Panasonic has added another feather in their cap by launching the impressive 10 megapixel Lumix digital camera, the Panasonic DMC-FZ50. Sporting a DSLR like design and having functionality of a 'prosumer' digicam ,this one offers the best of both worlds!. The DMC-FZ50 has the now famous MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) technology and boasts of a 12x optical zoom (equivalent to 35 mm to 420 mm on a 35 mm film camera) f/2.8 LEICA DC lens. Oh if you are wondering if this is a successor to the critically acclaimed FZ30, well you are bang on!

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 promises incredible images via its 10.1-megapixel high resolution CCD image sensor and Venus Engine III technology. ISO settings go upto 1600 and the MEGA O.I.S. system combats blurry images which appear due to camera shake or low light conditions. For those users who are always looking for something novel and unique, will be happy to know that the Panasonic FZ50 is equipped with the world’s first* Intelligent ISO Control and max. ISO 1600 high sensitivity recording capabilities within the advanced image processing LSI Venus Engine III. This helps in automatically detecting the subjects movements and then adjusting the ISO settings accordingly.

The camera sports a 2-inch LCD which flips out to 180 degrees and the Panasonic DMC-FZ50 is now compatible with TTL external flashes. For easy navigation , the digicam includes a Function Button from one can access important functions like recording image size, light metering, AF area, white balance, and ISO sensitivity. Another cool feature is that now users can customize their settings via the mode dial. The Panasonic DMC-FZ50 has a movie mode too and it can record standard VGA (640x480) at 30 fps as well as full-size movies in wide-aspect VGA (848x480) at 30 fps.

The Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ50 has a much better life than its predecessors and Panasonic claims that they have improved the battery by almost 29% and it can hoot approx. 360 images on one charge. The AF mode includes 9-point, 3-point high speed, 1-point high speed, 1-point normal speed and Spot settings and the included SILKYPIX Developer Studio 2.0SE” software lets one edit and develops RAW and other formats easily. The camera would be available soon but no word on pricing. For more info visit Pansonic