Description

Panasonic DMC-FH20K Digital Camera Features

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.
* Converted to standard 35mm camera equivalent, at the maximum wide position.

Powerful 8x Optical Zoom
The DMC-FH20 sports a powerful 8x optical zoom lens (35mm camera equivalent: 28-224mm). This gives you highly natural expressions from people and animals that you can't get close to. And its slim, compact, pocket-sized body can easily go wherever you do for both everyday snapshots and traveling.

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 iA (Intelligent Auto) Mode by simply pressing the dedicated button and let the camera do it all for you. You just choose iA Mode, aim at your subject, and shoot. 4 detection and correction functions are simultaneously activated to optimize the settings, so you get stunning photos every time.

HD Movie Recording (1,280 x 720 pixels at 30 fps in Motion JPEG Format)
The DMC-FH20) can record motion images in high-definition (1,280 x 720 pixels at 30 fps in Motion JPEG format). The pixel mixed readout method enables bright motion-image recording even in low-light settings. The DMC-FH20 can also record full-size motion images in WVGA (848 x 480 pixels at 30 fps) or standard motion images in VGA (640 x 480 pixels at 30 fps) and QVGA (320 x 240 pixels at 30 fps).

Extended Battery Life
The energy-saving Venus Engine IV 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-FH20. This lets users take approx. 300 shots on a sin

Customer Reviews

 How Electronics Expo screwed me on this camera - Aug 12, 2010

First I would like to say the camera is fine. But let me tell you how Electronics Expo the seller that supplied this item to Amazon Screwed me. I paid extra money to get 2 day shipping. Took 10 days for it to arrive. The Electronics Expo asked me to leave feedback on my purchase , which I did. It wasn't great feedback but it wasn't real bad either. I got several emails from a guy named Bruno asking me to change my feedback. He offered me $20.00 dollars back on my purchase to remove the feedback. Well I did remove it like he asked. Now as of yet I have not been paid back and he will not my emails. I am pretty sure that this review wont get posted but it may at least get seen by someone at Amazon.com I will also post this everywhere else I can that it may be shared with other online shoppers.
Jack B.

 Good camera - Aug 05, 2010

I read the reviews of the camera and it was chosen as the digital camera of the year. So far I agree with the reviews.

 not much of a camera - Jul 28, 2010

This camera feels good in my hand, is nice and small, and I love the battery charger. To not have a long cord, but just a simple 2 prong arrangement is fabulous. And the big screen was great.
But I was very disappointed with the quality of the shots. I particular the shots even in focus are not sharp, which really surprised me from a Leica lens, as i used to have leicas and the lenses were sharp as a tack. This must be their low end line. i'm a semi-pro, so i know wherefore I speak on this; I've sold many of my photos. In addition, the colors are not accurate, and the camera is just plain slow.
No wonder so many people don't think they can take photos-so much equipment is inferior. Quite a let down for people I'm sure, as they would think it were they who are not good photographers, when the camra is largely at fault.
I was so excited to have a camera that I could just put in my pocket that I was willing to forego having RAW. But this is not for me.
I tried the larger one as well, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD, and that was better but not much. In comparison, the Nikon P6000 beats them both by a country mile, though it has a long cord on the battery charger, the battery runs out too quickly, and is a bit larger. Oh well. Worth the try but it's going back tomorrow with the other one..

 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 14.1 mp camera - Jul 27, 2010

I love this camera. The pictures come wonderfully clear and sharp in beautiful color. The video is lovely. I did a lot of research before deciding on this model. It was a close decision between this model and the Canon. This camera had a great price and I'm so glad I got this.

Amazon did a good job delivering this product on time and the camera was in perfect condition.

 compact camera with picture quality issue - Jul 25, 2010

I have used this camera for a few month, and produced 100+ photo

Good:
1. compact size
2. 28mm wide angle lends
3. low price

Bad:
1. Auto White balance miscalculates most of time for indoor photo with flash. Background appears RED or Yellow!
2. Flash is unusually weak. Object more than 6 feet away may appear "dark". This is my biggest problem.
3. It may under exposure in Outdoor pictures too

I don't ask for much for a compact camera but this camera has flaws:
1. metering & White balance problems
2. flash range is too short

Once my Canon A620 is fixed, I may have to give up this Lumix.

 Good value - Jul 23, 2010

I've had other similar Panasonic cameras and been pleased with all of them. I'm looking for snapshots, not high art and this does what it does very well. I particularly like the wide angle, which, until recently, has only been available on much more expensive cameras. Panasonic has more competition now from cameras with similar features, but it is still a very good value for the money.

 Dissapointing image quality - Jun 14, 2010

I used the Lumix FH20 for a few days in a variety of circumstances and ended up returning the camera because the images were just not acceptable to me. Image quality is somewhat subjective so many may find this camera does the job for them.

