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Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC33 3.2MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC33 3.2MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

List Price: $289.99
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very , Very user friendly!
Review: All the reviews about the "user friendly" aspect are true. I did not even read the directions to set the clock and date, it guided you thru on the screen. When I did open the book to read the directions they were very easy to follow and was taking pictures within a half hour of receiving the camera. I Highly recommend this camera if your not into paying mega bucks for a very fine camera. I purchased at the same time a 128 MBSD memory card and the NI-MH rechargable batteries as recommended by the other reviews,so I feel I am ready to go take pictures of the Holidays without any problems. Panasonic has always been my preferred brand for ALL of my electronic products, they have NEVER let me down

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing little Gem
Review: Bought this camera a few weeks ago. Made my decision because of the Leica lens and I have not been dissapointed. It takes really great pictures with amazing clarity. It also has a few manual settings for those who want to have a little control. I heard in Japan this camera is really making waves over there. Try it out and you'll see what the rave is about.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good deal this month
Review: Can't give a complete rating yet, just received it from Amazon and the thing died within a half hour. New batteries didn't help, so its going back. I've got another one on its way here (Amazon's shipping is very fast- and FREE).
Also, Amazon is giving out $50 for purchases above $250 and if you go to Panasonic's web site, you can still get a free 128 meg SD card until the end of Oct.

Pros
[] Burst mode works great (neat for golf swings). You can get full res pictures at 2 or 4 frames/sec, but the total frames are limited to 8 (very impressive)
[] It also has another burst type mode called "Auto Exposure Bracket" that will take 3 photos in rapid succession with 3 different exposure settings. (not sure this is working right, 2 of the 3 pics look identical)

[] Not sure about the comment above concerning "no manual controls except for white balance"
You can manually control:
ISO (50, 100, 200, 400)
EXPOSURE (-2 to +2 in 1/3 steps)
CONTRAST (Natural, Standard, Vivid)
COLOR EFFECT (Off, Cool, Warm, B/W)
WHITE BALANCE (Daylight, Cloudy, Halogen, White set)

[] Self timer and Flash options are easily settable without having to go into the main menu

For the complete manual, goto
http://www.pasc.panasonic.com/OperMan/FindManual.asp
and type in "DMCLC33"

Biggest disappointments

[] Pictures do not show the date (computer file only)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If I knew it was this easy I would have done it years ago
Review: First, I will say that this camera is a great value at the listed price. But with the certificate Amazon offered, along with a rebate from Epson on the 825, you effectively get a free photo printer afer rebates and credits. Wow.

I took the camera to a weekend baseball tournament to take a few pictures. Instead of taking a few pictures, I was asked to take pictures for the team's digital yearbook. I ended up taking 230 pictures over three days. Most were outdoors so no flash was used, but there is still life in my second set of batteries for the weekend.

The pictures are consistently excellent. I simply pointed the camera and took a picture, using the standard auto mode the whole weekend. The only pictures that were poorly exposed were my fault, and were easily fixed using software. It fit in my hand nicely for such a small camera, and felt solid.

Consider rechargeable NiMH batteries a requirement, and get at least a 128 MB SD card, preferrably 256. Also consider a carrying case (I found an inexpensive Case Logic fabric model that works very well). This will add about $100 for the accessories, but they are well worth it.

I could go on and on with praise, I really have no complaints. I wish that there was zero lag between pushing the button and being ready to take the next shot, but all cameras have that. The display is very nice, even in bright daylight, I recommend covering it with a screen protector. The rapid 5-shot sequence mode was very cool, especially for capturing a batter's swing or a pitcher's release. The menus and controls were easy to use and had a good feel.

It would be hard to imagine finding a better value in this range.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent camera and a great value
Review: I bought this camera 1.5 weeks ago, and used it at several family Thanksgiving gatherings. I have been very pleased with the results so far. It has really met all my expectations.

I had been looking for a $200 travel camera, and had been watching the features I wanted come down the price curve. I am an experienced photographer and wanted all the key features and controls, but it had to be easy enough for my wife and kids to use. I purchased the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC33 on a short local sale for $200. This camera has had little publicity and distribution, but is very competitive at the the standard $269 price. It is a hidden gem.

Details:
So far, everything working as it should.
The Leica lens, which drew my initial attention, produces VERY sharp images. For indoor family shots with limited light, setting the ASA at 400 produced amazing results without flash, and at the low resolution setting. I kept the flash off most of the time. Battery life has been excellent, but since I have not yet used up a set of high capacity rechargables I am not sure how good. Camera feels good in the hands, but I found that to take steady pix, it helped to use the optical viewer and hold the camera against my face. There are many controls accessible and easy to use, but you have to know or learn what they mean to get the most out of the camera.

On the other hand, if you just want point and shoot simplicity, just put it in that mode using the top dial (the heart) and start shooting.

Transferring images to my pc (WInXP Pro) was quick and very easy. I connected the camera to the pc with the USB cable. A new F disk drive appeared in my Win Explorer window. I just copied the files to the new directory for my Thanksgiving photos. Then unplugged. Click on the file to display the image. I have not bothered to install the software that came with the camera. I don't envision doing a lot of editing.

