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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP1 Black Reviews
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Great little camera! |
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Reviewed on 2nd July 2010:
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I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect camera -- one that takes great pictures & video, has a nice long zoom, is easy to use and portable. I had 2 digital cameras already, one being a Kodak 643 (reliable, but just okay) and the other a Nikon Coolpix S550 that was a big disappointment. Both cameras take pretty lousy pictures and video in low light, as does my Canon camcorder. This time I read lots and lots of reviews. I read reviews on camera websites, and I read consumer reviews on Amazon and other websites. The Panasonic Lumix ZS3 was, hands down, the winner for the type of camera I was searching for. I went to camera stores, too, and was told by one salesman at a major electronics store that, although his store didn't sell this particular camera, it was much better than the Canon that they did sell. He then reached into his pocket and produced his own camera...a ZS3! That was the deciding factor for me, so I watched the prices on Amazon and ordered my new camera in February when the price fell to $229. I certainly have not regretted my purchase. This camera is wonderful. The pictures are stunning, it works well in the automatic mode, and the HD videos are great, too. We have played videos on our 46" hi-def Sony TV, and they are gorgeous. My camcorder only gets used now on rare occasions when I need someone to take video at the same time I am taking pictures. Despite the fact that it has a 12x zoom, the camera is small enough to pop into my purse, or even in a jacket or pants pocket. The wide angle lens is great for group or outdoor shots. I would recommend buying at least one extra battery, as the supplied battery doesn't last terribly long. If you are looking for a camera that is easy to use and takes amazing photos and video, buy the ZS3. I can't wait to photograph fireworks on the 4th of July! |
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Good camera for the size and price |
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Reviewed on 1st July 2010:
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I have a Panasonic DMC TZ3. It's a bulkier model but gets a 60x zoom, quite large for still a non-DSLR pocket camera. I liked the Lumix line by Panasonic. After playing with many ultra compact models in the store (Samsung TL205 with dual view and Samsung TL105), I decided this was the way to go! I am happy thus far. Please, let me say I am no expert, but I have had 5-6 digital cameras and can compare.
The good:
zooms up to 33.8x, which is HUGE for a camera this size (the optical zoom is internal! takes up no space but quite effective)
lots of scenes and modes to choose from
super small size (0.7" wide), smaller than my blackberry phone!
lightweight
sliding the cover down is an easy and quick power on, makes catching the 'right' moment easier when you don't have a long start up
very quick when using a SDXC card, class 4 or the higher the better
selects and determines the best scene and shot for you
speaker for playback of films is actually quite good
The Bad:
menu and scene selection is not as easy to go through as other models, needs a clicker or round changer on the unit itself (like choosing to film a movie, you must go through menu rather than hitting a button)
quite grainy and noisy in some modes, almost unusable. just have to find right ones
The Indifferent:
the camera colors are a little funky, choose wisely
when pressing buttons, you can notice a slightly 'cheaper' feel than others (the sound, the feel, etc.)
Overall it's a good, solid camera. I dont know if I would use it as my only camera because I personally like a nice, big zoom, but definitely a nice addition to the collection. Definitely great for beginners, people who take pics with friends, and casual shooting. It's no DSLR, but a good, daily pocket camera. |
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Super small and easy to carry around, with great pictures too |
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Reviewed on 24th June 2010:
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I love this camera mostly because of its size, most other cameras of the same size don't take as nice pictures. Its super easy to carry around so you'll end up taking more pictures because you won't mind having it with you all the time. The Intelligent Auto works pretty well and it has face and scene detection which is great, along with really good image stabilization. Battery life on this thing is great too, You can take about 800-1000 pictures with this thing before you have to charge the battery.
My only con is the low-light capability, its pretty poor. Outdoor or indoors with adequate lighting makes for some excellent pictures, but in low light the pictures come out pretty grainy. And the flash on this camera is rather weak so that doesn't help much either. You can raise the ISO up and it has a High Sensitivity scene mode as well to try to help make the picture come out, but only adds to the grain. Now this is expected in such a compact camera so I'm not docking because of it, but its definitely worth noting if you're looking to take a lot of low-light pictures.
