Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 - a secure camera, stuffed with almost all modern functions. She replaced the FT3 and became even more durable than her predecessor. New features include a higher resolution image sensor (16 megapixels instead of 12 megapixels), Wi-Fi, NFC, fast burst shooting, 1080 / 60p video recording and much more. Battery life has also been improved by 20% through the use of a more powerful battery, which is always welcomed in cameras with energy-intensive features such as GPS and Wi-Fi.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 camera: design description
Once in your hands, this camera immediately declares its strength and reliability. Its body is almost entirely made of metal, and the visible screws on the front and rear panels make it more like an instrument than a camera. The lens is protected by a metal protrusion surrounding it. The model is available in four colors: orange, blue, silver and black.
DMC-FT5 has 5 degrees of protection. The camera is waterproof at a depth of 13 m, withstands drop from a height of 2 m, a shock of 100 kg, frost-resistant up to -10 ° C and is protected from dust. The lens has a water-repellent coating that also prevents fogging. According to user reviews, the water does indeed drain off the optics, although it collects in the lower part of the protrusion that surrounds it. Fingerprints remain on the lens, so you should always have a napkin on hand.
The displays of most protected cameras usually have a low brightness in the open air, especially OLED. Panasonic has found a way to ensure good visibility using the automatic screen power control feature. Of course, this reduces the battery life of the device.
Although the FT5 flash settings are impressive (5.6 m in wide mode and 3.1 m in telephoto), they do not reflect its true capabilities, as they are designed for automatic ISO sensitivity, the maximum value of which is 1600, which leads to very noisy photographs. If it is reduced to ISO 400, then the range will be reduced to 1.4 m and 0.8 m, respectively.
Instructions for disabling alerts
All cameras of this type are accompanied by many warnings about the use in the open air, especially under water. They remind you that there should be no debris on the seal, and all covers must be closed before it is exposed to the elements. Panasonic has taken a different path, pestering the user every time they turn on the camera until they understand how to turn it off.
To prevent warnings from appearing anymore, go to the "Settings" menu and select "Precautions". Despite the inscription on the initial screen, you will need to scroll through all 12 pages of warnings before you can click on the Set button, after which the warnings cease to appear permanently.
Shooting modes
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 is endowed with many features for those who do not want to mess with the settings. The main ones, of course, are the intelligent automatic mode, which selects the scene, recognizes faces, adjusts contrast, and Auto ISO, which allows you to detect movement and set the appropriate sensitivity. In addition, the camera may include manual night shooting and HDR, if it considers it necessary. For more control over the functions, you can switch to Programmed Auto.
Many stories are available. The most noticeable of them are manual night shooting (which combines several frames into one, reducing noise and blur), HDR (combines 3 frames with different exposures, increasing the brightness range) and Starry Sky (manual exposure). There is also time-lapse photography that captures photographs over a period of time that can be saved separately or as video. Although there is no doubt that HDR restores details in highlights and brightens shadows, you have to pay for everything. The HDR image can be significantly softer and very fuzzy. This may be due to the automatic ISO sensitivity setting. Also available are 4 scene modes for a more “adventurous” photo. These are “Sport”, “Snow”, “Beach” and “Diving”. The last two offer an underwater color option that removes the bluish tint that often appears in such shots.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5: creative overview
The camera supports many special effects, which Panasonic calls Creative Controls. This includes the regular kit, including an expressive one that delivers vibrant colors, a toy camera, a miniature effect, soft focus, and selective color. An additional advantage of the camera is manual exposure control. By pressing the Mode button and selecting the M mode, you can adjust the shutter speed and aperture. The shutter speed range is from 4 to 1/1300 s. The aperture requires a more detailed explanation. Each focal length allows you to set 2 aperture options. For example, in the wide-angle position, you can select F3.3 or F10. In telephoto, these values are F5.9 and F18. But in reality there are no such small holes - because of diffraction, they would take terrible pictures. The camera simulates them with a neutral density filter, which reduces the amount of light passing through the optics by 3 divisions of the diaphragm. You can also manually adjust white balance and exposure compensation. There is also auto bracketing, which guarantees the correct exposure.
