Updated 16 Feb, 2012, 11:31 am IST

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS42

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

Features and Performance

The Lumix DMC-FS42 comes with a CCD sensor that takes pictures of up to 10.1 megapixels. It features a modest 3x optical zoom, and the lens can go up to 33mm for wide shots. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

The FS series is known for its intelligent modes, be it with Intelligent Auto-ISO or its Auto Scene mode. So the first thing we wanted to check was just that, and we came out rather pleased, at least where Auto Scene Mode was concerned. For the lazy amongst us, the Auto Scene Mode works just perfectly and always picked the right mode for the right shot, be it night, low light w/flash, profile shots or landscape shots. It did tend to under-expose a few pictures every now and then though, so you might want to watch for that.

For those who prefer to stick to normal scene modes, you have quite a few options there too, ensuring that you don't have to rely on the camera's Auto Scene Mode all the time. The camera has a Normal Mode too, which is basically a completely stripped down manual mode, that's not even worth mentioning.

The i.Auto-ISO mode on the other hand tend to overshoot the ISO sensitivity a bit, making shots more grainy than required. It's better to adjust ISO sensitivity manually in this one, and for that you have access to ISO 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000. ISO performance was slightly above average, and ISO 200 shots were very low and grain, which is fantastic.

Overall image quality on the other hand, was a bit iffy and camera didn't capture details too well. Auto-white balance, on the other hand, was spot on and color reproduction was vivid.

Where night shots were concerned, the FS42 impressed us quite a bit and captured low-lit areas in dark scene pretty well, while keeping colors vivid. Macro performance was satisfactory too.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a quality point-and-shoot that doesn't dent your pocket, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS42's low price tag (Rs. 8,990) should undoubtedly enamor you. Bare in mind though, that image quality offered here isn't that great and manual functionality is zilch. If you can live with that, the camera's a great buy, especially for the lazy amongst us who'd rather use Auto Scene Mode over any other.

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

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