Sporting a futuristic design with an admiral balance between grace and ergonomics, Panasonic’s new DMC-FP3, and DMC-FP1 are a fashionable addition to the award winning Lumix range of cameras. Ideal cameras for daily photography the FP3, and FP1 boast a newly developed ultra thin 4 x optical zoom* lens with stylish folded optics.
Heading up the pack, the 14.1 megapixel FP3 boasts a 3” LCD with touch panel for the ultimate sleek and style design. The FP1 offers all of the benefits of the FP3 – with a 2.7”, non-touch LCD screen and 12.1 megapixel resolution. *Equivalent to 35mm to 140mm on a 35mm camera
Enjoy your Images in HD
All Lumix cameras can take 16:9 HD (high-definition) quality photos that perfectly fit a wide-screen HDTV for full-screen viewing. You can enjoy slideshows of photos taken with the camera in stunning HD quality by inserting an SDHD/SD memory card in to the SDHC/SD card slot with the VIERA HDTV (VIERA Image Viewer).
The new FP models even record dynamic HD movie* in 1280 x 720p at a smooth 30 fps, in addition to WVGA (848 x 480) and normal VGA (640 x 480). It is also possible not only to watch the movie on PC but also to upload it on YouTube with the included software PHOTOfunSTUDIO ver.5.0.
*Use a card with SD Speed Class* with “Class 6” or higher when recording motion pictures. SD speed class is the speed standard regarding continuous writing. For Europe, motion images can be recorded continuously for up to 15 minutes
Flat, Futuristic Design thanks to Folding Optics
The new additions feature a high-quality 4x optical zoom Lumix DC Lens1. Folded optics are adopted to secure the toughness of the lens unit. Comprising 11 elements and a prism unit in 10 groups, including an ED lens and 4 aspherical lenses with 7 aspherical surfaces, this advanced lens unit renders high resolution image corner to corner even adopting the folded optics.
If you really want to get up close and personal to the object you are photographing, the Extra Optical Zoom function provides additional magnification, extending the zoom power to 8.4x (294mm1) for FP3 and 7.8x (273mm1) for the FP1 by using the centre part of the high resolution CCD*.
*In 3 megapixel resolution mode
Superb Image Quality
The image-processing LSI, Venus Engine IV, features advanced signal processing technology for rendering high quality images. Featured in the new models, the multi-task image-processing engine Venus Engine IV supports a super-fast response time. The shutter release time lag is as short as approx. 0.006` second. The camera’s quick response makes it easier to capture sudden, spur-of-the-moment photo opportunities together with the sonic speed AF (auto focus) that lets you lock on the subject minimum 0.33 second* and the short start-up time of approx. 0.96 second.
The Venus Engine IV also supports a High Sensitivity mode that lets the new additions record at a setting of up to ISO 6400, sensitive enough to capture subjects in near-total darkness without using a flash^.
Despite its outstanding performance, the high performance engine is also superior in its energy efficiency to feature a long battery life up to 300 shots (CIPA) per a single charge.
`0.007 second for the DMC-FP1
*At wide-end, using 1-area AF
^In 3-megapixel(4:3), 2.5-megapixel(3:2), 2-megapixel(16:9) recording
Intelligently Speaking
As with all Panasonic’s Lumix cameras, the new FP models incorporate the sophisticated Intelligent Auto mode in pursuit of the ultimate ease of operation and the reduction of misshots. MEGA O.I.S. suppresses hand-shake and Intelligent ISO control prevents moving subjects from being blurred by optimizing the shutter speed and ISO setting, to render sharp, clear images whatever the shooting situation is. Human faces are captured in focus and appropriate exposure with Face Detection.
Unwanted red-eyes are digitally corrected and backlight compensation automatically activates if this happens. Intelligent Scene Selector, which automatically selects from 6 scene modes – Macro, Portrait, Scenery, Night Portrait, Night Scenery and newly added Sunset – that best suits the shooting situation. The Quick AF system allows the camera to keep focus on the subject while the camera is in recording mode even before pressing the shutter button halfway, to get the best results from far moving subjects ,because the focus is always near the subject and the AF time is minimized.
Effortlessly easy to use, the user can activate all of these useful, convenient shooting-assist functions by simply pressing a dedicated iA button on the top of the camera. All these features make the FP3, and FP1 the ultimate, super-versatile automatic camera for capturing clear, beautiful, mistake-free photos with ease.
Look at Me!
The new FP models incorporate an easy-to-see, 230,000-dot Intelligent LCD for comfortable viewing while both monitoring shots and playing back the results. The Intelligent LCD function detects the light condition and automatically boosts the LCD backlighting by Max. 40% when shooting outdoors in bright sunshine, and adjusts the frame rate when shooting in low-lit situations in addition to using the pixel mixed readout method to secure clarity in such situations. Detecting the lighting condition precisely and automatically controlling the brightness with a total of 11 fine steps, this function gives the display the most appropriate clarity in any situation without using extra energy. The High-angle mode makes the LCD screen extremely easy to view when the camera is held high, such as when shooting over a crowd.
For those looking for the ultimate sleek experience, the FP3 boasts a 3” LCD with touch panel for easy, intuitive control. With the four major operation buttons in addition to the touch screen, this hybrid operation is simply straightforward. Touch operation is smooth and effortless both when recording and playing back images. In recording mode, once you compose the frame, all you have to do is touch the area you wish to focus before pressing the shutter button halfway. In playback mode, you can drag the image across the screen with a finger to browse the collection of photos as you flip over the pages of the book.
Even More Reasons to Love the new FP Models
The new DMC-FP3/ FP1 feature a variety of functionalities to expand the fun and convenience for users at every stage to enjoy taking beautiful pictures. A rich variety of scene modes make it easy to get beautiful photos in a range of photographic situations. Baby, Pet and Sports mode take advantage of the Intelligent ISO Control as previously described, to let you get great results even if the subjects have unexpected motion.
Furthermore, you can record the name and birthday of your children or pet and embed the information of the name and at which age in year and month the photo was taken on the photo, and choose to print either or both of them on the photo. Photo Frame mode lets the user put attractive borders around the photo. When printed, the photos look like photos in picture frames, making them ideal postcards.
The functions and settings used most often, such as O.I.S., consecutive shooting, auto focus point, white balance adjustment, ISO level, image size and LCD mode are quickly and easily accessed via the Quick Setting function. There’s no need to open menus to adjust them.
The user can select from among several pretty icons for the camera to use for indicating when the subject is in focus. With the My Scene setting, the user can assign up to specific Scene modes to that setting, and switch instantly to the mode when desired.
Using the Macro Zoom function, the user can pull subjects even closer than the closest point possible with the wide-angle setting by using 3x digital zoom, and capture dramatic close-ups.
Future Proofing
In addition to the conventional SD/SDHC memory card, the DMC-FP3, FP2 and FP1 accept next-generation SD format SDXC (SD eXtended Capacity), that features high potential in both capacity and data transfer speed. The new models are also compatible with Windows 7 TM and will be available from February 2009.
Source: Panasonic