Panoramic overview
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 camera has a mode that allows you to cover up to 180 ° of surrounding space. It is enough to press the shutter button, rotate the camera in the desired direction and press the shutter button again. The image will be formed instantly. The manufacturer advertises the FT5 as the first model to apply special effects to panoramas. All creative controls are available except soft focus and star filter. The maximum size of horizontal panoramas is 8000 x 1080, and vertical - 1440 x 8000 pixels.
Wireless connection
The camera has extensive but inconvenient Wi-Fi capabilities. At first glance, everything is fine: the camera can be controlled remotely, send photos to a mobile device or PC, and also view them on a TV screen. Moreover, the device supports NFC communication, which allows you to connect it to a smartphone, simply by bringing the camera closer to it. The W-Fi connection is good with the phone, but trying to connect a Mac or PC or use NFC is desperate. In addition, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 Orange does not accept Wi-Fi very well. There are two ways to connect wirelessly. You can go into an existing network or create your own. The first option is simple if the network is open or supports WPS. Otherwise, you will have to enter the password using an uncomfortable keyboard that requires a large number of clicks.
After connecting, you can take pictures remotely, view the footage on a DLNA-compatible TV or mobile device and send images immediately after shooting.
When using a smartphone, you must download the Panasonic application for iOS or Android. After that, you can connect to the camera via a shared network or configure peer-to-peer communication. In theory, if you have a smartphone with NFC support, then you can do everything, including transferring the footage, simply by touching it to the bottom of the camera. According to feedback from users who tried in practice to establish NFC-communication using several phone models, they did not succeed. The manufacturing company was not able to ensure the reliable operation of this function. The easiest option is to use the camera as a network node and a smartphone application to connect to it. Everything else just does not work, despite contacting the manufacturer.
Geo positioning
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 has a pretty good GPS system. It determines not only longitude and latitude, but also height and depth (by pressure), the direction of the camera, and also indicates local landmarks. The only thing missing is the pre-installed cards. But there is a decent base of places that covers most of the world. If the camera makes the wrong choice, then you can use other options - type your own name or completely delete it.
Another great GPS feature is to record altitude history. If the user goes hiking in the mountains, then he can see a graph showing the height over a certain period of time. The camera is also able to track a route that can be displayed as a KML file, and then import it into Google Earth. By default, GPS locates very slowly. But if you download auxiliary data from the manufacturer’s website, the process will be much faster.
Video recording
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 was the only secure camera that could record video with stereo sound in 1080 / 60p format. This means that the camera shoots smoother video compared to 30p without 60i interlaced frame scan. If you don’t want to use AVCHD, then you can switch to MPEG-4, which is easier for some to edit and distribute, although the frame rate drops to 30 per second. You can record up to half an hour of continuous video in AVCHD format and a little less in MPEG-4, limited to 4 GB.
According to user reviews, during video recording, the camera allows you to use optical zoom and image stabilizer, and the focus can be adjusted continuously. An LED is provided to illuminate the subject, although its range is limited to only one and a half meters. The user can use the only manual setting in the video recording mode - the wind filter. Footage can be edited. This allows you to delete unwanted frames. You can embed GPS data in the video.
Performance
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 user reviews are called a fairly fast camera. It only takes 0.9 seconds to turn on, and the AF speed in bright light is impressive. Unfortunately, when there is not enough light, this takes about 1.5 s. When auto review is turned off, the delay between shots is very short. The next photo can be taken after 0.7 s. With a flash, this time increases to 3.5 s, which corresponds to the average.
The camera offers a number of serial modes, from 2 to 10 fps. According to the manufacturer, at a speed of up to 5 fps, you can capture 100 frames with a retuning of the focus before each shot. However, testing by users of the 5 fps mode with an ultra-fast SDHC card (95 MB / s) showed that the camera is able to make only 11 frames before a significant slowdown. A faster series (10.3 fps) is also available, but limited to 7 frames. In the intelligent automatic mode, the camera, based on the movement of the object, can independently decide what frame rate is needed.
