New to Panasonic's LUMIX FX series is the FX700, which packs a truck load of advanced features into a slim and stylish body.

The Panasonic Lumix FX700 is a great looking compact; slim, stylish and uncluttered - it looks expensive. Incredibly well made and designed, it feels great in the hands too. Could this be the best compact we've seen this year?

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More on Panasonic:
Panasonic Lumix FZ100 review
Panasonic Lumix G2 review
Panasonic TZ8 review

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One top controls are limited to on/off, the zoom and a dedicated movie button and the back hosts record/play, Mode and menu, all are intuitively placed.

Panasonic Lumix FX700: Ease of use

Headline features are 14.1 megapixel resolution, a f/2.2 24mm wide-angle Leica lens with 5x zoom: superb quality and ultra bright; excellent HD movie recording and high speed consecutive shooting of 10 frames per second at full resolution.

Although it's a feature-packed compact, Panasonic has done a good job in making the Lumix FX700 easy to use. The menu system is excellent; clear and easy to navigate. The full touch control on the 230k dot 3-inch LCD works a treat and isn't at all clunky, like it is on some compacts. Our only quibble is that because of the streamlined button design you might get a little bored of menu delving / taping to change settings.

Panasonic Lumix -FX700: Features

Serious photographers looking for good quality compact camera with full manual shutter and aperture control will appreciate the Panasonic Lumix -FX700, as will less experienced snappers. Intelligent Auto Mode optimises all settings to suit the scene and makes taking a duff photo difficult. Other features to make life easier include: Motion Deblur mode, Optical Image Stabiliser, Intelligent ISO control, AF tracking, Face Recognition and Intelligent Burst mode which cleverly alters your frame rate to match the motion.

With its high speed shooting, Intelligent Burst mode and effective image stabilisation the FX700 would make a great camera for sports fans, as well as those who want a general-use high quality, feature-packed compact.

Panasonic Lumix -FX700: Picture Quality

The Panasonic Lumix -FX700 produces great quality photographs; you'll be impressed. All of our test shots were sharp with natural, but with punchy looking colours. The automatic modes all do a good job in terms of doing what they say on the can, making it easier to get the shots than more basic models. All-in-all a high quality compact, with features to suit all users.

The Panasonic Lumix FX700 is out now, find out more from Panasonic

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SPECIFICATIONS
Sensor: 14.1 MP MOS
Lens: f/2.2 Leica 5x optical zoom 24-120mm
Screen (size and res): 3-inch, 230k dots
Stabilsation (type): Optical Image Stabiliser
Video: 1920x1080 HD movies in AVCHD
Storage (card and internal): 40MB and SD card slot.
Connections: HDMI, USB 2.0, AV out
Battery life: Approx 300 shots
Weight/size: 104x56x25mm, 176g (total)

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