Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 Review

The "Intelligent Auto" shooting mode, is the basic point and shoot mode that allows anyone to pick up the camera and start shooting. The camera makes all of the adjustments, including ISO, white balance and will even put the camera into the correct scene mode or macro focus mode if needed. This mode also automatically enables the MEGA O.I.S. and face detection, making sure you have clear photos every time.

Program mode also features fully automatic exposure, however now you have access to advanced settings for ISO, White balance, AF mode, Metering, O.I.S. mode, etc.

When you half-press the shutter release, the AF targets will turn green over the intended area of focus, and you will get a green dot indicating autofocus was successful. You can also see that the flash is charged and ready to fire, the battery level indicator, and the aperture and shutter speed values along the bottom.

In Manual mode, you now have full control over the exposure process. You select both the aperture and shutter speed values using the 4-way controller, while the exposure scale helps you "dial in" the correct values to obtain a good exposure.

Program Quick Menu options:

Burst - Off, Burst, Unlimited
Metering Mode - Evaluative, Center-weighted, Spot
AF Mode - Multi-Area, 1-Area High Speed, 1 Area, Spot, Face Detection, AF Tracking
White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Halogen, White Set
i ISO - Enable or Disable Intelligent ISO
Sensitivity - Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
i Exposure - Off, Low, Standard, High
Picture Size - 14.5M, 10M, 7M, 5M, 3M, 2M, 0.3M
LCD - Off, Auto Power LCD, Power LCD

Normal menu options:

Picture Size - 14.5M, 10M EZ, 7M EZ, 5M EZ, 3M EZ, 2M EZ, 0.3M EZ
Quality - JPEG Fine/Standard, RAW, RAW+JPEG
Aspect Ratio - 4:3, 3:2, 16:9
Intelligent ISO - Off or On
ISO - Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
ISO Limit Set - Auto, 200, 400, 800, 1600
White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Halogen, Custom Set 1 & 2, White set
Metering Mode - Evaluative, Center-weighted, Spot
AF Mode - Multi-Area, 1-Area High Speed, 1 Area, Spot, Face Detection, AF Tracking
Quick AF - On or Off
Burst - Off, Burst, Unlimited
i Exposure - Off, Low, Standard, High
Multi EXPO. - Start a Multi Exposure
Digital Zoom - On or Off
Color Effect - Off, B/W, Sepia, Cool, Warm
PICT. ADJ. - Adjust Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation, and Noise reduction
Stabilizer - Off, Auto, Mode 1, Mode 2
Minimum Shutter Speed - Choose from 1 second to 1/125 of a second
Audio REC. - On or Off
AF Assist Lamp - On or Off
Clock Set - Set the time and Date

Rotating the mode dial to the SCN position gives access to 25 scene specific modes that are optimized for a variety of shooting environments. You can choose from Portrait, Soft Skin,, Transform, Self-portrait, Scenery, Sports, Night Scenery, Night Portrait, Food, Party, Candle Light, Baby 1, Baby 2, Pet, Sunset, High Sensitivity, Hi-Speed Burst, Flash Burst, Starry Sky, Fireworks, Beach, Snow, Aerial Photo, Pin Hole, and Film Grain.

Pressing the 4-way controller "Up" gives you access to the exposure menu. Pressing it again takes you to the Auto Bracket menu.

Pressing it "Right" brings up your flash options.

Pressing it "Down" enables macro mode. In macro mode the camera will focus as close as 5cm.

Pressing it "Left" will give you the self timer options.

Movie mode captures QuickTime video at VGA (640x480), QVGA-H/L (320x240-30/10fps), WVGA (848x480), or HD (1280x720) at 30fps, with audio. The length of capture is limited by the amount of available memory, with a maximum clip size of 2GB. Because the FZ28 records sound during movies, the optical zoom may not be used while recording. It can however, be preset before hand.