Like other compact cameras, the FT5 can shoot continuously with an ultra-high frame rate. The camera is able to capture frames at a speed of 40 or 60 fps, but the resolution will be reduced to 5 and 2.5 megapixels, respectively.
Battery life
The camera can take pictures for a long time, because it is equipped with a 4.5 W ∙ h lithium-ion battery. His CIPA rating is equal to 370 photos on a single charge, which is quite enough for a compact. However, when GPS is turned on, the maximum screen brightness and using Wi-Fi, the battery will run out much earlier. According to user reviews, the camera can hardly last for a day. The battery is charged outside the camera and takes about 3 hours.
Image quality
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 digital camera is not inferior to other compact cameras of its class. The colors are bright, the exposure is good. FT5 does not reduce the detail of highlights, like some competing cameras, and even if this happens, the HDR function can solve this problem. However, the camera smears low-contrast image details. For most users, this will not cause concern, unless they intend to enlarge the images by making giant prints or aggressively cropping the frame. There are also problems with chromatic aberration that you would not expect from Leica optics, especially around the edges of the frame. At high ISO, the camera demonstrates quality higher than expected. They are not suitable for printing posters, but are good enough for web pages and small prints. Support for the RAW format would help to achieve better results, but this feature is not implemented in this model.
When shooting underwater, there are always a lot of unsuccessful shots (usually due to blur), but with Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 Silver the percentage of such shots seems to be larger than usual. According to user reviews, photos are often taken with a bluish tint, which often happens underwater. If the picture seems too blue, then when using underwater shooting modes or in playback mode, you can try the Color Reproduction option. The plots “Beach” and “Scuba diving” provide an ISO level below 200, which allows you to keep the noise under control.
Since the FT5 lens is slow, users are strongly advised to shoot at short focal lengths. The telephoto squeezes the maximum aperture to F5.9, letting in very little light. This means that in order to get a sharp shot, the photosensitivity and, consequently, the noise level must increase. 16 megapixels is enough to crop the frame as you wish, so widescreen shooting gives you more options.
Advantages and disadvantages
Like most secure cameras, the DMC-FT5 is more consumer oriented than photography enthusiast. Automation takes on scene selection, face recognition, intelligent contrast and sharpening features. A wide variety of scene modes are also available, including HDR and many creative special effects. Paying tribute to more sophisticated users, the manufacturer offers the ability to manually set the exposure. However, the owners are limited to only two options for the diaphragm or, rather, the equivalent hole, since the camera uses a neutral density filter.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5's built-in GPS is one of the best on the market. Wi-Fi is disappointing: a small antenna does not receive a signal well, and when you enter a secure network, you have to enter a password (sometimes repeatedly) using an uncomfortable on-screen keyboard. The NFC function could secure the wireless connection, but it does not work reliably. The camera allows you to shoot 30-minute clips in 1080 / 60p format from stereo using the AVCHD codec. Optical zoom is available during movie recording and the camera keeps the subject in focus. Users welcome MPEG-4 support. The video quality for the compact is pretty good.
According to the owners, the camera starts and focuses very quickly, but in low light conditions its speed is not so impressive. Image details are blurry even at baseline ISO speeds, severe chromatic aberration occurs, the lens is slow, and the flash output is low. At the same time, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 photo for its class makes excellent, the case is very durable and reliably protected from dust and moisture, the screen is clear, manual exposure adjustment is provided, and the battery provides continuous operation of the camera provided the Wi-Fi and GPS modules are inactive.
Conclusion
For active travelers, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 camera, whose characteristics provide high reliability, a good display, the ability to shoot video and support for Wi-Fi and GPS, is the most suitable. But photographers who plan to shoot in low light and use the flash should look for a more suitable camera.