New digital cameras from Panasonic

Breaking news from Panasonic with the introduction of three new Lumix digital cameras ; the DMC-FZ30, the DMC-FX9, and the DMC-LX1.
With a price tag of $950 8 mega pixel chip and 12x optical manual zoom the FZ30 replaces the FZ20 series camera. The camera still offers the high quality Leica DC Vario-Elmarit lens (f2.8-3.7/11). New features include an AE lock button a macro switch on the lens that doesn’t require changing modes, a new 3:2 format option, Raw capture and last a larger LCD. Some may question if the high price tag makes sense to choose this camera over a traditional DSLR.

The next camera on the list is the DMC-FX9 a 6 mega pixel compact point and shoot digital camera. It features a 2.5” LCD and 3x optical Leica lens with image stabilization. The major improvement to this camera is the increased battery life. I don’t mean they increase the battery size or power, what they did do was decrease the power needed to run the camera. The camera comes in two colors both red and silver. Red is my choice.With a price tag of $420 it is a little on the high end. I would like to see it priced around $379-$399.

The last camera is the 8.4 mega pixel wide-angle compact DMC-LX1. The camera is also a little on the high end for a point and shoot at $780 but it does have some really cool features such as the huge mega pixel count, the variety of aspect ratios (16:9, 3:2, and 4:3) and the 4x Leica zoom favoring the wider angle side of the zoom.