The camera arrived in a box, with accessories, i.e., USB and AV cables, battery utilizing its storage case, charger, CD, wriststrap, software pamphlet, and a 125 page printed Operating Guidebook.

The battery must be charged prior to when the camera may be used. This took about 120 minutes. You was user friendly and uncomplicated even regardless of the instruction manuals. I've used earlier Panasonic models so others could have a new first impression. On my Vista system, the transfer software installed quickly and automatically if your camera was powering my computer's USB port.

A short while back I took interior pictures running a 28mm wide angle zoom. I just took photos of the locations making use of the FX35 at its 25mm settings. It'd seem that this photographic difference between 28mm and 25mm could well be small. However, visually the gap was obvious. The 25mm setting produced almost panoramic wide angle coverage. The digital camera did well in the wide end, however the telephoto end is, for my uses, probably about 20mm way too short. Fortunately, the graphic quality at lower ISOs allowed for modest crops in Photoshop to discover the results Needed.

Considering the relatively small sensor, noise was reasonably well controlled at ISO settings below 400. At lower ISO values images are very good. ISO 100 images sustain well under considerable enlargement. I found ISO 400 was outrageous level for I achieved acceptable, although slightly grainy, images. Above ISO 400 noise is pretty obvious and distracting, accompanied by a significant shortage of image detail. At ISO 800 noise already shows a bad texture. At ISO 1,600 shadow areas showed large blotches of color noise. My longer zoom Panasonic camera with Venus III LSI processor occasionally smeared fine details. Happily, the FX35's Venus IV engine generally seems to do a slightly better job of detail preservation.

The camera contains a very nice choice of quite useful features combined with some, arguably, 'gimmicky' ones. The 25mm ultra wide angle, 1280 x 720p HD movie mode, and also Advanced Intelligent Auto Mode, which is proven to work to take care of a multitude of common problems, all proved to be of real value. The Optical Image Stabilization, set to Mode 2, was great; pictures accessories at 1/4th from a second were blur free. The covers with the cable compartment(DC in, Audio Visual, and component out cables), and battery and SD memory compartment are solid, unlike covers on some other cameras. I enjoy the dedicated switches in the back of this camera for playback, and exposure compensation. Also appreciate the dedicated Q(uick) Menu/Delete button. Pressing this button selects the fast menu in record, plus the delete menu during playback. During record this button provides admission to options appropriate to the present mode. Just like, in Intelligent Auto mode you makes lots of the choices, so only four main types options provided for those user you could use. In Normal mode, the spot where the user has more choices, eight main categories are given. Main categories include ISO, picture size, white balance, LCD brightness, etc. JPG images at the finist quality setting run around 3.5 to 4.5 MB, with the occasional smaller or larger file. On my single core computer, USB data transfer useage speed from the camera was ready 2.6 MB/sec.

The camera is just not without some disappointments. In high contrast situations, small sensor cameras typically fly out highlights or lose shadow details. The FX35's "intelligent exposure" was designed to correct this. However, I didn't visit a major improvement during the few high contrast situations Not long ago i faced. Some omissions are understandable even on your relatively expensive point and shoot, e.g., not enough raw mode, and manual aperture and shutter adjustments. Although clearly desirable, they've been less crucial to many buyers. However, its quite disappointing obtain the zoom cannot be changed while recording movies. This serious omission may be due to the proximity with the zoom mechanism plus the microphone. None the less, Phoning have liked to acquire seen this selection included. Another disappointment could be the slightly small, although acceptable, 2.5", instead of 3.0", LCD. Canon, Fuji, Nikon, and Kodak can potentially package larger displays in the most and health of their ultra compacts. I will even have liked even a minimal optical viewfinder. It would be for sunlight scenes the spot where the LCD brightness is insufficient to help make for easy screen viewing. The most telephoto aperture of F5.6 is relatively small. The EXIF data recorded with my photos shows aperture values from F2.8 to 8.0 at 25mm, but only F5.6 to 8.0 at 100mm.

The FX35's on/off switch is poorly designed and positioned. Unlike some models where this switch is located in an increased well, varieties where it requires to be pressed within turn the camera on, the FX35's slide switch is raised above the camera's top, which enables it to be inadvertently aroused when inserting the digital camera to a pocket or carry case, creating the lens to supply. This potential issue will be solved by moving the play/record switch on the camera's in to play before storing the camera. Set to play, the lens will always be retracted should the camera is started.

An earlier sharp eyed poster noted which the legend for the camera lens in the picture says 28mm as opposed to 25mm. Fortunately, the image posted is basically identical to my FX35, excluding the legend error and then the AF Assist Lamp/Self Timer LED indicator missing in the top right front from the camera. Gleam minor discrepancy between Amazon's listings of "27MB Internal Memory", and also the Manual's "Approx. 50 MB" of constructed in memory.

The In a nutshell: The digital camera is fast and responsive. Image quality at low ISO values is more than I anticipated for your sensor this small. It truly exceptional wide angle lens, and nicely implemented HD movie mode. Exposure, focus, and scene mode capabilities usually worked flawlessly. However were compromises, notably higher ISO performance, deficiencies are minor than the totality from the camera's capabilities. Its state of the art contact produced excellent images. In most shooting situations the FX35 made the suitable decisions to form superior results. Its well chosen choice of dedicated controls clarifies that it's particularly easy to use. Outfitted by 8GB SDHC Extreme III card, useful in HD movie mode, your camera will record about 1,600 photos at its best quality setting. Overall, it is deemed an excellent camera.