Updated 13 Feb, 2012, 6:30 pm IST

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS42

04 Jul, 2009, 12:00 pm IST | Nikhil Singh | Point and Shoot

If you're looking for a budget camera, it can get rather confusing with the sheer number of options out there. Problem is, most cheap cameras come with the drawbacks of any cheap product - i.e. cheap quality. You usually end up sacrificing on performance in certain areas for others; so it can get rather tedious to weigh out each and every option in order to figure out what suits your needs the most. If you're looking for an all-rounder though, we might have found you a match.

Build Quality

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS42 is a sleek looking camera that weighs a mere 132-grams, and measures just 98 x 55 x 22 mm. It's small enough to make it fit in your pocket comfortably, but at the same time, big enough so that it can be gripped comfortably while taking shots. The body's made up of matte finish plastic parts, with a nice balance between gray and black parts. Apart from Black, the camera's also available in Silver and Pink.

Button placement's good too, with the power toggle switch and shutter button on top, which has the zoom toggle ring circled around it. The facing side of the camera has a preview/shooting mode toggle, along with a handful of the basic buttons, all of which have a low profile that enhances portability, and ensures that they don't get pressed accidentally. At 2.5", the camera's LCD screen's slightly smaller than most others (that have 2.7" or 3" screens), but its pixel count is standard at 230,000, so it gave us nothing to complain about.

Where both aesthetics and sturdiness are concerned, the FS42 doesn't falter one bit. Other than a slightly light weight, the camera doesn't feel look or feel the way you'd expect a camera that doesn't dent your pocket, to appear.

Tags: Panasonic , Lumix , DMC , FS42 , 10 Megapixel

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