Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX8 5 Megapixel Compact Camera - Black

Lumix FX8K

Strengths: Strong flash, small (it can fit into my cell phone case, can auto adjust flash, many features

Weakness: Cover is glossy, auto flash sometimes stinks

overall it is a great camera. the 3x optical zoom is great. the small body can fit in my pocket like my cell.
it is a little pricey but it's worth it

By davidlai - Jul 15, 2006

Panasonic fx8 digital camera (black)

Strengths: It is very easy to use, it has stabilizer to avoid your hand shaking.

Weakness: The resolution of the display is not as good as fx9, and the recorded viedo size is very large.

Overall, it is a great camera at this price. The special thing of this camera is that, it has a stabilizer that most of the digital camera at this price doesn't have.

By mc_dulldull - Feb 8, 2006

Panasonic DMC fx8

Strengths: Small size, lightweight, great pictrues out of point and shoot camera

Weakness: None for me

I already have a digital SLR with several lens. I wanted a small camera to take on field trips, little family events and still get great shots. This is absolutely the camera. I compared it to the Canon SD450, but settled on this one because of the polycarbonate LCD. It is more durable. I also took pictures and printed them out before even buying this camera. Picture color is exceptional, and the...
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I already have a digital SLR with several lens. I wanted a small camera to take on field trips, little family events and still get great shots. This is absolutely the camera. I compared it to the Canon SD450, but settled on this one because of the polycarbonate LCD. It is more durable. I also took pictures and printed them out before even buying this camera. Picture color is exceptional, and the built in flash doesn't wash anything out. This camera works great both indoors and outside.

By shadow507 - Dec 2, 2005

Lumix DMC-FX8

Strengths: Optical image stabilization, small size, good design, very solid construction.

Weakness: No manual focus

I was looking for a camera that was small enough to fit in my pocket, had optical image stabilization, and had a good movie mode. After discovering that no such camera existed, I gave up and bought a nice camera that didn't fit in my pocket. The next day Panasonic announced the FX8--which met all of my requirements. Eventually I bought it. One of the main things I use a camera for is museum...
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I was looking for a camera that was small enough to fit in my pocket, had optical image stabilization, and had a good movie mode. After discovering that no such camera existed, I gave up and bought a nice camera that didn't fit in my pocket. The next day Panasonic announced the FX8--which met all of my requirements.

Eventually I bought it. One of the main things I use a camera for is museum photography, especially medieval jewelery, one of my hobbies. Flash is frequently prohibited in museums and when permitted tends to cause problems with reflections off the glass, so I rely mostly on long exposures. The optical image stabilization means that I can reliably get sharp pictures with 1/8 second exposures--something I could only occasionally manage with earlier cameras.

The camera is very nicely made and finished. Unlike other digital cameras I am familiar with, the covers over both the battery/memory card compartment and the USB plug appear to be metal. It is small enough so that, when travelling, I can carry it in my pocket almost all the time.

My one complaint is that it does not have a manual focus mode, something which would occasionally be convenient, since occasionally the auto focus has a hard time getting it right.

By ddfr - Oct 29, 2005

Engineering Review

Strengths: Long battery life. Small size makes it easy to take anywhere.

Weakness: I do not recommend this camera to big oafs or others with fat fingers. It is too dainty for you folk. Only 2 GB maximum card storage capacity, which limits full quality video to 22.5 minutes.

Price paid: $245.74 + $0.01 shipping - $5.00 Pricegrabber review rebate I thoroughly researched this camera, so this review should answer all your pre-purchase jitters. Conclusion: I would recommend this camera to those who have demoed it in a store and were pleased with its look and feel and who like taking short videos to transfer to computer or DVD recorder or VCR. Also, those who are tired of...
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Price paid: $245.74 + $0.01 shipping - $5.00 Pricegrabber review rebate
I thoroughly researched this camera, so this review should answer all your pre-purchase jitters.

