Panasonic DMC-FX580 gets Touchscreen treatment

Next up on Panasonic rollout is a slim and sleek FX series, touch-screen enabled camera featuring Leica-grade optics, high-speed and high-performance Venus Engine V, DMC-FX-580. The large 3-inch display incorporates a touch panel for user interfaces and controls, together with a host of Panasonic's latest "Many me" advance features and a 12.1MP image sensor with 25-125mm (35mm equiv.) 5x optical zoom lens.

The touch-screen Panasonic packs an ultra wide Leica DC VARIO-ELMARIT high-quality optics, offering Leica-branded goodness constructed from 4 aspherical lenses, 6 aspherical surfaces and a total of 7 elements in 6 groups lens optics. Unfortunately, an old fashion optical viewfinder is not included with this model.

The camera supports many "Many Me" advance features for novices to capture both still and motion images at ease. That included the Recognize Me, Track Me, Touch Me and Enjoy me gimmicks to improve shots taken at a variety of conditions. For motion capture, the FX-580 is capable of HD video at up to 720p 30fps. It's available from April for a suggested retail of $399.

Panasonic DMC-FX580 Features

  • 12.1 effective Megapixel CCD
  • 3-inch LCD display with 230,000 pixels
  • F2.8-5.9, 5X optical zoom lens, equivalent to 25 – 125 mm
  • ISO sensitivity of 80-6400
  • Optical image stabilization
  • new Venus Engine V processor
  • Intelligent Auto and Panorama Assist features
  • Records movies at 1280 x 720 (30 fps) using the M-JPEG codec
  • Max. 5 images. In 3-megapixel (4:3), 2.5-megapixel (3:2), 2-megapixel (16:9) recording.
  • 40MB onboard memory + SD/SDHC/MMC slot
  • Uses a proprietary li-ion battery; 350 shots per charge
  • Macro Zoom function lets users pull subjects even closer to capture dramatic close-up shots by using the 3x digital zoom in the wide-angle.
  • High-Speed Burst (Speed Priority) that fires off approx. 10 shots per second*4.

[via imaging-resources]