The movie mode with sound works well. The review functions work well when playing back the photos and movies, and deleting unwanted images was easy. Little shutter delay noticed, and there was quick recovery between shots. Optical telephoto function works smoothly, but digital telephoto hard to figure without practice. The multi-shot button will come in handy when shooting kids.

Tips - turn off LCD display when not in use. When battery starts to show running down, turn it off for a while to let it recover.
For web posting and emailing, use the lowest resolution setting. JPG file size was about 60k, and they looked great.

Negatives:
Found it a bit confusing when clicking the shutter switch as to whether a photo was taken, partly because of flashing diode lights and slight shutter delay.
A bit larger and heavier than the smallest Canons, but at a lot smaller price. The choice is yours. This one is small enough for a jacket pocket or micro pouch, but perhaps too much for a shirt pocket. All very small cameras such as this one need special care when taking shots to avoid jiggle and fuzzy focus. The sound recording option made me wish I could plug in headphones to listen, but I can live without it. LCD will get smudged and probably scratched pretty fast. I will look for a Palm type cover sheet. Sometimes forgot to switch back from review mode to photo mode on top dial, which caused confusion when trying to take the next shot.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Camera
Review: I bought this camera because almost all of my friends own one and they never complained about it. I work with digital cameras all the time in my line of work and this little Panasonic is by far one of the best I have used (compared to other small cameras by sony, canon, and fuji). I did not get this camera from amazon but for those who want to buy a digital camera this is one of the few that are worth the price. It is easy to use and the battery life is great(with the LCD screen turned off). The only compaint I have with this camera is the option with movie recording, it is not poor but very close, so I still give it 5 stars. Highly recommend to first time digital camera buyers.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best 3 MP Camera -- A Hidden Gem
Review: I did fair amount of research and concluded that the Panasonic Lumic DMC-LC33 is the best value overall. With the Leica lens, it takes absolutely great pictures that are comparable to those of film cameras. It is very easy to use. The mode dial (choice of simple, normal, macro, portrait, landscape, night portrait, motion) help beginners to take nice pictures. For sophisticated users, it has many control enable you to adjust ISO, EV, white balance, etc. Besides the picture quality, its speed is one of the best among digital cameras. You almost don't feel any shutter lag. I especially like the burst mode which let you take 5 continuous shots in one second, perfect for those hard-to-catch moments. The movie mode appears a bit jittery at 10 fps, but like its still images, the picture quality is very good. I have seen other reviews mentioning the flash being weak. However, I found it adequate and can be easily enhanced by setting ISO to 400. Its size can fit into a pocket.

I think maybe because Panasonic is not as well known in camera as brands such as Canon, Nikon, Olympus, etc., so it prices its models very competitively. This is a great camera at a valued price. I couldn't be happier with it. Strongly recommended.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent Dig Cam for the money & for beginners !
Review: I have been researching for my 1st Dig cam for a month now. I have tried Minolta F300 (grainy, too complicated with manual options), Sony P72(noisy at night, pics on LCD look awesome but not on computer), Fuji 3800 (good, but awkward to hold etc). So returned all 3.

Bought this Panasonic 33, very nice ! Good pics, very accurate colors( see sony's is not natural, I will prove it to you !), Very smooth operation, no noise at all, no lags, cheaper, easy to hold, light - fits in pocket, fully auto - no manual operations, very easy for novices.

Problems:
Plasticky body (buy pana DCM F1S with metal etc if you want metal), Not great in Low light conditions (how many times we will take pics in low light ? let us face it).......it still takes good pics in normal night light conditions but not faraway ones, night scenary is not bad etc...., will have to buy AA NIMh battery, charger( get that Kodak at amazon.com - it has 5* rating), no sound in playback mode for video but it does record sound...

Overall, you won't regret if this is your first & want a pocket camera !

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An excellent 3MP Camera
Review: I have this camera since last 1yr and have no problems. The pictures are sharp and produce excellent quality for printing small images. Overall a good beginner camera.


Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent Dig Cam for the money & for beginners !
Review: I researched for my 1st Dig cam for a month now. I have tried Minolta F300 (grainy, too complicated with manual options), Sony P72(noisy at night, pics on LCD look awesome but not on computer), Fuji 3800 (good, but awkward to hold etc). So returned all 3.

Bought this Panasonic 33, very nice !!!!!!!!! Good pics, very accurate colors( see sony's is not natural, I will prove it to you !), Very smooth operation, no noise at all, no lags, cheaper, easy to hold, light - fits in pocket, fully auto - no manual operations, very easy for novices.

Problems:
Plasticky body (buy pana DCM F1S with metal etc), Not great in Low light conditions (how many times we will take pics in low light ? let us face it).......it still takes good pics in normal night light conditions, night scenary etc...., will have to buy AA NIMh battery, charger( get that Kodak at amazon.com - it has 5* rating), no sound in playback mode for video but it does record sound

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