Panasonic debuts three pocket shooters

By John Mello on January 16, 2009 6:06 PM

Panasonic waited for the dust to settle from CES last week to announce today three new point-and-shoot snappers slated to reach retail shelves this spring.

The Lumix DMC-FS7 is a 10.1 megapixel compact with relatively fast F/2.8 Leica DC Vario-Elmar 4x optical zoom. It has an Intelligent Auto Mode (iAM) that can be activated via a dedicated button. In iAm the camera will automatically activate a battery of smart features--optical image stabilization, intelligent ISO, intelligent scene selection and face detection. It also has an intelligent 2.7-inch LCD, which adjusts its brightness automatically based on available light, and can capture WVGA video at 848 x 480 pixels for viewing on wide TVs or monitors. The DMC-FS7 is expected to be available in March in silver, black, blue, pink and green and sell for $159.95.

The Lumix DMC-FS15 is a 12.1MP pocket shooter with wide angle (29mm equivalent) 5x Leica optical zoom. It, too, has iAM with some additional smart features--AF Tracking and Intelligent Exposure. With AFT, you can lock on a moving a subject and the camera will automatically keep it in focus without having to partially depress the shutter button. Intelligent Exposure will dynamically read the light in a scene and make appropriate adjustments on the fly. Intelligent 2.7-inch LCD and WVGA video is also part of the camera's repertoire. The DCM-FS15 is expected to reach retailers in silver, black and blue in March and sell for $199.95.

Panasonic also added a new model to its LS line of budget DSCs. The DMC-LS85 is an 8.1MP cybershooter with 2.5-inch Inteligent LCD and 4x F/2.8 zoom. It runs on AA batteries and has iAM features similar to the FS7, WVGA video and a Quick Focus mode for focusing on subjects without partially depressing the shutter button. Offered in silver, black and pink, the DMC-LS85 is scheduled to go on sale in April at $119.95.