Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company has announced the launch of its new 10.1-megapixel LUMIX DMC-FX37 (25mm ultra-wide-angle LEICA DC lens with powerful 5x optical zoom) and 14.7-megapixel LUMIX DMC-FX150 high resolution digital camera (28mm Wide-Angle LEICA DC Lens with F2.8 brightness and 3.6x optical zoom), featuring the same Venus Engine IV high-speed image processing system for faster response time, which allows the cameras to capture 2.5 shots per second at full resolution and 13 shots per second in High-Speed Burst mode.



“Panasonic is committed to manufacturing innovative, high-performance LUMIX digital cameras that offer technologies that are advanced, yet easy to use,” said David Briganti, National Marketing Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “The FX37 gives users big features – an ultra-wide angle lens, 5x optical zoom, and the enhanced Intelligent Auto technologies – while still packing all this into ultra-sleek body easy enough to slip into a pocket or small purse. With wide-angles, consumers are able to fit more into their frame, giving them increased flexibility when taking photos.”

When LUMIX FX37 And FX150 Set To iA Mode, The Following Technologies Engage Automatically:

  • New-Added AF (auto focus) Tracking – Enables the camera to lock focus on a moving object and increases Face Detection accuracy, allowing for crisp, sharp-focused shots even if the subject moves while shooting the image.
  • Intelligent Exposure – Helps prevents photos from being under- or over-exposed by instantly analyzing the framed image and adjusting the brightness in areas that are too dark because of dim lighting, backlighting or the use of the flash. The camera will automatically adjust the brightness accordingly.
  • Digital Red-eye Correction – This feature helps to eliminate the red-eye problem that sometimes results when taking flash shots at night. Incorporated into the camera, the built-in flash emits a small preliminary flash before the main flash, detects red-eye and will digitally correct it.
  • MEGA O.I.S. – Gyrosensors detect hand-shake and the lens system shifts to compensate, helping to prevent hand-shake from creating a blurry image.
  • Intelligent ISO – Determines if the photo subject is moving and changes the ISO setting and shutter speed accordingly, thus giving a blur-free photo.
  • Intelligent Scene Selector – Senses the ambient conditions, recognizes the shooting environment and will automatically select the appropriate scene mode from: Scenery, Portrait, Macro, Night Portrait or Night Scenery mode. This intuitive technology helps the consumer use the most common scene modes that are built into the camera, but often go unused, without making any manual adjustments.
  • Face Detection – Detects faces in the frame (up to 15 faces), even if they are moving, and selects optimal focus and exposure settings so portraits come out clear.
  • Quick AF (Auto Focus) – Starts focus on the subject by just pointing the camera at the subject, thus minimizing the AF time.

The new LUMIX FX37 (2.5″ LCD display with 230,000 pixels) will feature HD video recording capabilities with a resolution of 1280 x 720p at 30fps, while the FX150 (2.7″ large LCD display with 230,000 pixels) can record dynamic HD video in 1280 x 720p at 24fps.

“With the FX150, Panasonic brings a unique type of ultra-compact camera to the market,” said David Briganti, National Marketing Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “The combination of 14.7 megapixels, numerous manual controls and Intelligent Auto mode in a stylish, pocket-sized body creates an ideal camera for photo enthusiasts.”

According to Panasonic, “The FX150 also offers easy manual control, letting users adjust the shutter speed as desired. The bracketing function includes the exposure bracketing available on previous models plus a new color bracketing function that can record color, monochromatic and sepia shots of an image at the same time with a single press of the shutter button. The FX150 also introduces a new multi-exposure function that creates an interesting artistic effect by superimposing up to three consecutively shot images, while the user views the previous image on the monitor. Also in the FX150, the white balance function has been improved from conventional one-axis compensation to two-axis compensation with a color temperature setting that allows more precise adjustment. For the AF, FX150 allows user to set focus freely among 11 focus points.”

Other Advanced Features Of LUMIX FX37 And LUMIX FX150:

  • Image Leveling – When a captured image “leans” to the right or left because the camera was held at a slight angle when the photo was taken, the Image Leveling function rotates the image to straighten it and crops the unnecessary edges. No computer needed!
  • Scene Modes – The FX37 (25 modes) and FX150 (24 modes) offer different scene modes to respond easily to any shooting situation. The new Pin Hole and Film Grain modes add unique, film-camera-like effects and ambiences to images and the Transform mode trims and stretches images to virtually transform the subject.

The new Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FX37 is expected to be available in silver, black, blue, pink, white and brown color in coming September 2008 for about $350, while the new LUMIX DMX-FX150 will be available in silver and black color in coming August 2008 for about $400.