Panasonic DMC-FX30

Reviewed July 2007

Interface & Software

Interface

The Lumix DMC-FX30 is equipped with a 2.5-inch monitor composed of 207,000 pixels. The monitor, while not offering the highest definition available, has the advantage of allowing for large, very legible text. The legibility is further enhanced by the use of a thin black trim to the icons that indicate camera settings while in capture mode, and by the Monitor Mode option that allows viewing the screen under bright light, or when the camera is held overhead.

The menus of the FX30 are well-designed and are organized logically, which helps make them become familiar in a short time. The text of the menus is presented on a single colour background, itself overlaid on another colour that varies according to the camera's mode, and the menu in use. The Setup menu is accessible from all the modes, and is reached using a tab on the left side of the monitor that appears below the menu related to the current camera mode. The Setup menu contains the most options and is presented over 4 screens:

• Clock Set: serves to set the time and date on the FX30.
• World Time: allows changing the time zone, useful while traveling.
• Monitor: serves to adjust the brightness of the monitor over ± 3 steps.

• Guide Line allows setting the level of information and the type of composition aid available:
  • Rec. Info: decides whether or not capture settings are shown.
  • Histogram: decides if the histogram is available.
  • Pattern: offers a choice of composition grids (one divides the screen into 9 areas using the rule of thirds, the other uses a cross to help with diagonal compositions).

• Travel Date: serves to set the start date of a trip, which the camera can then use to display day 1, or day 2, etc.
• Auto Review: decides whether or not the image is displayed immediately post-capture, and for how long (Off, 1 or 3 seconds, or Zoom). When Zoom is selected the image appears full-screen for 1 second, and then zoomed to 4X for an additional 1 second so that its sharpness can be checked. The option is not available with images captured with the Burst or Bracketing modes, or that contain audio.
• Power Save: selects the time delay after which the camera turns itself off if it is unused (1, 2, 5, 10 minutes or Off). This function has no effect when one of the two economy modes (see below) is active.
• Economy provides two power saving modes:
  • Level 1 turns off the monitor if the camera is not operated for more than 15 seconds in the recording mode.
  • Level 2 turns off the monitor if the camera is not operated for more than 15 seconds in the recording mode, or 5 seconds after taking a photo.
  • Off: cancels the Economy mode.
• Beep: serves to adjust the volume of the sound produced by the camera when it is operated (Soft or Loud), or turn it off.
• Shutter: serves to set the volume of the shutter sound (Soft, Loud or Off).

• Volume: serves to adjust the playback volume for audio recordings or movies over a range of 7 steps.
• File No. Reset: decides whether files are numbered consecutively or restart at 1 every time a new card is used or the memory card is formatted.
• Reset: returns all menu options, with the exception of the date and time and the folder name, to their original factory settings.

• Video Out (accessible in Playback mode only) decides the video out signal: NTSC or PAL.
• TV Aspect (accessible in Playback mode only): allows setting the output aspect to either 4:3 or 16:9, depending on the TV to which the camera is connected.
• Scene Menu: decides whether or not the scene menu is shown when the Mode dial is set to , or if the MENU/SET button must be pressed.
• Dial Display: turns on or off the virtual dial displayed on the monitor when the Mode Dial is turned.
• Language: selects the interface language (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian or Japanese).

A thin but complete printed manual is included with the Lumix DMC-FX30. The manual is well organized and its content clear and explanations precise, making it an excellent tool to discover the workings of the camera. In addition, the guide provides instructions on how to connect the camera to a computer or a printer, and offers a brief explanation of the software bundled with the camera.

Software

In North America, the Lumix DMC-FX30 is supplied with a single CD that contains:

• Lumix Simple Viewer v1.2E,
• PHOTOFunSTUDIO Viewer v1.2E,
• QuickTime,
• Adobe Acrobat Reader,
• USB Drivers for older operating systems,
• PhotoImpression 5, Panorama Maker 3 and PhotoBase 4.5 all from ArcSoft.

PHOTOFunSTUDIO Viewer is an image browser that displays the folders — on a hard disk, a memory card reader, or even the camera connected via USB — on the left and the content of a selected folder on the right.

Although more advanced than Simple Viewer, PhotofunStudio Viewer does not allow any serious image editing. Instead, up to four external editors can be linked into the program, making it easy to transfer an image to be edited into the appropriate application.

PhotoImpression 5 is provided for image editing. The program offers tools to sharpen, brighten or change the contrast, saturation, or colour tone of images. The program can also be used to resize images, or add frames and text, and is capable of performing automatic red-eye correction. Finally it can also be used to create photo albums, and offers a wide range of templates.

PanoramaMaker 3 is designed to stitch together a series of contiguous photos so they can be assembled into a single large image horizontally, vertically or as a mosaic.

PhotoBase 4.5 is intended to organize still images and video clips, and manage them through a database. And finally, QuickTime is to view the video clips recorded with the FX30.