Panasonic LS60

The Panasonic Lumix LS60 is testament to just how affordable digital cameras have become recently. Less than £100 buys you a six-megapixel, 3x zoom model with a two-inch LCD screen.

Those features on an entry-level camera would have been unheard of until very recently, but with falling DSLR prices in turn driving down the cost of compact digicams, the LS60 is a true bargain. The six-megapixel sensor delivers images that can be printed up to 15 x 10 inches in size, more than big enough for most users, and the 35-105mm lens will cope with everything from landscapes to head-and-shoulder portraits. The two-inch LCD screen has a low pixel count, resulting in a noticeably grainy image, but it does offer the innovative High Angle mode, enabling you to hold the camera above your head and still view the scene.

There’s a new Extra Optical Zoom function, which provides additional magnification by extending the zoom to 4.1x in the three-megapixel resolution mode. In addition, with a single press the Easy Zoom button extends the lens to full 3x zoom, and to 4.1x with a second press – very useful for quickly zooming in on your subject.

Incredibly at this price point, the LS60 offers an optical image stabilisation system. Called Mega OIS, when enabled it allows the LS60 to automatically compensate for camera shake, which is a slight blurring of the image that typically occurs at slower shutter speeds when hand-holding the camera. There are two different modes: Mode 1 stays on all the time, including during image composition, and Mode 2 is activated only when you press the shutter button. It makes a difference, with noticeably sharper pictures, and the camera doesn’t handle differently when anti-shake is turned on.

Thankfully battery life isn’t affected, with 200 shots available using the supplied AA Oxyride batteries. The use of AA batteries instead of a proprietary system makes the camera more adaptable, with replacements easy to find in an emergency. The new Intelligent ISO mode is another way of avoiding subject blur in low-light conditions. The camera automatically sets the appropriate shutter speed and ISO speed for the subject. It’s a clever idea that works well in practice, but there’s one small caveat – with the flash on, the ISO speed only reaches 640, but overall it’s a useful addition for low-light shooting.

Performance is the weakest point of the LS60, with slow flash recycle and burst shooting times, but the camera starts up quickly enough, and focusing is snappy even in low-light conditions. Image quality is more than adequate, with limited purple fringing effects, no red-eye and neutral exposures. On the downside, the six-megapixel images are quite soft, with no option to increase the sharpening level, and they are very noisy and blurred when using the fastest ISO 800 and 1250 settings. Overall, though, the LS60 is an easy-to-use point-and-shoot camera that delivers good image quality at a great price.