Overall this is a great buy, certainly not gonna take the same quality pics as its big brothers but if you want a simple, good quality compact then this is your camera. |
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Awesome! |
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Reviewed on 18th June 2010:
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I currently have a Nikon D90, Canon G9,& Nikon S610. In the past, I've had two Minolta SLRs, a Canon XT, and a Panasonic lumix. I Got this camera mainly for the HD video and awesome zoom for an Alaskan cruise. I actually forgot how great the Panasonic Lumix cameras are. I gave mine to a friend years ago and I forgot how great it was. I was particularly impressed by the quality of a video with she took with it and thought seriously about getting this one. Then I read many positive reviews and that was it!
I love: the video quality is great, even when played on large TVs...it doesn't lose sharpness or appear grainy. I usually make DVDs with my pics and videos, and noticed that with the Canon and S610, I lose quality and sharpness especially when it's played on big screen TVs. The audio is also great - I picked up thunderous sounds when the glaciers were calving.
LENS & SCENE MODES: The Leica lens is another reason I got this camera. One day I hope to own my own Leica, but until then, I am totally satisfied with this Panasonic. My Nikon D90 takes beautiful pictures, but when I thumbed through the pics, I couldn't tell which were taken with that one or with the Panasonic. That really impressed me.
I also like that I can preset different modes such as sunset, snow, etc. without having to navigate through the menus. It made things super fast and easy to get the shots. There are many scene modes to choose from which is both positive and negative. I haven't had time to really play around and compare shots taken in the normal automatic mode, and one taken in a specific scene mode.
CONTROLS: Overall, the buttons and dial are easy to use and make adjustments quick. I like that most things are controlled on the outside body of the camera. This means you don't need to fool around with menus to look for what you want.
FLASH: I also appreciate that this camera gives you many flash options. There are times when you want to force flash or times when you can't shoot with flash. This camera gives 5 options - auto, no flash, force flash, red eye, slow sync/red eye.
SIZE & WEIGHT: This is a mid-sized camera that is still small enough to carry around daily. It isn't the lightest or smallest camera, but this to me is an advantage. It's often hard to avoid camera shake and blurry pics with smaller, lighter cameras, especially when you ask others to take pics for you. I like how it feels in your hands - its not to small that your fingers block the lens, flash, or microphone.
BATTERY: I like the rechargeable battery vs using AA's. The battery lasted quite a few days before it needed to be recharged. I was going to buy a back up, but since I've been using it, I know there is no need.
What I didn't like: Others have mentioned noise when zooming in video mode. The amount of noise varies, sometimes, when you slowly zoom in, it's not too loud. However, at other times, it really is loud. Luckily, I usually put music over my videos so it's not an issue.
No view finder. The LCD screen is great and large. But sometimes, in sunny conditions, it's hard to see exactly what you're getting. So to have the option of a view finder would be great.
Limited video time: I believe that you can only film for 8 min 20 sec. I don't know if this varies with the size of your SD card. Right now, I have an 8 GB card in.
I was thoroughly impressed by this camera that made the "negatives" so minor. You won't be disappointed.
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Jack of all trades, master at video. |
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Reviewed on 10th June 2010:
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This is my first 'real' camera. I've owned it for about 7 months and in that time I have used it only a handful of times. It was mainly bought just to have a good one around the house other than the camera on my phone. Without re-hashing what has been said in these reviews a million times, this unit is of extremely sound build quality and feels very solid in your hands. The video recording in this unit is so good that it can almost pass for a dedicated camcorder. The video quality is there, the optical zoom while recording is there and the AVCHD format is easier to work with than I thought. I have not edited any of its video but was able to upload an unconverted clip directly to Youtube and VLC player plays back the format effortlessly.
I am not an expert when it comes to judging still image quality but pictures taken seem to be very crisp and clear throughout the image in well lit environments. Pics taken in darker surroundings, to me, are not as clear as there is some degree of bluriness that occurs when zooming into the picture. Also, the flash does not seem capable of properly illuminating a dark scene when viewing your results on the camera itself. Transferring it to a PC for proper viewing yields better results but still has room for improvement.
I found that the menu was a bit different to other cameras I used (ive used many but owned none before) and it took a few tries to get fully accustomed to the menu navigation but once that was out of the way, I was able to make my way around the camera very quickly and easily. The buttons are pretty well placed, however, the record button is a bit awkwardly placed and there is no way to preview video settings before starting to shoot.
The included battery seems to be capable of shooting 1.5 to 2 hours of video but I bought another higher capacity battery (1200mAh) as a backup for quick changeover should the need arise.
