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Panasonic FX35 Performance


Timing and Performance

Good to average speed for a consumer camera.

Startup/Shutdown

Power on
to first shot

 2.9 seconds

Time it takes for LCD to turn on and lens to deploy and take a picture.

Shutdown

 1.3 seconds

How long it takes to retract lens.

Buffer clearing time

 2 seconds
(1 second buffer clearing in LF JPEG)

Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared.

Startup time is average, but shutdown is better than average.

 

Mode Switching

Play to Record,
first shot

 0.5 second

Time until first shot is captured.

Record to play

 0.8 second

Time to display a large/fine file immediately after capture.

Display
recorded image

 1.3 seconds

Time to display a large/fine file already on the memory card.

Mode switching times are faster than average.

 

Shutter Response (Lag Time)

Full Autofocus Wide

 0.93 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position.

Full Autofocus Tele

 0.99 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position.

Full Autofocus,
Flash Enabled

 1.14 seconds

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position, flash enabled.

Prefocused

 0.008 second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

Shutter response is on the slower side average at both wide angle and telephoto, but "prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in a lag time of only 0.008 second, which is impressive.

 

Cycle Time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode
Large Fine JPEG
 1.93 seconds

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.

Single Shot mode
640x480 Normal JPEG

 1.84 seconds

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.

Early shutter
penalty?

 Yes

Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.

Continuous mode
Large Fine JPEG

 0.54 second (1.87 frames per second);
3 frames total;
1 second to clear

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.

Continuous mode
Large Fine JPEG
Burst Unlimited

 0.95 second (1.06 frames per second);
>20 frames total;
2 seconds to clear

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.

Continuous mode
640x480 Normal JPEG

 0.40 second (2.48 frames per second);
5 frames total;
0.5 second to clear

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.

Continuous mode
640x480 JPEG
Burst Unlimited

 0.53 second (1.87 frames per second);
>20 frames total;
0.5 second to clear

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.

Flash recycling

 6 seconds

Flash at maximum output.

*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a Kingston Ultimate 133x SD memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity also affects cycle times and burst mode performance, with higher ISOs generally increasing cycle times and reducing burst performance.

Shot-to-shot cycle times are about average, at about 1.93 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, though the camera does capture frames continuously at this rate. (That is, given a fast enough memory card, it doesn't have to pause every few frames to wait for the card to catch up.) The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 performs well in its normal Continuous modes, capturing three large/fine frames at 1.87 frames per second before slowing down. Switching to Burst Unlimited mode slows down the frame rate to 1.06 frames per second, but it was able to capture over 20 frames at that rate. The flash takes 6 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is about average.

 

Download Speed

Windows Computer, USB 2.0

 2,689 KBytes/sec

Typical Values:
Less than 600=USB 1.1;
600-769=USB 2.0 Low;
Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are pretty good.

Overall, the DMC-FX35 is a responsive camera, with good to better than average timings. It should handle most situations well, and should even handle action shots fairly well.

Battery and Storage Capacity

Battery
Slightly above average battery life for a lithium-ion design.

Operating Mode Number of Shots
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery,
(CIPA standard)
290

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Although battery life is above average, we recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on either a fresh set of disposable batteries or a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 accepts SDHC/SD/MMC memory cards, and includes about 50MB of internal memory.

Image Capacity with
50MB Internal Memory		 Fine Normal
3,648 x 2,736
Images
9
19
File Size
5.1 MB
2.6 MB
3,072 x 2,304
Images
13
27
File Size
3.6 MB
1.8 MB
2,560 x 1,920
Images
19
38
File Size
2.5 MB
1.3 MB
2,048 x 1,536
Images
30
59
File Size
1.6 MB
843 KB
1,600 x 1,200
Images
48
91
File Size
1.0 MB
546 KB
640 x 480
Images
232
378
File Size
215 KB
132 KB

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SDHC or SD memory card at least a 1GB card, preferably a 4GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings and video. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)

 

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