Good, better, best

By Simon Tsang
November 20, 2004
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20

Price: $1099

Rating: * * * * *


About eight months ago, Panasonic introduced a camera called the Lumix DMC-FZ10 that combined a massive 12x optical zoom lens with a four-megapixel CCD and an image stabiliser.

The result was a semi-compact digicam that was extremely versatile and captured outstanding photos.

The new Lumix DMC-FZ20 is a direct replacement for the FZ10 and Panasonic has found ways to improve it in almost every aspect.

It has been upgraded to five megapixels and it has a faster response with a new Venus Engine II LSI "brain" (claimed shutter lag of 0.008 seconds).

There are new shooting modes and the controls are even easier to use thanks to a rethink of the mode dial.

The image stabiliser is improved and has two selectable modes; it now records in uncompressed TIFF format.

Even the onscreen menu is new.

Though most of the changes are under the bonnet, it's not hard to appreciate how well all this translates into performance.

Panasonic has also been careful not to mess too much with the original formula that had worked so brilliantly. Only trainspotters would notice the styling changes. The hard edges of the FZ10 have been softened with rounder corners, while the massive lens barrel surrounding the Leica DC Vario-Elmarit optics is still as imposing as ever.

One big improvement to the body, however, is the deeper and rounder hand grip, which makes it easier to hold. There's still the manual focus ring that makes light work of overriding the autofocus.

One minor gripe (and a very minor one) is that the zoom control isn't variable-speed. Even then, it's exceptionally smooth compared with other digital cameras. Furthermore, the main body is made of plastic.

Overall, Panasonic has taken everything we liked about the FZ10 and made it even better.

Truly MP301

Price: $349

Rating:* * ½


If you like the idea of the Apple iPod Photo but can't bring yourself to cough up nearly $800, the Truly MP301 may give you an alternative to think about. Though this MP3 has much less storage, with 256MB of flash memory, the MP301 is akin to the iPod Photo in that it has a 65,536-colour LCD screen for you to play back photos. It has a much lower resolution, however, is smaller and uses passive display technology, which makes the iPod's LCD look like a bright, high-definition big screen.

Truly MP301.

Truly MP301.

Pictures must be converted into a .LGO format using the supplied editing software before it can be downloaded and viewed on the MP301. This ensures file sizes are kept to a minimum but is less than seamless. You have to manually resize, crop and reposition each image you intend to download to the player - and where's the rotate function? Horizontal pictures (that is, most of them) are left with blank strips at the top and bottom to fit the MP301's portrait screen orientation.

Rotating the image outside the program is just asking another step from the user in an already cumbersome process.

In addition to viewing photos, the Truly MP301 can also display text files in its "Ebook" mode. Again, though, the size and orientation of the screen is the limiting factor. At a maximum of four words per line, you'll be lucky if a sentence fits in a single screen.

Other built-in features include voice recording, FM radio (with 30 station presets), three games and support for viewing song lyrics using the .LRC format (software to make the LRC file provided). It can also be used as an USB drive on a Mac or PC and the battery can be charged through a USB port. There are some clever concepts in the Truly MP301, but its execution could do with more thought to make it more than just a novelty.