One issue I had with video recording though was that when using high quality mode, the recording would stop after a few seconds indicating that the memory card cannot keep up. I bought a 16gb Transcend class 6 memory card which sorted that problem immediately.
All in all, this is a VERY good all round camera. After much research, I found that the Lumix ZS3 offered the most features in the most compact, pocket sized enclosure. Image quality is great and video is amazing. The price has dropped a great deal since I bought mine making this an even better value. |
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Buy now at Laskys
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Buy now at Atlantic 2U
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Buy now at Argos
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Buy now at Marks & Spencer
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Buy now at Amazon.co.uk
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Buy now at Comet
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Buy now at Laskys
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Buy now at Atlantic 2U
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Buy now at Argos
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If you want a fast shooting point and shoot with clear pictures this is it |
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Reviewed on 23rd May 2010:
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Got this camera after reading how responsive it was and how nice the pictures were.
My wife and I were looking for a camera that we would use on AUTO setting 99% of the time that would take consistent good quality pictures.
I bought a canon sd1300 (great reviews) after our canon sd750 broke. We were so happy with the sd750 that I gave canon another chance. Well I must have had a defective unit because I shot pictures on auto and they all came out yellow and blurry, I returned it and after coming to amazon and reading reviews (fun and addictive) I thought I would give Lumix a try. I was looking for #1 clear pictures and #2 fast shooting. (taking lots of pictures of kids and have to focus and shoot fast even indoors)
Well I got it from Discountjungle through amazon and the shipping was VERY FAST
It is the fastest point and shoot I've tried compared to other canon point and shoot cameras I've owned.
The picture clarity is very good. I'd say equal to our old canon sd750. Taking pictures indoors and in darker rooms indoors the pictures came out very good!
The construction sees solid and it weighs more than I thought it would.
The camera is very responsive. I'd say at least twice as fast as my last Canon.
Unlike what another reviewer stated you CAN zoom in and move around the pictures while in view mode. Just use the zoom toggle to zoom in and use the 4 directional buttons to move around on the picture.
I was also concerned where the placement of the lens was due to reading other reviews, but I'm right handed and it hasn't been a problem at all. In fact, what they didn't say was, the placement of the flash is perfect being in the middle because on my old canon the flash would sometimes get covered my my hand causing less effective flash.
This camera has made me want to try a higher end Lumix that may give me even better images but this one is the perfect fit for what I was looking for. Like another reviewer stated in there review about one of the Lumix cameras, using auto setting, the camera won't let you take a bad picture LOL, after owning Canons and having to wait for the pre focus etc, I know what they were talking about now. The Canons would take great pictures if you would hold the button down 1/2 way and wait for the camera to focus etc before pressing fully, and I didn't have a problem with this, but my wife never got the hang of it. So ~20% or so of the pictures she took would have problems because she hurried the camera. It seems that the Panasonic Lumix FP8 does things differently or either processes things so quickly you never have to wait on it. This will suit her much better.
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Low stress photography & great fun |
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Reviewed on 21st May 2010:
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Have owned it just over a month. . . traveled with it. . . shot stills, video. . . micro, full zoom, aerial. . . flash, timer, many modes. . . Intelligent Auto or selected settings. . . this camera makes photography fun! It travels in a shirt or jacket pocket virtually unnoticed, or packages up in a soft carrying case with a spare battery, SD Card, and small cloth for cleaning the screen/lens that's just 4 1/2"x3"x1 1/2" for those short vacations. And with a spare battery, it easily gets through a 3 to 4 day vacation at 100+ pictures/day without recharging anything. Picture quality is far and away good enough for those of us looking to "record family history" on anything up to 8x10. If you have owned another camera with features, you'll be able to find your way around the Menus and Modes without too much hassle. . . or just jump to Intelligent Auto which works well 90+% of the time. For me, it passes the most critical test . . . it's small enough to take anywhere without a hassle, and takes very good pictures! |
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Totally worth the buy! |
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Reviewed on 20th May 2010:
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Bought this as a birthday gift for my wife. She wanted something she could keep in her purse all the time; instead of being bummed she didn't lug around her very high grade Digital SLR by Canon. It is perfect! Exactly what she wanted, small, easy to use, and great pics (no, not the same quality as the SLR, but close for everyday pics). Additionally, it has a good battery life and was selected after I read up on this type of camera on [...]. It is not the most attractive point and shoot camera, and you can only use the 2.7" viewfinder, as opposed to an eyepiece finder, BUT don't let that dissuade you! This camera can come at a decent price if you shop around and is completely worth the buy. We have had it for almost a month now and it has been great.
