on/fx7inhand01.jpg is how its intended to be used:
Viewfinder/LCD
One of the biggest (and most controversial for some) ergonomic features of this camera is its inclusion of large 2.5" screen and NO optical viewfinder.
I don't know why people find this so controversial. Most "point&shoot" cameras have atrocious accuracy on the optical viewfinder (at best 80-85% accurate in framing). They are nothing like SLR viewfinders where you are literally looking though the lens. LCD's like this one on the DMC-FX7 are 99% accurate i.e. the closest framing accuracy you can really expect, short of owning a DSLR.
In practice it was very easy to get used to. The LCD is very clear and sharp. While taking pictures, you can toggle on-off a live histogram or a 9-part grid to help you frame your picture evenly. Excellent idea and I use both often.
Night usage has been fine with the LCD. The screen "gains" up in dark situations if you want. There have been specific two dark outdoor situations in which I couldn't see what I wanted to take a picture of. But to be honest, those were extreme situations. Night usage has been great otherwise, indoors and out.
So I am happy to see the optical viewfinders become history on pocket cameras, especially with these new, bigger LCD's. An excellent decision, by whoever made the design call here. One should not keep outdated and innacurate features, just out of of habit, when we have better methods available.
Image quality
Overall I have got excellent images from this camera both day & night. There is an image stabilization feature which really does work well to help you get clearer pictures day and night.
The OIS (image stabilization) in the FX7 is actually very useful even for example taking a picture in a restaurant. I get nice clear, sharp pics by forcing the camera to ISO 80 or 100 and keeping the OIS in mode 2 (which by the way doesn't eat battery as badly - it only comes on at the second you click). You can also just turn off the OIS if you want. It has a small external button as well as a menu toggle.
The image quality of this camera is the real gem. It uses a Leica branded lens. I don't have enough technical knowledge to know if this is really what does it, but the images are clearer, more life-like, better detailed than any ultra-compact digicam that I've used so far. I get images from this camera, which are more like film than the "digital" looking things I was getting before.
Part of this, in my opinion, has to do with noise reduction. When I compared sample images with the Canon SD300 for example, it was clear that the Canon had made their pictures smoother and flattened them out at the cost of losing valuable detail. Panasonic appears to do that much less - and I think gets better pictures as a result. The way I look at it, this gives me a chance to decide if at all I want to tweak it and how much. But rarely have I felt it necesary to do any post-camera adjustment.
Also purple fringing, dark corners and corner softness are pretty much absent here for the most part. That is quite commendable.
This is not to say that this camera is flawless. From time to time, in full "point&shoot" mode, I have seen some blown highlights or wrong focus. But few and far between.
One omission Panasonic made on this camera is to omit "super-fine" JPEG compression mode. Instead, it only has "fine" and "normal" levels, which I believe compress the picture at 8-1 and 12-1 ratios respectively.
Yet this camera has the best lens so far seen in an ultra-compact! No RAW mode is understandable, but no "super fine"? Why waste the potential image quality from such a fine lens?
Very odd. I can only think that many Panasonic wants to limit this camera from competing with its more expensive ones. A real shame. Why should the ultra-compact user not be allowed to get the best picture possible? We are already accepting many compromises to get small size, so intentionally crippling the camera further is absolute crime.
I give the camera - and Panasonic - a negative on that issue, even though I DO acknowledge that the image quality is already best-in-class.
Flash
The flash on this camera is not as good as my old Casio QV-R40, which was superb for its size - but it is better than the Pentax S4. I have no problem taking pictures in bars restaurants etc and I get good coverage.
I should note that my method has been to lock the ISO at 80 or 100 and leave the image stabilization on. For more tips, there is Panasonic forum at www.dpreview.com on this. An FX7 owner there, named "SunnyYip", has posted an excellent summary of tips on how to get the best image quality from this particular camera. I would recommend that SunnyYip's post as required reading for anyone who buys the FX7.
Battery:
Battery life has been much discussed. The camera uses a slim 710mAh battery, but seems to get shorter batter life out of it that competitors using the same battery. This may have to do with its larger screen size and the image stabilization feature (no such thing as a free lunch, I guess).
However, the battery life is not bad. In normal usage (50-50 flash and not) I can use this for 1.5-to-2 days of work taking pictures of houses (interior and exterior). Also be aware that immediately after using flash, the battery indicator shows a lower level that it really is. Once you're done and shut the camera off, the inidcator level goes back up by the next time you restart.
I don't own a spare battery. I'd recommend buying the camera and using it first. You may find that like me, you don't really need it. If you do, the ultra-small external charger is well suited to charging an external spare.
When going away on a long weekend trip, I do take the charger with me, which I didn't with the Pentax Optio S4. But luckily this charger is very small & portable.
But for a regular 2-day weekend trip, I wouldn't think that the charger or even a spare is need, especially if you don't use flash much.
Durability:
This thing is pretty sturdy. I think it has a plastic case (not sure). I loved the Casio QV-R40 with its tank-like aluminium case, but this seems to do the job.
The camera has been cross-country skiing with me and snowboarding with my girlfriend. On both occasions, it sat in a breast pocket, took pictures when required and suffered no apparent ill-effects from the extreme cold.
Summary:
Overall, I have to say that I am very happy with this DMC-FX7 camera two months later. The images are outstanding in its class. Even mundane pictures jump off the screen at you - something which was never the case with previous cameras of this size that I owned. Panasonic has, in my opinion, created a benchmark here for image quality in an ultra-compact camera.
The replacement of the optical viewfinder with a 2.5" LCD was successfully implemented here. After day 2-3 of usage, few users will even notice whether they are using an LCD or eyepiece on this thing.
Main weaknesses of this camera are that battery life is slightly shorter than the competition, though in practical usage this is rarely a problem. Placement of the on-off slide switch is a problem, though minor. Lack of "super-fine JPEG compression is an omission too.
Final weakness is the price. But for that, you of course get the top-notch lens, 5 Megpixel resolution, the image stabilization capability and the huge 2.5" screen. Hard to argue with that extra value, but STILL I wish this camera was $40 or $50 cheaper. That would really make it an easier decision for the buyer - and Panasonic might have a huge volume seller on their hands too.
Either way, it has no competition in this size class, in terms of picture quality, so what can you really say? But I would buy this camera without hesitation. If it broke or got stolen today, I would take the insurance money immediately get another one. Of course one can't predict what will be out there in even 3 months time, but versus today's competition, its a clear winner for my personal usage pattern.
All previous cameras in this size class have made their size compromises very obvious. This one doesn't. And ultimately that is the highest praise I can give. I would think that even a pro would pick this camera if he/she wanted a small pocket camera for casual usage.
(Additional note March 30th, 2005)
I came across some very interesting pages on the design process and philosophy which went into the creation of the FX7. Its far more interesting than the typical company propaganda. Very fascinating stuff.
The original page is here:
http://panasonic.co.jp/ism/design/html/vol11/concept/index.html
You can read an Japanse-to-English Web translation (mechanical translation) here:
http://www.worldlingo.com/wl/translate?wl_lp=JA-EN&wl_fl=2&wl_rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpanasonic.co.jp%2Fism%2Fdesign%2Fhtml%2Fvol11%2Fopinion%2Findex.html&wl_url=http%3A%2F%2Fpanasonic.co.jp%2Fism%2Fdesign%2Fhtml%2Fvol11%2Findex.html
Very challenging to read mechanical translations, I know, but it give you the idea. If you're interested in this sort of desgn stuff it will be worthwhile...
