Start with a very slender, compact body (3.7 x 2.1 x 0.7"/9.4 x 5.3 x 1.8 cm), add a Leica 4x wide-angle lens (28-112mm equivalent in 35mm format), gently stir in 16.1MP resolution and a 2.7" LCD monitor, and what do you get? A terrific, affordable little digital camera.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH5 Digital Camera (Silver) has everything you could ask for, plus lots of features you might not think of. Like fast autofocus, fast start-up time, and a very short release-time (shutter) lag. Or iA (Intelligent Auto) mode that takes care of everything for you except pushing the shutter button. Shooting beautiful movies in 1280 x 720 HD video is a snap--just push one button. Blurry pictures will be a distant memory with the FH5--sensitivity up to ISO 6400 plus MEGA O.I.S. image stabilization banishes those shaky images forever. You can even shoot up to 4.4 frames per second in Hi-speed Burst mode (recorded in 3MP resolution).
28 different Scene modes (Portrait, Soft Skin, Panorama, Baby 1 and Baby 2, Beach, Candle Light, etc.) will make sure you've got the optimal settings for all the most common photo subjects. 8 color modes (Standard, Vivid, Natural, Black & White, Sepia, Cool, Warm, and Happy) make it easy to get creative with color.
28mm Wide-angle 4x Optical Zoom LEICA DC Lens
The DMC-FH5 features a newly developed 28mm wide-angle high quality LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR lens with 4x optical zoom (35mm camera equivalent: 28-112mm) into a slim, compact body. Comprising 6 elements in 5 groups, including 3 aspherical lenses with 6 aspherical surfaces, this advanced lens unit realizes the outstandingly slim and compact body, yet achieving exceptional optical performance.
Slim Compact Body With Advanced Optical Technology
Panasonic's concurrent development system of lens, mechanism and design of the camera. The DMC-FH5 results in the dramatic downsizing of the body with approx. 20% slimmer profile than the predecessor models while maintaining exceptional optical performance.
28mm Wide-angle Lens
The 28mm wide-angle lens lets you easily capture large groups of people indoors or expansive architectural structures and scenes with dynamic width and rich perspective, even from short distances.
4x Optical Zoom / 5x Intelligent Zoom / 9x Extra Optical Zoom
The DMC-FH5 features a 4x optical zoom lens (35mm camera equivalent: 28-112mm). The 4x optical zoom can be increased its power to 5x equivalent with the Intelligent Zoom function taking advantage of the Intelligent Resolution technology maintaining the picture quality even using digital zoom. Furthermore, the Extra Optical Zoom function that extends zoom power to 9x* by using the center part of the large CCD brings subjects even closer.
16.1-Megapixel High-resolution CCD
The DMC-FH5 features a 1/2.33-inch CCD with effective 16.1-megapixel high-resolution.
Venus Engine VI
The high-speed, high-performance Venus Engine VI is incorporated in the DMC-FH5 to enable the recording of beautiful images with higher quality signal processing including the Intelligent Resolution technology. An advanced noise reduction system in the Venus Engine VI applies noise reduction (NR) to luminance noise and chromatic noise separately. As a result, beautiful images with minimal noise can be reproduced all the way up to ISO1600 high sensitivity at full resolution for beautiful night shots or dimly lit indoor shots.
Sonic Speed AF
The Sonic Speed AF system includes numerous re-engineering enhancements, including a higher-speed actuator, optimized algorithms and parallel software processing. The result is fast and accurate AF performance. In addition, the DMC-FH5 features dramatically speedier focusing that is approx. 45% faster than our previous model. You can quickly focus on moving subjects, such as when you're shooting sports scenes. The shutter release time lag is as short as approx. 0.007 second, making it easy to capture sudden, spur-of-the-moment photo opportunities.
Intelligent Resolution Technology
The image processing technology "Intelligent Resolution*" is incorporated in the Venus Engine VI for the DMC-FH5. With the Intelligent Resolution technology, 3 areas - outlines, detailed texture areas and soft gradation areas - are automatically detected and optimum signal processes are performed to each area. Apart from the uniform enhancement of sharpness, the innovative technology Intelligent Resolution precisely performs signal processing pixel by pixel in the most effective way for it.As a result, images are naturally clear and crisp.
5x Intelligent Zoom
The Intelligent Resolution technology realizes the Intelligent Zoom, which virtually extends the optical zoom ratio to its 1.3x equivalent (approx.) maintaining the picture quality even combining the digital zoom. This means the 4x optical can virtually extend to 5x. The graininess that results from picture noise and the flatness that sometimes comes with noise reduction measures are major concerns when shooting at high sensitivity levels. The Intelligent Resolution minimizes noise to produce sharp, clear images.
