Panny's great camera hopes
Some CEATEC news that got lost in the barrage of wacky phones and football-playing robots is that Panasonic is to add three new digital cameras to its Lumix range.
Due in Japan this month and the UK (although the model numbers might be different) before the end of the year is the DMC-FZ10, DMC-FX5 and DMC-FX1.
The FX5 and FX1 are pretty skinny cameras – just like Casio’s Exilim snappers – a 3x optical zoom and four and three mega pixel CCDs respectively. Both feature Panasonic’s MEGA O.I.S, which apparently suppresses jitter that is more conspicuous when shooting in telephoto position and shooting night scenery with slow shutter speed without using tripod.
The DMC-FZ10 is a high-end SLR model with a 12x super optical zoom and a four-mega pixel CCD. Although Panasonic has produced cameras for the UK digital market for several years now, it hasn’t clawed market share from established players like Fuji, Olympus and Sony.