I wanted a small camera for general use since my normal camera (Kodak P880) is a bit large at times. I have been taking pictures for years and got used to the functionality and results of an SLR, but have to admit I miss a lot of photo chances because of the extra work involved with that format. Hence the pocket size and excellent zoom range of the Lumix were attractive. My daughter has a Lumix that takes great pictures, so my expectations were high.

The images I got back were just too blurry, especially at the far end of the zoom range and the purple fringing was noticeable even at normal viewing in some cases. In most cases the shutter speed was plenty fast so that was not the issue. It was either the lens was not up to the task or the auto focus was at fault. I had hoped to be able to attach some samples to this review, but apparently that is not an option.

I must admit this is my first 'point and shoot' camera and in most cases, it was 'point and hope'. I was not able to see the LCD screen in full sunlight and frankly don't see how anyone can use these things outdoors. I looked for a way to increase the LCD brightness, but I don't think there is one. My first digital camera had a simple optical viewfinder. Why has this feature been left off almost all new cameras?

One tip for users of this camera, I found that the camera tends to overexpose outdoor shots and I liked the results better when setting the exposure to -1 or -1.5. Anyway I am still looking for a small format camera I can use.

 Awesome inexpensive digital. - Jun 08, 2010

Fairly fast lens. Good low light and stabilization with no flash. Proprietary usb cable. I would rather have a mini or micro usb. I would recommend this to all friends shopping in this price range. It replaced my trusty canon sd550 only b/c my lcd broke while snowboarding.

 Great camera - Jun 03, 2010

I have had this camera for a month and could not be happier. It is very easy to use and takes quality photos. The video's come out great. Sure it has a few minor shortcomings but, what camera does not ? For a under $200 camera you can not go wrong with the DMC-FH20.

 Great Backup Camera - May 27, 2010

I bought this camera to backup my Lumix DMC FZ28. To use in situations where I don't want to
carry the larger camera and for my wife to use. The FH20 is easy to use (settings, functions,
descriptions very similar to the FZ28. So the learning curve is simple). The stabilization in
this camera is terrific. The lens is sharp and the Intellegent Exposure mode is excellent in all the situations I have tested so far! Bottom line is that the DMC-FH20 is everything I
wanted for a backup. Great camera, Great buy!

 Very Nice Camera - May 19, 2010

Does everything as advertised. Very happy with it. Good Price. Easy to use. Maybe it's just me but it seems that the battery had to be recharged sooner than I expected. It lasted quite a while, though so not really a complaint. Recharges very quickly.

 Great outdoor nightime shots, zoom quality better than most - Apr 26, 2010

I purchased this camera prior to a family reunion. Was pleased with the ease as I am not tech savy. I did not use the HD video so can't say anything about that. Was very happy with outdoor night time flash shots - both of people and things. Indoor pictures were good - the zoom images were better than the Cybershot camera I had before. Price was reasonable and battery held up well. Would recommend to others for an easy to use camera that produces good picture quality.

 HD video is a gimmick. Pictures just OK. Too many limitations. - Apr 12, 2010

I purchased this camera at a local retailer. I was mainly attracted by its HD video feature. I wanted to use it in addition to my camcorder to record myself playing the piano, indoors of course.

Unfortunately, I was severely disappointed by the video quality. On my first video, the whole picture was yellow, clearly a white balance problem.
On my second video, with the DMC-FH20 set on a tripod, everything was blinking, including the piano lid, which should have been a solid black. Even though there are 1280x720 pixels at 30fps, the quality is barely better than what you get from a typical camera phone. And it is inferior to my Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 webcam.

Also, another thing to know is that you can't change the zoom while recording video. You have to stop the recording, change the zoom setting, and then start recording again. This didn't bother me for the piano recording since I was recording myself, but you should know about this limitation - this camera is no camcorder.

One more limitation in video is that the camera records in Quicktime (motion JPEG) format, but not AVC HD. This causes files to be large. I'm not sure if the Quicktime CODEC contributes to the poor video quality also, but it might.

When it comes to still picture quality, they come out very noisy indoors without the flash. With the flash on, they are actually OK. But I'm not sure that having 14 megapixels on such a small sensor really adds much. 8-10 would probably be just fine and might have less noise.

I returned the camera mainly because I couldn't stand the video quality. As a still camera I might have kept it, but I wouldn't have paid as much for it, and I was hoping to minimize the number of photo/video devices I own.

Pros :
- 8x optical zoom which is better than most compact cameras
- pocketable size
- Future-proof SDXC card slot
- OK pictures with the flash

Cons :
- Poor low-light performance without flash
- Poor video quality, not HD quality by any stretch of the imagination
- Zoom can't be changed during video recording
- Proprietary lithium-ion battery
- No optical or electronic viewfinder, only LCD screen