Conclusion:
I would recommend this camera to those who have demoed it in a store and were pleased with its look and feel and who like taking short videos to transfer to computer or DVD recorder or VCR. Also, those who are tired of blurry pictures and video and who take pictures when an opportunity comes up and they need the camera quickly. This camera is superior to the Kodak V550, as far as prices and specs are concerned (it was designed later). Unless you just really need a camera dock, I would suggest this camera over the V550. I would not let the fact that other cameras only have image stabilization during video deter you from buying them over this camera. Image stabilization does not mean the end to blurry pictures, only a reduction in them.

Explanation:
I bought this camera mostly for the image stabilization. Actually, I was surprised how little I notice this feature now. Perhaps I just take it for granted. It works great for video. However, I still get some blurry pictures (I have a toddler who is faster than any camera).
I still haven’t figured out how to get a non-blurry picture of that child in burst mode. I guess Mega OIS just can’t compensate for such quick movements.
On the plus side, I can pull out decent 640x480 pictures from video using video editing software such as WMM. I guess what I will do is start taking a video whenever I think the kids will look cute and then if they do, I will be able to grab a picture when I put the video on my computer. You may be wondering how I will use WMM to edit QT video? The AV out on the camera can connect to my TV tuner video card on my computer, which records MPEG II files (DVD files). You cannot use this camera to record audio only files. It will only record up to 10 seconds of audio with a picture. It would be nice if you could use this camera as a voice recorder, movie player, MP3 player, thumbdrive, etc. Maybe Panasonic would consider including this as an update to the camera’s firmware? I wish. If you want such a multipurpose device, look elsewhere. As of this date, I have yet to find such a device that would take high quality photos though.
I’ve never had this kind of camera before, so I was worried about being able to utilize the features. However, the interface is very logical, and I was able to do everything with the camera that my wife read about in the manual without reading it myself, of course (What male reads manuals?). It took about 30 minutes to become familiar with 90% of the camera’s abilities.
I also purchased a nice Samsonite case at Wal-mart for fewer than 5 bucks. It is a semi-hard shell with a zipper and the camera fits nicely in it, and you can still put it in your pocket. And if you drop it while in the case, it won’t get hurt. I found it in the photo-department.

Cons: I would have preferred they saved the video in .mpg format, it would have been a smaller file size, and I wouldn’t need Ouicktime Pro. They should have included QT Pro in the software bundle. That would be sweet! However, you can use RAD Tools or MP42AVI (free programs) to convert the .mov to .avi to edit in Movie Maker 2.
The left arrow button on the back is close to the screen. The screen housing is not supported very well. This combination means that every time I push left the LCD screen is deflected, which produces a ripple effect on the screen, and is not good for it. (Apparently, this can break your camera!). I will just have to be very sure not to touch the screen. No on-camera ability to snap pictures from video. Comes with a 16 MB flash card that can’t hold but 16 pictures at most. How about selling a version of this camera with the 2GB card?
Shopping experience:
Camera purchased through Pricegrabber and Abe’s of Maine. Order placed on 11/25. Shipped night of 11/30 via UPS ground from NY to TX. Order arrived evening of 12/6. Abe’s called me the night of 11/28 to verify my order. I wasn’t home, so they left a message. I called them back the night of 11/30 and left them a message. Later I saw that they finally decided to ship the order two hours before I returned their call. At least I was able to avoid the up-selling that some other shoppers have reported from this seller. Still, it took 11 days to get here. Don’t expect to get your order any sooner than 10 days! I don’t have any complaints about Abe’s. They shipped me what I wanted for the price I wanted it. The product arrived well packed and undamaged. It was brand new and it works great. I do wonder why they upped their price and shipping costs after I ordered it. I suppose they only wanted to stay at the top of the PriceGrabber list for a week?

Update: This camera technology will be out of date in 3 months. Sony and others already have a 3" touch screen with no buttons!

By paululrich - Dec 9, 2005