Battery Life
The energy-saving Venus Engine VI image processing engine and the efficient, rechargeable lithium-ion battery - which has been slimmed down to fit into thinner camera bodies - work together to extend the shooting time of the DMC-FH5. This lets users take approx. 260 shots on a single battery charge.
Unlimited Consecutive Shooting
The Unlimited Consecutive Shooting function lets you snap off consecutive shots at approx. 1.4 frames per second until the memory card is full. You can take a series of shots, then choose the one you like the best and delete the rest. You can also select High-speed Burst Mode or Flash Burst Mode from Scene Mode.
iA (Intelligent Auto) Mode
When you don't know which mode will give you the best shooting results, or when a sudden photo opportunity pops up and you don't have time to make any settings, simply choose the iA (Intelligent Auto) Mode and let the camera do it all for you. You just choose the iA Mode, aim at your subject, and shoot. 6 detection and correction functions are simultaneously activated to optimize the settings, so you get stunning photos every time.In addition, the Intelligent Resolution technology is always activated in the iA Mode which results in the clearer and higher image quality in every photo with extended zoom range equivalent to 5x by the Intelligent Zoom.
MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) - Shake Detection
The MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) in the DMC-FH5 compensates for the blurring caused by hand-shake. Even slight hand-shake movement is accurately detected by a sampling frequency of 4,000 times per second, and compensated to produce sharp, clear images. The Venus Engine VI controls the shifting of the blur-stopping lens with even greater precision to further increase the detection accuracy and correction effect of MEGA O.I.S. It lets you shoot in dimly lit rooms or evening illumination to preserve the mood, and works for macro shots and zoom shots, which are especially susceptible to hand-shake. In short, it lets anybody take beautiful, blur-free shots with ease.
AF Tracking - Subject Detection
Once you focus on your subject, the AF Tracking automatically tracks it until you press the shutter. When you're taking images of an active subject, like children or pets, this function eliminates the need to press the shutter button halfway down repeatedly to readjust the focus. The AF Tracking makes sure you don't miss those once-in-a-lifetime shooting opportunities. he DMC-FH5 features the Quick AF. Ordinary AF is activated when the shutter button is pressed half-way, while the Quick AF starts operating as soon as the camera is pointed toward a subject. This dramatically reduces the shutter delay time and lets you take images quickly. Its super-fast focus is ideal for capturing quick images of active children and pets. By setting the camera to the Quick AF, images of sudden shooting opportunities won't be out of focus or blurry.
Intelligent ISO Control - Motion Detection
The Intelligent ISO Control function in the DMC-FH5 is made possible by the Venus Engine VI detecting subject movement and automatically adjusts the ISO setting and shutter speed to best suit the movement and light conditions. When it detects subject motion, it automatically raises the ISO setting and increases the shutter speed to prevent motion blur. On the other hand, when the subject is still and no movement is detected, it takes beautifully natural photos with a low ISO setting. The Intelligent ISO Control gives you stunning images with ease because there is no need for complicated settings.
Face Detection AF/AE
The Face Detection AF/AE function detects faces and automatically optimizes the focus and exposure settings. It prevents the blurry faces that happen when the camera focuses on something in front of or behind the subject, and keeps faces from appearing dark when shooting indoors or against the light source. It detects up to 15 faces at a time, making it extremely convenient for group photos. Once the camera detects a face, Face Tracking follows it even when the subject moves around. Plus, the system keeps on detection if a face turns sideways to the camera. The DMC-FH5 is also equipped with Digital Red-eye Correction (Red-eye Removal). The camera takes care of the red-eye effect that often happens when shooting with a flash, to ensure attractive facial expression*2.
Intelligent Scene Selector - Scene Detection
When the camera's in iA Mode, the Intelligent Scene Selector automatically sets the Scene Mode to one of Scenery, Portrait, Macro, Night Portrait, Night Scenery or Sunset. The camera judges it from the various detection results such as focusing and brightness level of the circumstance. You are free from annoying settings every time scene changes when taking images with these most frequently used Scene Modes to get beautiful results even before you know it.
Happy Mode
The Happy Mode, a color mode option in the iA Mode, optimizes color, saturation and brightness to make images more vivid and true to the color of the scene you remember. It can be used in combination with each Scene Mode in the Intelligent Scene Selector.
Intelligent Exposure - Light Detection
The Intelligent Exposure function increases the exposure only in under-exposed areas by detecting the brightness level part-by-part in the image. If the background includes the sky, which tends to be easily washed out, the camera automatically adjusts the aperture and shutter speed to keep the setting slightly under-exposed to prevent wash-out while brightening the darkened area by increasing the ISO only in that area. If the background of an indoor portrait receives insufficient lighting from a flash and becomes dark, the ISO sensitivity is raised in only the low-lit area to make it brighter without causing graininess in the subject's face.
