Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20S 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver)
|  | $181.87Availability: 35 In Stock
Condition: NewSKU: DMC-FS20S
UPC: 037988987177
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| Product DescriptionSimply set the 10.1-megapixel DMC-FS20 to iA mode and let the four Intelligent Auto functions team up to help prevent shooting errors. Intelligent Scene Selector chooses the mode that best fits the situation; MEGA Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) helps prevent blurring from hand-shake; Intelligent ISO Control helps prevent motion blur; and Face Detection helps produce clear portraits by optimizing the focus and exposure settings. The 30mm wide-angle Leica DC Vario-Elmar lens with 4x optical zoom takes wider shots than an ordinary 35mm lens. This is helpful in small rooms or crowded places, for example, letting you fit more people into a group photo. There's also an Easy Zoom button on the camera top - just press it, and the optical zoom and Extra Optical Zoom instantly extend to full telescopic position. This quick zooming lets you catch even fleeting opportunities. The brightness and contrast of the large 3.0" diagonal LCD adjust automatically in 10 steps as ambient light conditions change, so images are clear, bright and easy to see day or night, indoors or outdoors. f=5.2-20.8mm (35mm Equiv. - 30-120mm) Focal Length 3.0 Diagonal Polycrystalline TFT LCD Display (230K dots) Focusing Area Normal - Wide 50cm/ Tele 100cm - infinity, Macro / Intelligent AUTO - Wide 10cm / Tele 100cm - infinity 8 - 1/2,000 sec. Starry Sky Mode - 15, 30, 60sec. Shutter Speed Auto / 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 (High Sensitivity Mode - Auto(1600 - 6400) ) ISO 27MB Internal Memory (additional memory recommended to store more photos and video) Built-in Microphone and Speaker SD/SDHC, MultiMedia Card Slot Built-in Flash with Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Forced Off modes DC Input, AV Output (NTSC/PAL), USB Connections PictBridge Compatible Approximate Battery Life - 310 pictures (CIPA Standard) Approximate Unit Weight - 0.319 lbs - 10-megapixel resolution captures enough detail for poster-sized prints
- 4x wide-angle optical zoom; Mega Optical Image Stabilized
- 3.0-inch Intelligent LCD; Face Detection
- Intelligent ISO; Intelligent Scene Selector
- 50 MB built-in memory; captures images to SD memory cards (not included)
Customer ReviewsReviewed on 2008-04-23  
A good camera, but....
Before you get into this, please note that the 4 stars above should really be 3 and a half. I bought this camera as a replacement for my Casio Exilim EX-Z750, which was damaged by sand. I did a lot of research, and was almost set to buy the Canon SD870 IS, largely for the wide angle. However, while in the store, I saw the Lumix DMC-FS20, which had a more solid feeling than the Canon, and -to me- it also looked better.
There were only few reviews about the FS20 online (mainly good), and I had read good things about other Lumix models, so I ordered it. This camera is basically like the FS5, except for three things: the FS20 has a bigger LCD screen and a joystick-like control, instead of buttons; the FS5 has, among its accessories, an underwater case. The FS-20 is slightly bigger. The reason I went for the FS-20 was the joystick, with which I fell in love immediately.
The camera has a limited set of manual controls, which become even fewer if you choose the "intelligent" mode, so if you like being able to adjust most of your setting, this is not the camera for you. However, there are a few things one can set manually in the non-intelligent mode (and I discovered that I'd better use them), and quite a few scene modes (including one for sport). Not much can be done to the photos in the camera, but I use Paint Shop Pro, so I don' t mind.
Although I only had this camera for a few days (and not in a place where I can get great panoramic photos), I am, overall, pleased -but not delighted- with it:
What I like:
I am very impressed by the stabilizer. My previous camera did not have it and, boy, does it make a BIG difference!
Good close-ups: one can get really good, crisp photos at 5 cm. I took a pic of my shirt and, on zooming in, I could see all the threads, which was pretty neat. You get the fuzz on a peach, and all the details in a caterpillar (if you are so inclined).
In general, images are very crisp. I took a photo of a Word text on my laptop screen, and I could read it and see the pixels when zooming in on the camera screen. Did the same with a page from a paperback book, and it was perfectly readable and neat.
I took several photos of myself with the flash, and was pleasantly surprised by the absence of major red-eye -a rarity in these point-and-shoot models (I have brown eyes -maybe it is different with blue or green eyes).
There is the possibility of changing the exposure and also of "bracketing", which means that you can set the range of exposure you want the camera to try, and it takes three photos in a row, from which you can pick the best.
The image quality is reasonable - but has problems (see below)
I like the wide angle (although it is not as wide as in the Canon (30 mm here, vs. 28 mm in the Canon)). I only tried it on rather uninspiring landscapes, however.
The previously mentioned joystick is great to use.
The manual is on paper, which meant that I actually read it, and discovered things I would never have found out otherwise.
The software included with the camera includes a program to make panoramas and stitch together photos (the Canon has a similar feature). I was fairly impressed by it, because it actually stitched together a couple of sets of photos I had taken before, without having this in mind. Sometimes, however, the program picks photos that really do not match, so check your results....
It has face recognition (it even recognizes faces on TV).
It comes with a 4X optical zoom (most of the small models come with 3, although some have 5 or 7). It is not the fastest on the planet, although it has a button for fast complete extension.
What I do not like:
It does not have a viewfinder (although I knew this upon buying it, of course). The LCD screen is nice in good light but, in sunlight, I really miss a viewfinder.
So far, most of the images I wanted to keep needed some retouching (so did most of those taken with my previous camera, however). The colors were at times dull (I used mostly standard colors), and the auto white balance does not always work properly (this was specified in the manual). It can be set manually, although you need to have something white at hand for that, and this improves things somewhat. Generally, indoor shots seemed under-exposed, but exposure can be adjusted.
When taking an indoor photo of a white piece of paper during the day, I noticed that the corners tend to be darker than the middle (also without flash), even if no shadow was visible to me. This, too, improves a little by fiddling with white balance and exposure. Outdoors this is much less of a problem.
The speed (or lack thereof) of the card when you connect the camera to your PC is a shortcoming. I generally dislike the photo viewers that come with cameras, and I tend to use the camera as an external drive. If you do this, don't even think of rotating a picture while you pretend that this is a USB drive, because your youth will be gone before the thing has rotated 90 degrees... Looking at the images is also painfully slow, and the software that comes with the camera only speeds things up a little, but it is slow to start. Fortunately, you can neatly delete multiple pics (even not in sequence) on the camera in few strokes, and I suggest you be selective before you connect to your PC.
Although viewing your photos on the 3-inch screen is great, that's a lot of real estate to leave your fingerprints on. The camera can hardly be handled without touching the screen, which occupies most of the back.
Battery life is about 270 photos (and I stressed the battery quite a bit by using flash and playback a lot). This is as promised, and the large LCD probably eats up a lot of energy. This is worse than my Casio, but better than other cameras with similar features - so not quite a negative.
Overall, I like this camera, but you should be prepared to retouch several of your images. Also, don't expect the whitest of whites if lighting is not optimal. The manual settings may be too few for those who like them and too many for those who don't (although one can just use the intelligent mode, even if that will not always be satisfactory).
Thank you for getting to the end of this long review. I hope it helps those who are trying to make up their mind....
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