Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS85

Lumix 8.1 Megapixel Compact Digital Camera with iA mode, Intelligent LCD, and motion image recording with sound.

Intelligent Auto Mode - Great Shots Regardless of the User

Panasonic believes that anyone, even at entry technical level of photography, should be able to take beautiful pictures with ease - this is where the iA(Intelligent Auto) mode steps in. Comprising of four major functions (MEGA O.I.S, Intelligent ISO Control, Face Detection and Intelligent Scene Selector) that work together to provide the best possible shooting results everytime. The two most advanced countermeasures against blurring – MEGA O.I.S (Optical Image Stabiliser) to compensate for hand-shake and Intelligent ISO Control to detect and suppress motion blur – are built into the LS85. Both image stabilizing technologies have been further advanced in detection accuracy and correction effect thanks to the new image-processing LSI, Venus Engine IV.

In addition to these two paramount anti-blurring technologies, the Face Detection system helps the camera to recognize human faces and to focus and set the exposure automatically. Up to 15 faces can be recognized simultaneously. Plus, the Intelligent Scene Selector automatically sets the appropriate scene mode according to the scene you're going to take from among the most frequently used scene modes, such as Portrait, Scenery, Macro, Night Scenery and Night Portrait mode. It now features an automatic backlight compensation function that activates whenever the camera detects that the light source is behind the subject. The Quick AF system allows the camera to keep focus on the subject while the camera is in recording mode even before without pressing a shutter button halfway, to get best result out of a shutter chance because the focus is always near the subject and the AF time is minimized.

Building on the successor of the highly successful LS80 – the LS85 enjoys a newly added independent iA button on the top of the camera – allowing access to the iA mode directly. Once you enter iA mode, these multi-capable functions work automatically so you can shoot without the bother of adjusting settings every time conditions change. You can enjoy easy, trouble-free shooting in any situation and get the satisfaction that comes with capturing clear, beautiful images.

Zooming in on the Lens

The 8.1-megapixel DMC-LS85 packages a bright F2.8 Lumix DC Vario lens with 4x optical zoom(33-132mm * ) into a slim, compact body. Comprising 6 elements in 5 groups, including 3 aspherical lenses with 4 aspherical surfaces, this advanced lens unit realizes the compact body yet delivering an exceptional optical performance. Further, in 3-megapixel resolution mode, the Extra Optical Zoom function provides additional magnification, extending the zoom power to 6.4x (211mm) by using the centre part of the CCD.

Image-processing LSI, Venus Engine IV for High Quality Images

The image-processing LSI, Venus Engine IV, features advanced signal processing technology for rendering high quality images.

The multi-task image-processing engine Venus Engine IV supports a super-fast response time. The shutter release time lag is as short as 0.007 second. The camera's quick response makes it easier to capture sudden, spur-of-the-moment photo opportunities. In burst shooting mode, the LS85 can snap 3.0 shots per second at full resolution. * * And in High-Speed Burst shooting mode * * * ,it fires off an incredible 4.5 shots per second. You also get unlimited consecutive shooting, * * * * which lets you keep shooting until the memory card is full. The Venus Engine IV also supports a High Sensitivity mode that lets the DMC-LS85 record at a setting of up to ISO 6400, sensitive enough to capture subjects in near-total darkness without using a flash. * * *

The LCD In More Detail

The DMC-LS85 incorporates an easy-to-see, 2.5 inch large 230,000-dot high-resolution LCD for comfortable viewing while both monitoring shots and playing back the results. The Intelligent LCD function detects the light condition and automatically boosts the LCD backlighting by a maximum of 40% when shooting outdoors in bright sunshine, and adjusts the frame rate when shooting in low-lit situations in addition to using the pixel mixed readout method to secure clarity in such situations. Detecting the lighting condition precisely, and automatically controlling the brightness with a total of 12 fine steps, this function gives the display the most appropriate clarity in any situation without using extra energy. The High Angle mode makes the LCD screen extremely easy to view when the camera is held high, such as when shooting over a crowd.

View your Photos with Pleasure

To increase your enjoyment when playing back your images, the LS85 provides slideshows complete with music. Just select the pictures you want to show and choose the mood that best matches your selection from natural, slow, urban or swing, and you'll get an emotion-filled slideshow with a variety of slide change effects and matching music without any annoying adjustments to the newly added speaker.

Additionally, all Lumix cameras can take 1920x1080 pixel high-definition quality photos that are ideal for full-screen viewing on a wide-screen (16:9) HDTV. Panasonic has long focused on making photography more enjoyable, such as by letting people view their images easily on a Panasonic Viera TV with Viera Image Viewer (internal SD card slot).

For movies, the DMC-LS85 can record WVGA * * * * * (848 x 480) motion pictures at 30 frames per second in addition to standard VGA (640 x 480). The WVGA * * * * * * motion picture also fits a wide-screen (16:9) TV perfectly, to offer extremely impressive viewing.

