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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 compact camera

Dark horse delivers decent digital camera

Sample shots
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You can shoot up to 5cm from an object and, as this dandelion head shows, you can get some impressive close-up images

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The high speed burst mode was impressive and as this sequence of 16 shots shows, lets you capture high-speed objects with ease

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You can set the ISO rating up 1600 and we used it to shoot these plants in a garden at night

The joystick control generally worked well but there were times when we inadvertently pressed the set button whilst scrolling and so had to go back and try again. On the plus side, the LCD screen is excellent and we didn’t need to resort to the Power Boost function even in bright light. You can select single, multiple or all images for deletion, which is quite convenient, but we would have been happier if there had been an undelete function to protect against accidental erasure.

The DMC-FS20 takes around five seconds to power up and set-up for the first shot. The autofocus is pretty quick in locking onto the subject and there’s little shutter lag, so you’re not left hanging around when using this camera.

In terms of picture quality, we liked what we saw. Colour, detail and sharpness were all commendable, even when blown up to an A4-sized print. Picture noise was minimal, even at the higher ISO ratings, although there is inevitably some loss in fine detail. If you want to use the high-speed burst mode at full resolution, you’re limited to five images.

Next page: Verdict

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