Panasonic introduces the world?s smallest digital camera featuring a 28mm wide-angle Leica lens.
Succeeding the popular FX9, the FX01 features a 6MP CCD and 3.6x optical wide-angle lens, extendable to 5x with the Extra Optical Zoom function.
The inclusion of an Extra High Dispersion Index Lens enables the camera to pack compact dimensions of 94.1×51.1×24.2mm.
In common with other Lumix modes, to rectify for camera shake the FX01 includes an Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS) that corrects for movement.
Among the 16 scene modes found on the camera are High-Sensitivity Mode, enabling a maximum sensitivity of ISO 1600 for low-light shooting and Underwater mode for use with Panasonics Marine case, which is available separately.
The camera includes a more efficient processor than the FX9. The Venus Engine Plus LSI consumes 70% of the energy of the Venus Engine II, enabling the lithium-ion battery to capture 320 pictures from a single charge. At 1.6 seconds start-up times are 20% faster than the FX9, and the camera boasts a fast 0.005 sec shutter lag.
Composed of 207,000 pixels, the 2.5in LCD includes a new High Angle LCD function, designed to improve visibility when used at high or low angles, while Power LCD improves the backlighting by 40%.
A selection of AF modes feature on the camera, including 3-point high speed, 1-point high speed, 1-point normal-speed and spot and the in-camera movie mode can capture full size 840×480 pixels movies at a rate of 30fps.
Other features include continuous shooting of 3fps at maximum resolution and a Calendar Display Mode.
Panasonic has yet to announce a price for the DMC-FX01, which will be available in March. Find out more at www.panasonic.co.uk.