Inherently user friendly, the LS85 includes a host of features for your convenience. For example, start-up time is dramatically shortened by approx. 40% to be as quick as 1.8 sec while AF points are now increased from 5 to 9 for more accurate focusing. The internal memory is now doubled in capacity to approx. 50MB, which is good enough to use as spare memory when you don't have an SDHC/SD Memory Card. Battery life is extended to shoot more than 270 photos (CIPA) with two AA batteries thanks to the low energy consumption of Venus Engine IV.

For more stress-free operation, cursor key and buttons backside are now made larger. The menus are also easier to navigate thanks to the new "Display Size" option which is set to "Large" by default. In addition, exclusively for the LS85, the level of easiness can be set by the user and if the user prefers the easiest way, additional setting menu will no longer be displayed to avoid confusion.

Included Software

The latest version of exciting software PHOTOfunSTUDIO 3.0 comes bundled with the DMC-LS85. The PHOTOfunSTUDIO 3.0 allows the user to edit or organize a collection of photos with more ease and fun. It features Face Recognition function that recognizes the faces in the picture stored in your PC to sort the photos by faces. Conventionally, you had to pick up one by one out of hundreds of photos when you only want the picture of a specific person. But with the PHOTOfunSTUDIO 3.0, the software automatically does it once the face is registered regardless of the camera type you used. On the sophisticated interface, you can also enjoy emotional slideshow with a variety of effects. Motion pictures (MOV or MPEG2) can also be upload directly to YouTube. * * * * * * *

* 35mm film camera equivalent.
* * Max. 7 images in standard mode/ 4 images in fine mode
* * * In 3-megapixel(4:3), 2.5-megapixel(3:2), 2-megapixel(16:9) recording
* * * * The consecutive shooting speed varies with the memory card, image size, and image compression mode. The number of shots depends on the memory card size, battery life, image size and image compression mode.
* * * * * When you set the picture quality to WVGA or VGA, we recommend using a high-speed card with “10MB/s” or greater displayed on the package. Motion pictures can be recorded continuously for up to 15 minutes in some countries.
* * * * * * Continuous recording exceeding 2GB is not possible when recording motion JPEG. Remaining
time for continuous recording is displayed on the screen.
* * * * * * * YouTube is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company product names are trademarks of their respective corporations.

More external Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS85 reviews!

Camera Type Compact

KEY FEATURES .

Intelligent Auto (iA) Mode Optical Image Stabilizer
Intelligent ISO Control
Face Detection
Intelligent Scene Selector (Portrait, Scenery, Night Portrait, Night Scenery, Macro)
Digital Red Eye Correction
iA Direct Button

Camera Effective Pixels 8.1 Megapixels

Optical Image Stabilizer MEGA O.I.S. (Auto/Mode1/ Mode2)

Optical Zoom 4x

Image Sensor 1/2.5", 8.32 Total Megapixels CCD, Primary Color Filter

Image Sensor Size 1/2.5-inch

Extra Optical Zoom 5.7x (4:3 / 5M), 7.1x (under 3M)

Digital Zoom ¹ 4x
( Max. 16.0 x combined with Optical Zoom without Extra Optical Zoom )
(Max.25.5x combined with Extra Optical Zoom)

Focal Length f=5.5-22.0mm (33-132mm in 35mm equiv.)

Lens LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR
7 elements in 6 groups
(3 Aspherical Lenses / 4 Aspherical surfaces)

PERFORMANCE FEATURES .

Conversion Lens Compatibility No

Focusing Area Normal: Wide 50cm - infinity
Macro / Intelligent AUTO : Wide 5cm / Tele 50cm - infinity

AF Metering Face / Multi (9pt) / 1pt

Focus Normal / Macro, Quick AF (Always On)

AF Assist Lamp Yes

ISO Sensitivity Auto /100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 (High Sensitivity Mode : Auto(1600 - 6400) )

White Balance Auto / Daylight / Cloudy / Shade / Halogen / White Set (Selectable at Portrait, Soft Skin, Transform, Self-Portrait, Sports, Baby, Pet, High Sensitivity, Highspeed Burst, Photo Frame mode)

Exposure Program AE

Exposure Compensation 1/3 EV Step, ± 2 EV

Backlight Compensation Yes (only in Intelligent AUTO mode)

Auto Bracketing (AE) No

Light Metering Evaluative Metering

Dedicated Button/Mode Switch [Recording] / [Playback]

Shooting Mode (Mode Dial)/Rec. Mode Intelligent AUTO, Normal Picture, MySCN, SCN, Motion Picture

Scene Modes Portrait, Soft Skin, Self-Portrait, Scenery, Sports, Night Portrait, Night Scenery, Food, Party, Candle Light, Baby1, Baby2, Pet, Sunset, High sensitivity, Hi-Speed Burst, Starry Sky, Fireworks, Beach, Snow, Aerial Photo

Shutter Speed/Shutter System 8-1/2000 sec
Starry Sky Mode : 15, 30, 60sec.