HD Movie Recording
The DMC-FH5 can record motion images in high-definition*. The pixel mixed readout method enables bright motion-image recording even in low-light settings.The DMC-FH5 can also record standard motion images in VGA (640 x 480 pixels at 30 fps) and QVGA (320 x 240 pixels at 30 fps).
Lumix Image Uploader
The DMC-FH5 gives you a new form of communication by letting you share your photos and movies. All you have to do is checkmark the photos and movies you want to share and connect the camera or SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card to a computer. Uploading automatically starts by simply following the guidance.* Facebook can be used for photos and YouTube for movies. You can join these social networking services without having to install any special software. It's easy to share photos and movies on the spot, which means that your friends don't have to wait for you to come back home to see them.
2.7" 230,000-dot High-resolution LCD
The DMC-FH5's large 2.7" LCD features high 230,000-dot resolution Intelligent LCD. It automatically adjusts the brightness in 11 steps according to shooting conditions. This LCD provides sharp, clear images in virtually all shooting situations, ranging from nighttime to bright daylight scenes. And it lets you share the fun of viewing images with family and friends. The High-angle Mode makes the display extremely easy to view from a low angle, for example, when taking photos by raising your hand upward to capture the subject over the crowd.
Scene Mode
The Scene Mode lets the camera make the optimal settings for you automatically, so anybody can take superb photos with ease. The versatile Scene Mode range, which handles just about any situation and subject type, is a major LUMIX feature. And to make it even simpler to use, the icons and display are designed for easy visibility. The DMC-FH5 lets you store a frequently used Scene Mode setting in the My Scene Mode.
Panorama Assist Mode
This is a handy function for aligning panorama photos using the included software PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.0 Edition. The afterimage of each previous shot is displayed, so you can use it to precisely line up the second and third shots.
High-Speed Burst Mode
High-speed Burst Mode fires off up to approx. 4.4 frames per second with 3-megapixel resolution, which is highly sufficient for photo prints. This is great for capturing fast-moving sports or racing scenes. You can take a series of shots, then choose the ones you like the best and delete the rest.(Note that the focus and exposure are fixed at the first frame.)
Macro Zoom
You 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.
Selectable Focus Icon
When using 11-area AF, the camera automatically determines the most appropriate AF area from the eleven points. This ensures accurate focusing even for difficult compositions. You can also select the AF setting from Face AF, AF Tracking or 1-area AF. With the DMC-FH5, you can select the icon from among 6 types that appears when the shutter button is pressed half-way.
Select from 3 Aspect Ratios
The aspect ratio for the DMC-FH5 can be easily selected from 16:9 wide, 3:2 and conventional 4:3 to shoot in the framing aspect that best suits the photo's composition or purpose of use.
View Photos on a Large-screen HDTV
The DMC-FH5 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 LUMIX in stunning HD quality by inserting an SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card in to the SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot with the VIERA HDTV (VIERA Image Viewer).
Slideshow with Music
The DMC-FH5 can play a slideshow with music. Choose from 4 types of music: Natural, Slow, Swing and Urban. Then, select the transition effect to match your music. For musical slideshows created with the included PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.0, you can choose your favorite iTunes music file as background music.
Text Stamp
The Baby Mode and Pet Mode let you enter the date of birth and name of your subject in advance. You can also enter your destination and the date of travel in advance in the Travel Date setting. The name, age based on the birth date, date of travel information, and date of shooting are displayed during playback, and can be printed on photos.
PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.0
The PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.0 makes it possible to sort and organize photos not only of those newly taken but also of those stored in your computer with quick start-up and fast read-in of images. The Face Recognition function that recognizes the faces in the picture automatically sorts the photos by the registered faces without picking out each photo one by one when you only want pictures of a specific person.A Panorama Stitch lets you make a panoramic composite in MOV file by synthesizing photos taken in Panorama Assist Mode of the camera. It is also possible to make a slideshow with the selected photos adding music file on.In addition to the LUMIX Image Uploader (a direct uploading function of the camera), you can upload photos to Facebook and movies to YouTube via this software, too.
Quick Menu
Frequently used functions can be quickly retrieved and easily switched by using the Q.MENU button. The function names are displayed in text form, making them easy for anyone to understand and use.
Built-in Memory 70MB
Take photos even when you don't have an SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card on hand. The built-in memory holds up to approx. 70MB of image data, which you can later copy to an SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card or computer. You can also copy images from a memory card or computer to the built-in memory, and view them on the LCD anytime you like. In addition to providing extra memory when your memory card fills up, this is a great place to store your favorite photos so you can view them anytime you want.
PictBridge Compatible-Direct Print Function
The PictBridge standard lets you print directly on a compatible digital printer. Print size, layout, date and other settings can be made with the camera. Of course, you can also make multiple prints of an image, or print only the ones that you have selected.