Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500

253 reviews

May, 2024

Positive
usability (99)
portability (63)
image quality (56)
performance (52)
design (44)

Negative
price (22)
shutter (9)
focus (9)
flash (6)
viewfinder (2)

General overview
Price comparison

alaTest has collected and analyzed 253 reviews of Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500. The average rating for this product is 3.9/5, compared to an average rating of 4.3/5 for other Digital Compact Cameras for all reviews. Comments about the lens and portability are overall positive. The performance and image quality are also mentioned favorably. Opinions about the energy efficiency and sensor are mixed. Some have doubts about the contrast and viewfinder.

usability, image quality, performance, portability, lens

focus, shutter, flash, viewfinder, contrast

We analyzed user and expert ratings, product age and more factors. Compared to other Digital Compact Cameras the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 is awarded an overall alaScore™ of 88/100 = Very good quality.

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Review analysis

(Based on 253 reviews)

Expert Reviews

User Reviews

Review Ratings

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Features

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portability
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lens
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Consumer review (amazon.com)

Amazon.com review summary for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500

alaTest has collected and analyzed 35 user reviews of Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 from Amazon.com. The average user rating for this product is 3.8/5, compared to an average user rating of 4.2/5 for other Digital Compact Cameras on Amazon.com. Reviews about the size and lens are generally positive. The performance and portability also get good feedback. The viewfinder and price get critical reviews, and there are some mixed reviews about the image quality.

usability, portability, performance, lens, size

price, viewfinder

77% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

May, 2024

Expert review by : Joshua Goldman (cnet.com)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 review

When the 10-megapixel Lumix DMC-FX500 was announced in March 2008 it was the new flagship for Panasonic's FX-series ultracompacts--complete with a hefty $399.95 price tag (however it is available well below that price). As such, it features many...

Excellent design; advanced shooting options; good use of touch-screen interface; 25mm wide-angle lens; 720p movie capture.

Noticeable shutter lag; controls take some getting used to; no optical zoom in Movie mode.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 is a very good ultracompact camera with a lot of shooting flexibility. It's just its slow performance that's keeping it from achieving excellence.

Mar, 2009

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Expert review by (pcworld.com)

Panasonic Lumix FX500 Digital Camera

The touch-screen FX500 won't replace your digital SLR, but it's a classy little camera that handles a lot.

High-quality optics ; Effective modes and auto exposure

A bit pricey ; Manual modes' interface needs finessing

The camera's responsiveness was excellent, with almost no lag time between when I pressed the shutter and when pictures wrote to the card, even at the highest quality setting. This characteristic, combined with the FX500's quick, accurate autofocus and...

Jun, 2008

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Expert review by : Kathleen Cullen (pcworld.com)

Panasonic Lumix FX500

The 10-megapixel Panasonic Lumix FX500 has sophistication written all over it. Its brushed metallic surface, well-placed, slim flash, and 25mm-to-125mm Leica 5X optical zoom lens are appealing, but the marquee feature of this $400 point-and-shoot...

High-quality optics ; Effective modes and auto exposure

A bit pricey ; Manual modes' interface needs finessing

Not a replacement for your SLR, but a classy little camera that can handle a lot.

Jun, 2008

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Expert review by : Mark Goldstein (photographyblog.com)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 Review

At first glance the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 appears to be a fairly conventional 10 megapixel compact camera, but don't be fooled by its boxy looks - this is actually one of the most desirable models of 2008 in terms of its overall specification. The...

Despite the poor performance at higher ISO speeds, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 is a fantastic compact camera that's equally at home in point-and-shoot mode, or a more creative shooting mode. The wide-angle lens, intuitive interface...

Jul, 2008

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Expert review by (imaging-resource.com)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 Digital Camera - First Shots - The Imaging Resource!

The Panasonic FX500 marks something of a first for the company, being the first Lumix-series digital camera to include a touch-screen LCD display. This not only helps keep the number of external control buttons to a minimum, but also helps to free up...

Excellent build quality ; 5x wide-angle optical zoom ; Joystick makes navigating the LCD menu simple ; Quick Menu function keeps most-used features a button press away ; Maximum Auto ISO can be restricted to 400, 800, or 1,600 ; Adjustable noise...

That bizarre digital zoom arrangement Panasonic prefers which makes you change image size to zoom in ; Touch screen isn't really necessary (except to choose a Record mode) ; Intelligent Auto is sluggish ; Flat color gets overprocessed ; Very high...

Should you want a little more reach than the zoom lens can provide, the Panasonic FX500 features a 4:3 aspect ratio CCD image sensor with 10.1 effective megapixel resolution that should give plenty of room for cropping while still leaving enough...

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Expert review by : Joe Eitel (devhardware.com)

Panasonic DMC-FX500 Camera

Are you looking for a camera that shoots the highest quality video? But you don't want to have to haul around all kinds of equipment or pack various accessories, right? Then consider getting the Panasonic DMC-FX500 camera. The Panasonic DMC-FX500 is...

Apr, 2009

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Expert review by : Hardware Secrets (hardwaresecrets.com)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 Digital Camera Review

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 has a wealth of compelling features, including the 5x zoom, the wide angle lens and the HD movie mode. The good color representation and these features make it a good all around camera. The combination of the touch screen...

Oct, 2008

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Expert review by : Digital Camera Review (digitalcamerareview.com)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 Review

I'll get this out of the way up front: the combination of manual exposure control, processing fine-tuning options, and a touch screen interface simply don't come together in any other camera currently in Panasonic's line or any other camera on the...

Redesigned wide-angle lens still good, Vibrant color with just the right amount of saturation by default, Manual exposure control, processing options are appealing, Novel interface actually works surprisingly well most of the time, Solid build quality...

Auto white balance is all over the map, Noisy sensor means grainy images at all sensitivities, Touch screen can be finicky, inconsistent in implementation, Limitations on video mode negate some of its 720p power, Cost too high for performance gains

May, 2008

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Expert review by : jonathanb (dcamerareview.com)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 (announced 18 March 2008) is a 10.1 megapixel slim and compact point and shoot digital camera with an ultra wide 5x times optical zoom lens from Leica (25mm - 125mm equivalent) and a 3.0 inch LCD … Continue reading →

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 also features Face Detection, Digital Red Eye Correction, plus a range of Intelligent Auto technologies such as Intelligent Scene Selector, Intelligent ISO which sets the ISO automatically according to the conditions and...

Mar, 2008

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Expert review by (cgena.com)

Panasonic Lumix FX500 Review- Intelligent Digital Compact Camera

The Lumix FX500 has a Venus Engine IV image processor which has a very fast response time. At the burst mode, it can fire an approximately 6 frames per second continuously which is twice the speed of the low 3 fps speed in most compact digital camera....

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