Panasonic FX78 12-megapixels of resolution camcorder

Announced in January 2011, the Panasonic FX78 as it's known in North America, is a 12.1 Megapixel compact with a 5x stabilised zoom and a 3.5in touch-screen display. The FX78 is slimmer and lighter than previous FX series models and has a newly designed CCD sensor with faster AF operation.

The FX78 has all of the automated features that have become standard on Panasonic compacts as well as those from other manufacturers - face detect AF, scene recognition and a range of scene modes. It adds a new 3D still image mode and makes full use of the screen with touch-focus and touch shooting features.

There are no manual exposure modes, though Normal Picture mode (or Program auto as it's called on other compacts) provides exposure compensation and lets you set the ISO sensitivity, white balance, and a few other options. The FX78 can shoot full HD 1080i video encoded, as you'd expect, in AVCHD format. We've compared it with two similarly priced models from Canon and Sony, The IXUS 310 HS and Lumix FX78, with a similar range of features, but some stand-out differences too, at an equivalent price.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX78 features:
Ultra-compact body
12-megapixels of resolution
5x optical zoom with 24mm wide view
MEGA O.I.S.
Fast f/2.5 maximum aperture
3.5-inch Touchscreen LCD with Touch AF, Touch Zoom, Touch Shutter, and Touch Playback
Smart Touch technology
Full 1920x1080 (AVCHD) HD video capture
Li-ion battery pack
Available in Black or Sliver

The good: Large 3.5-inch touchscreen LCD; sleek and stylish design; unobstructed access to battery and memory card compartment.

The bad: Touchscreen can be unintuitive for; battery life depletes too quickly.

The bottom line: While smartphone users will find the graphical menu interface easy to master, the FX78 is basically a camera that offers good image quality without comprising on style.