Customer Reviews

Panasonic Lumix FS30 Digital Camera - Black (14.1MP, 8x Optical Zoom) 2.7 inch LCD

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After spending hours of looking through many different types of cameras I was at a stand-off between this camera (FS30) and the slightly more "advanced" version (FS33), which has the bonus of a touch screen. After filtering through all the reviews I finally decided that I would go for this version and I most certainly do not regret doing so!

The camera looks very suave and has a very nice texture to the touch, you can also see the quality that has been put into the making of the camera.

This camera comes with:
*Battery Pack + Battery Case, Battery Charger & AC Mains Lead.
*USB Connection Cable.
*AV Cable.
*Hand Strap.
*CD-ROM which features Software to help run the video format, PHOTOfunSTUDIO & Operating Instructions.

The PHOTOfunStudio, ran fine with my PC which has 2GB RAM with the Operating System of Windows 7. This program lets you copy your photos straight from your camera to your PC at a decent speed via the USB cable supplied, or you can take out your SD card and put it into a card reader *not supplied, if you wish not to use the software. With this software you can also browse your photos/video, make slide-shows, edit photos/video, print pictures, copy to media devices and also an option to upload your video onto YouTube. The only downside in my point of view is that when searching for photos, it shows you every single picture within the main folder you have selected, (it goes through all the sub-folders), however I only wanted to see the photos that are in the actual folder I have selected. Due to this I use the software to transfer my files to my PC and then browse photos/videos the normal way.

It doesn't come with a memory card so I would personally recommend getting: Panasonic 4GB Class 10 SDHC Card (up to 22MB/s - Gold Line) if you are going for HD videos or generally if you want a great quality SDHC card. *This camera supports various memory cards ranging from: SD (8MB-2GB), SDHC (4GB-32GB) and SDXC (48GB-64GB). Recording motion pictures will require a card with SD speed class with "Class 6" or higher.*

If you want to protect your camera physically, I would suggest you buy a case as you don't get one with this product; most people have recommended getting: Panasonic DMW-PSS13KK Leather Case for FS Series.

This camera has been a breeze to navigate around, the menu's are simplistic and whatever age group you are, it should be easy to find your way around the settings.
You can choose many settings from the quality and aspect ratio of pictures, to red-eye auto fix, brightness, exposure etc... too many to list, however all are categorised appropriately making it a breeze to use.

The picture quality is fantastic and is extremely crisp whether you are taking a picture zoomed in or out, or recording a motion picture which you can do in HD! (720p).

The only thing that disappointed me was that you can't zoom-in WHILST taking a motion picture, however you can zoom-in before you click record and get around it that way, but you wont be able to zoom back whilst it's recording, so make sure you have the right zoom before you click the record button.

Overall it's a nice looking, brilliant picture taking, quality camera that I really would recommend to anyone that is looking for a camera around this price range.

I own a Nikon DSLR and use it alot, however I love my compact cameras for portabilty and happy snapping my dog and family etc. I previously owned the panasonic TZ65 and loved it, the 65 developed a fault and I was offered an exchange, I must admit I was a bit hesitant as the fs30 did not look as robust and did not sport the leica lens. On paper the fs30 did appear better having the better resolution and hd video playback on the PC. I took my time and looked at some other similar priced cameras such as the canon ixus 100IS, the canon did not feel as sturdy as the panasonic and did not have the zoom, ( although it did have a direct hdmi connector which was tempting ). Anyway I opted for the panasonic fs30 and was not dissapointed, it is small,light and the metal case just feels alot nicer than many other camera's in this price range.The video is excellent, only snag being it records in .mov so you will need quicktime to play the movies but it is supplied, you cannot use the zoom in video mode either so set the zoom before you press record, the quality is so good I sold my camcorder!! Photo quality is excellent too and you have a 16:9 option so your pics will fill a widescreen tv or PC monitor without clipping.In 16:9 mode the resolution changes to a healthy 12.5 megapixels and using a 4gb card you will get approx 870 images assuming you take no video. The camera will take bigger SDHC cards. The camera also has a child/pet mode and will record name and age in the photo description. On a full charge I find the battery is good for about 350+ pictures (probably alot more, this is just the max I have done in one day) . The only 3 things that stop me from giving this product 5 stars is the lack of zoom in video mode,the .mov extension (for movie) and the not so intelligent auto. Having used mine for about a month now I get on great with the menu system and sometimes favour the scene settings over the not so intelligent auto. Would I reccomend this camera to a good friend or family member? Yes I would.

I bought the Lumix FS30 to replace my much loved Lumix FX8, which got sand on the sensor. I was worried that 14mp on the FS30's tiny sensor would result in lots of noise, but Panasonic seem to have cracked this issue, presumably by clever software. Even night scenery shots have almost no visible noise, which was always a problem on the FX8.