Self Timer 2sec, 10sec

Auto Review 1sec, 2sec, Zoom, Hold

Review No

Color Mode Standard, Natural, Vivid, Black & White, Sepia, Cool, Warm

Recording Format Still Image: JPEG (DCF / Exif2.21)
Motion picture: QuickTime Motion JPEG

Image Quality Fine/Standard

4:3 Aspect Ratio (Still Image) 3264 x 2448 (8M) / 2560 x 1920 (5M EZ) / 2048 x 1536 (3M EZ) /
1600 x 1200 (2M EZ) / 640 x 480 (0.3M EZ)

3:2 Aspect Ratio (Still Image) 3264 x 2176 (7M) / 2560 x 1712 (4.5M EZ) / 2048 x 1360 (2.5M EZ)

16:9 Aspect Ratio (Still Image) 3264 x 1840 (6M) / 2560 x 1440 (3.5M EZ) / 1920 x 1080 (2M EZ)

Motion Image (4:3 Aspect Ratio) VGA: 640 x 480 pixels, 30fps (Motion JPEG)
QVGA: 320 x 240 pixels, 30 fps (Motion JPEG)

Motion Image (16:9 Aspect Ratio) WVGA: 848 x 480 pixels, 30 fps (Motion JPEG)

CONVENIENCE FEATURES .

Unlimited Consecutive Shooting ² 2.0 frames/sec

Intelligent Exposure No

Digital Red Eye Correction Yes

Easy Zoom/Zoom Resume/Motion Zoom No

Still Image Recording with Audio No

Audio Dubbing No

Real-time Histograms No

Composition Guide Lines Yes (1 pattern)

Built-in Memory approx. 50MB

Scene Mode Help Screen Yes

Flip Animation No

Travel Date/World Time Yes/Yes

Text Stamp/Date Stamp Yes

STANDARD FEATURES .

Built-in Flash Type/Mode Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Forced Off
0.3 - 6.3m (Wide/ISO Auto), 0.5 - 3.0m (Tele/ISO Auto)

External Flash No

Viewfinder No

LCD Monitor 2.5" TFT LCD Display (230K dots)
Field of View : approx. 100%
AUTO Power LCD mode, Power LCD mode

Playback Mode Normal Playback, Slideshow, Category Playback, Favorites Playback

OSD Language English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Russian, Chinese(Traditional), Chinese(Simplified), Netherlandic, Thai, Korean, Turkish, Portuguese, Arabic, Persian, Japanese

Recording Media Built-in Memory
SD Memory Card
SDHC Memory Card
MultiMediaCard (Still image only)

Microphone Built-in (Mono)

Speaker Yes

Interface AV Output (NTSC/PAL, NTSC only in N.America) / USB2.0 Full speed

Color Black

Power Supply ID-Security Li-ion Battery Pack (3.6V, 940mAh) (Included)
AC Adaptor (Input: 110-240V AC) (Optional)

Battery Life ³ 270 pictures (Alkaline Batteries, CIPA Standard)
300 pictures (Evolta Batteries, CIPA Standard)
550 pictures (NiHM Batteries, CIPA Standard)

ACCESSORIES .

Included Software PHOTOfunSTUDIO v3.0
USB Driver

Standard Accessories Battery Pack (AA Alkaline Batteries x 2), AV Cable, USB Connection Cable, Hand Strap, CD-ROM

SPECIFICATIONS .

Multi-Aspect No

Aperture F2.8 - 5.9 / 2-Step (F2.8 - 8 (W) / F5.9 - 16 (T))

Focus Range Display Yes

Quick Menu Yes

Continuous Shooting Mode Full-Resolution Image, 3.0 frames/sec Max. 7 images (Standard mode), Max 4 images (Fine Mode), High-speed Burst Mode: approx. 5.5 frames/sec (recorded in 3M for 4:3, 2.5M for 3:2, 2M for 16:9)

Focus Icon Select No

Macro Zoom No

Orientation Detector Yes

Aspect Ratio 4:3 / 3:2 / 16:9

Thumbnails/Zoomed Playback 12,30-thumbnails / Max 16x

Calendar Display/Dual-Image Playback Yes / No

Set Favorites/Rotate Image Yes / No

Playback Motion Picture Yes (Motion JPEG)

Slideshow Mode All Still Images / Favorites / Category
BGM Effect (Natural / Slow / Swing / Urban / OFF)

Delete Image Single / Multi / All / All except Favorites

DPOF Print Setting/Set Production Yes / Yes

Resize/Trim/Aspect Conv./Leveling Yes / No / No / No

PictBridge Support Single / Multi / All / Favorites / DPOF

Weight(lbs) Approx. 0.28 lb
Approx. 0.38 lb with Battery and SD Memory Card

Dimensions (H x W x D) 2.48'' x 3.89'' x 1.19''

Weight Approx. 0.28 lb lbs