Yesterday, Panasonic announced a new pocket-sized digital camera, the Lumix DMC-FX500. The new Lumix FX500 is Panasonic’s first digital camera to incorporate touch-screen technology, which allows the photographer to change settings and access camera controls by touching the 3-inch LCD screen. We’ve tested a couple of touch-screen digital cameras (Sony DSC-T50 and Pentax Optio T30) and find they work quite well. The only real drawback is the LCD display gets dirty from being touched all the time.

Besides the new 3-inch touch-screen display, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 has a 10.1 megapixel sensor and 25mm wide-angle Leica lens with 5x optical zoom, MEGA O.I.S. optical image stabilization, Face Detection, continuous auto focus, and lots of exposure tools and options for a point-and-shoot camera. Personally, I’m most excited about the lens. With 5x optical zoom, 25mm on the wide end, and continuous auto focus, this the FX500 is looking like a very nice pocket-sized outdoor camera. We currently have Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-FZ35 in house for review. Since it also has a Leica 25mm wide-angle lens and the same sensor it will be a good preview for the FX500. But the FX500’s longer zoom range (the FX35 has a 4x optical zoom lens) and touch-screen display make it something to look forward to.

Related Content:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 Press Release
Panasonic Digital Camera Reviews
Digital Cameras Forum
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