Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP8

Flat fronted fully auto snapper with illuminated buttons

With sales of conventional compacts slowing, Panasonic is aiming to bring something new to the market with its latest FP8 compact. The aluminium build camera welds a 12.1-megapixel effective resolution from a 12.7MP 1/2.3-inch CCD to a Leica-branded 28mm wide angle lens, its fashion-conscious flat fascia design with internally stacked (or ‘folded’) 4.6x optical zoom echoing Minolta’s Dimage X series compacts before the company sold out to Sony. Adding extra garnish are illuminated LED buttons with sound effects and a choice of eye-catching red, black or silver bodies.

Square edges and flat surfaces however mean that there’s not much of this camera for users to get a firm grip on when shooting handheld. In an essential move Panasonic has included optical image stabilisation (OIS) to combat blur resulting from camera shake – here ‘Power OIS’ claimed to be twice as effective – whilst intelligent auto (iA) enables photographers to merely point and shoot, the FP8 reliably recognising common scenes and subjects and selecting the relevant settings automatically. This then is a beginner friendly device that takes things a step further in doing away with the traditional mode wheel and replacing it with a ‘mode’ button on the back. Press this and users are given the option of taking a ‘normal’ fully auto picture, selecting one of the pre-optimised 28 scene modes for just about any given subject, opting for My Scene Mode, whereby the camera is always set to one particular subject of the user’s choosing or selecting HD quality video capture. A press of the dedicated iA button to the right of the shutter release lets photographers quickly flip between intelligent auto capture and whichever mode was previously selected.

The camera feels solid when gripped, despite the fact that at 131g without compatible optional SD/SDHC card or supplied lithium ion rechargeable battery plus a depth of 20.2mm the FP8 slips easily and unobtrusively into a trouser or jacket pocket. Curiously there’s no automatic cover protecting the lens when the camera isn’t in use, its glass permanently open to the elements; ensuring it inevitably attracts fingerprints. Also, by positioning the lens at the top right hand edge of the faceplate there’s a danger of fingertips straying into shot. We likewise found our middle fingers occasionally getting in the way of the narrow lozenge shaped window for the built-in flash, otherwise good for a range of up to 5.5 metres.

Flick the on/off switch on the camera’s top plate and the FP8 readies itself for the first shot in just over a second, a speedy response for a premium build entry level model, its backplate buttons glowing blue whilst the 2.7-inch LCD bursts into life in the absence of an optical viewfinder. We did notice some image lag and ghosting when panning indoors, though no such problems when viewing outdoors. There’s the ability to adjust the LCD settings to increase visibility when holding the camera at arm’s length and shooting over the heads of a crowd.

Press the shutter release button halfway and the camera determines focus and exposure in less than a second, central AF point highlighted in green accompanied by a beep of confirmation. Go on to press the shutter release down fully and maximum resolution JPEGS are committed to memory in a couple of seconds, metering for the most part on the money. The zoom action is likewise smooth and steady, gliding from maximum wide angle to extreme telephoto in approximately three seconds. Maintaining its speedy and intuitive operation, Panasonic has provided a ‘Q Menu’ (or Quick Menu) button that offers a shortcut to key shooting settings via a tool bar with drop down options running across the top of the LCD screen, which is a nice touch.

Despite cramming a 28-128mm equivalent zoom into slender dimensions, quality doesn’t seem to have been unduly affected on the FP8. A good degree of detail and crisp results are offered when there’s plenty of light around. So, in bright, sunny conditions most users will be satisfied with the results straight out of the camera, and, if conditions are a little drab, selecting the ‘vivid’ option from amongst the colour settings will provide a sense of visual dynamism otherwise missing. We did however notice image noise creeping into shadow areas from ISO400 upwards, though results at ISO800 are still perfectly usable. At ISO1600 detail is visibly smudged and High Sensitivity mode is best avoided unless absolutely desperate.

The FP8 is pretty much a wholly automatic point and shoot camera for those who care as much, if not more, about looks as features and performance. It’s not the cheapest device of its ilk – £199 would feel more realistic to us  – but those captivated by shiny trinkets may well feel illuminated controls and a solid metal build are worth paying a slight premium for.

Final Verdict Glowing buttons and aluminium build aside the FP8 offers a fairly standard feature set at a premium price. But despite there being little here that’s truly new, Panasonic has introduced another reliable performer to the Lumix range. OVERALL

Having trained as a journalist and written about photography since the ‘dawn of digital’ (1998), Gavin’s career has encompassed being deputy editor and editor of more photo titles than he’d care to remember before packing his bags and going freelance in 2004.