One other bit of advice, my wife learned the hard way, read the manual. It performs a lot of functions and if you are just messing around with settings, you will make a mistake and need to default back to factory settings. |
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Buy now at Argos
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Buy now at Marks & Spencer
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Buy now at Comet
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Buy now at Atlantic 2U
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Buy now at Argos
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Outstanding little camera |
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Reviewed on 6th May 2010:
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I own a Fuji S7000 camera, and it's still my favorite if I need a super sharp shot, but it's the size of an SLR and doesn't have image stability at all, so a tripod is almost a requirement for a non-blurry shot. This little Lumix is extremely portable, and when I got it, I literally charged up the battery and then turned it on and started taking excellent pictures. As others have mentioned, it turns on very fast, and takes pictures in rapid succession (get a class 6 SDHC card for best performance). Picture quality is better than every other digital camera I own currently, with very little noise in the shots, even in low light. There are other cameras out there of similar size that have fancy OLED touch screens, cute curves, etc, and I've tried them all - you can keep 'em, because what the FP8 lacks in style, it certainly makes up in substance. |
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Exceeded My Expectations -- By Miles |
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Reviewed on 3rd May 2010:
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I am not a camera or photography aficionado, so I cannot offer a super technical review -- of which the electronics section here on Amazon is replete with -- however what I can say, from a layman's perspective, is that this camera is unimaginably magnificent.
I got this camera for my birthday and I simply wanted a camera that would provide a good, high-quality and affordable upgrade to my six megapixel Samsung camera that I bought three years ago - also for my birthday. Without even a modicum of hesitation, I can proudly say that this Panasonic camera more than exceeded my expectations.
The 14 MP camera takes clear and crisp photographs and has a smorgasbord of different settings to make the pictures you take precisely how you want it. You can adjust your camera setting before you snap your picture, and you can also conveniently edit it after you take your picture. So you can never really take bad pictures. I find the settings to be really great.
I also wanted a camera that would be good for action pictures. Often times, on my previous camera, I would take moving photographs and the pictures would come out blurry and you can tell that it was taken in motion. In contrast, this camera is wholly different. I tested out several moving pictures and the camera adroitly captures the moment I want captured beautifully, without any kind of visible motion blurriness.
However, I leave the best aspect of this camera till last: the unthinkably great HD video capture. When buying a camera I wanted something that could capture HD videos so I can record different moments in film and store them, and perhaps something that would be good for YouTube videos: I found it. This video camera records gloriously crisp and colorful 720p HD. As good as the quality of the photo camera itself is, I think the video capture function is remarkably better. You simply just cannot fault it.
I have never really been a Panasonic person. I know their stuff is purportedly of good quality and durable, but I have just never bought a product other than batteries. However, after buying this magnificent camera, I think I'll be investing in a lot more Panasonic products.
I went in with pretty low expectations, and came out thoroughly impressed.
Needless to say, I have been taking a whole lot of pictures on this thing.
By the way, for the record, I haven't yet read the instruction manual, yet I have no problem operating the camera. I think that speaks wonders of its ease of use.
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Great FP8 |
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Reviewed on 24th March 2010:
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I am a big Canon fan. My last camera was a five year old G2. It gave me years of quality service. I almost went with the Canon Elfs as I was now looking for a pocket camera. But I after researching I decided to take a chance on the FP8. Really happy I did. It came when it was supposed to. Everything was there.( also bought extra memory and battery)
It was supposed to be used, but I couldn't tell; looks brand new to me: in the original box and packing.
Took a bunch of pics and video in several modes and environments.
I expected the pic to be really good and they were. In fact, even better than I expected. I don't expect to take much video with it, but I tested it anyway. Wow! Did not expect the video to be so great. I cant believe these little pocket point and shoots have this kind of picture and video quality. Camera, extra battery and 8GB of extra memory for $200. I took the free shipping. Took like 6 days to get to me, I was in no rush. I'm happy.
I am now a fan of Canon and Panasonic. Also, if you don't take much video,only pics, 8GB memeory card is over kill. But it was so cheap I bought it anyway. With the ease of use, and quality, of the video I may start taking more video. If I do, I have plenty of room for it.
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