Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX8K Digital Camera - Black

Panasonic DMC fx8

Posted Dec 2, 2005 - 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.

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Lumix FX8K

Posted Jul 15, 2006 - 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

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Panasonic fx8 digital camera (black)

Posted Feb 8, 2006 - 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.

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Lumix DMC-FX8

Posted Oct 29, 2005 - 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.

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Engineering Review

Posted Mar 1, 2006 - 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!

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Small camera with optical image stabilizer

Posted Oct 10, 2005 - It's the only camera I will buy at the moment since it is small but come with the optical image stabilizer function. This really help not to waste the pictures that we've taken. Before I bought, I've tried it by shook it and took a picture. The picture still came out very good.

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lumix dmc fx8k

Posted Oct 18, 2005 - this is a great camera for those of us with shaky hands. eliminates the blurs. also good red eye feature. small size makes camera easy to carry. only drawback is manual could be a little clearer.

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Panasonic DMC-FX8K

Posted Dec 31, 2005 - This is a great camera. I have used Nikons, and Olympia's and this is as good or better. Can't see why I would spend money on Panasonic FX9 as this has all but the improved camera screen. I only use the screen to take pictures.

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very good camera

Posted May 1, 2006 - When I first took out the camera out of the case, it was very strange to hold a camera that small, and it was actually cold, which meant that they actually used some metal and other materials besides plastic. I am not sure if it is possible to somehow lower the quality on the video, so that I can put more on my 245 SD device than 2 min. Another thing that they could have done better is to have build in storage because the 16 (external) that comes with it is useless.

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Spray effect

Posted Nov 30, 2005 - My exemplar takes very bad pictures, with a spray effect and a low definition. I'm trying to ask Panasonic to solve this problem (if it is only a problem of my unit), but at the moment I am very disappointed with this camera. I have a 5 Mpx Sony with a stunning photo quality, I bought this one attracted by its OIS and Leica lenses, but I found out that: 1. LCD is slow and dark in comparison with Sony's 2. There's no chance to take night pictures (max shutter speed is 8 secs and only with a preset mode where you cannot adjust white balance, while the Sony's max is 30 secs) 3. It gets dirty and greasy very easily because of its glossy material 4. Overall picture quality is very bad, there's no contrast, OIS doesn't work with low light conditions, there's a spray effect on colours (like it's a 2 Mpx that tries to make its pictures bigger). I hope it's just my unit's problem and Panasonic will solve it, even if I bought the camera in the USA and I live in Italy,since I've read only excellent reviews of this camera. I will post again if the problem will be solved

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average digital camera

Posted Feb 8, 2006 - Easy to carry, I bring it with me everyday, stylish design. I already have a DSLR but I still like this tiny camera. image quality is so so but it is easy to use.

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a small evil

Posted Feb 12, 2006 - This is a great little toy with 5 megapixels, as the item equipped with its Leica lens and big 2.5" display, is a good value at below $300. It's small and light (a little larger than a 4G ipod) and the much-touted image stabilization feature works well. Battery life -- which I understand is the only functional upgrade over the DMC-FX7 -- is above average.

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