The 8x optical zoom lens in such a small camera is astonishing, though images do get a bit soft at longer focal lengths. The 28mm wide angle is significantly more useful than the 35mm on the FX8 too. It's quick to focus and has very little shutter lag. The screen is clear and bright, and the captured images are sharp and full of detail. HD movies are a plus, though there is no HDMI port, so you can't play them back in HD quality on a HD TV. They gobble up SD card space too, so short clips are the order of the day.

The "Intelligent Auto" function works very well, selecting the appropriate scene mode automatically, and employing face detection to set the correct exposure for skin texture. However iAuto defaults to the "Standard" colour mode, which increases contrast and sharpness, and over-saturates colours, much like the "Vivid" mode on the FX8. You can select a "Natural" colour mode, which gives more realistic images, but this is only available in "Normal" mode, not in "iAuto". So in order to get realistic photos, you have to select "Normal" and "Natural", and then select the scene mode manually, negating the advantages of "iAuto".

Other minor drawbacks are the typically quirky Panasonic controls (e.g. none of the buttons have play or stop icons for movies and slideshows, so it's trial and error, or RTFM). No manual control over aperture or shutter speed either, but that's to be expected for this type of camera.

Overall though, I'm impressed with this camera. When you don't want to lug your DSLR on holiday, it's the perfect pocket snapper, and great value too.

I got this fantastic little camera only yesterday and have been nothing but impressed with the features, quality and all round performance. The auto intelligent mode (a small button on the top right) is brilliant for people more unsure what settings are best and allows the camera to take care of everything. There are also enough features, settings and different modes for people more confident and happy to play around with it, and produces some fantastic quality photos.

The colours are sharp and crisp and the zoom is particularly impressive. The image stabilisation works incredibly well, even when fully zoomed in.

Some users with larger hands may struggle slightly to hold and operate this, as it is on the dinky side, but makes it perfect for carrying around. I'm looking forward to taking this travelling with me to create some fantastic photos for future memories. Definitely the best camera I have ever owned!

I bought this to replace the FS15 which got stolen and was an amazing camera, upgraded to this as it had better zoom and more pixels. This model is slightly chunkier to accommodate the increased zoom, but apart from that is exactly the same. The menu system is clear and easy to use, the pictures look great, it seems to work in any conditions or scenarios and is lightning quick to start up. It is not as flashy as other cameras I have seen, but I think it makes up for this in features and picture quality. It feels very well built and looks lovely. And at this price it would be rude not to get one!

Well as I'm not an expert photographer (I'm learning and enjoying it so far!), I won't try and thoroughly review this camera.

But I will basically say that I think it is fantastic. I can see that the quality of the pictures taken with it are simply staggering. I use the iAuto mode quite a lot and it really does take some quality pictures. Video is also excellent - HD footage is pretty impressive! Albeit, the file sizes can get quite big. I took 8 minutes of footage (the maximum, I think at one time), and the file was pushing 2GB. I would recommend you get a largeish memory card - I bought the Lexar 8GB SDHC Class 6 - for the best throughput I/O speeds.

Highly recommended to all, especially at the price - only £130 from Amazon! Excellent product.

I don't know much about cameras, but I know what my wife likes. She bought this camera, its predecessor (the DMC-FS15) not having survived an extreme paddling accident involving a flip flop and a slippy rock. She is very pleased with it (the camera, not the rock). It's versatile, extremely portable, and has a really good zoom. Not sure we need so many millions of pixels - at this rate of breeding, they will soon populate the entire world's surface, but the camera allows you to cull a few. The only drawback we've found is that the zoom is static in movie mode. Nice colour, too. In all senses.

Excellent product does all it says on the box.One Gripe wish they would produce a hard copy of operations manual instead of a stupid CD.

I consider this camera a really good buy. A nice size and really easy to use. Just what you need if you are one of the 'just point and click' brigade and not a budding photographer. Has enough settings and options not to be too over whelming. Just what someone who is not obsessed with gadgets can cope with. Thoroughly recommended. I found out that it must be shock proof too as I did have a couple of accidents whilst on holiday - and it is still working.

This is my first proper digital camera, and I wanted a good zoom and picture quality, and this camera has one of the best zooms around. The functions menu is also very good too, I was particularly impressed with the night time snaps. One thing I made a mistake on was taking photos without adjusting the settings that the camera arrived with. It was set to a high ISO setting, so the pictures I took just before dusk set in were very noisy. I experimented with lower ISO settings and this helped, though there is still a little bit of noise in the pictures. It takes great pictures though, and the zoom is just great, for me for capturing wildlife where you cannot get too close. It is also very well built, very solid feel to it with the metal body. Well designed, buttons well layed out, and it's a pleasure to use.