FX01, A Retrospective Look

It’s really too bad that there is no way to know how a camera or other electronic device will work out until you’ve long since bought it. But now and then one gets lucky. The subject of this post, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01, is a case in point. The FX01 was given to me by my wife Lisa, as I was preparing to ride my motorcycle across the continent and back in August 2006.

In the photo above is the Kodak DC 3400 on the right, and the camera that replaced it, the FX01. Note the size difference between the two cameras. The Kodak was a 2MP digital camera, and built like a brick to take abuse. It also handled like a brick. And there was no way to consider it a “pocket” camera. But it fit in the glove compartment of the truck and in the saddlebag. The FX01 was truly a pocket camera. It easily fit into a jacket pocket, and weighed nearly nothing, so it was rarely out of my reach. I have captured over 26,000 frames with it without major problems of any kind. I recently found “ghosts” on the photos and thought the sensor might be going south. It turned out to be a dirty lens – the first time I’ve had to clean it in four years.

The Menu system (shown above) is simple. My two grandchildren mastered the menus (and all other controls) on this camera between the ages of 2 and 4 years. The secret to that was simple. I let them take photos with it, and only showed them features when asked. This is not a testament to the beating it took at the hands of toddlers, since both children were oddly careful with the camera. But it did take a beating in my pockets, in my backback, and in the motorcycle's saddlebags.

There was little control with this 6MP consumer point-and-shoot camera, but a tripod helped. Also helpful was the exposure compensation control shown in the photo above.

In all, the FX01 I have is still running strong (and with a cleaner lens) after several succeeding generations of digital pocket cameras have passed it by technologically. And it can still capture a good image. Now that’s something. My experience with the longevity of digital cameras has been good, so far. It is quite unlike my experience with CD/DVD players, which seem to need to be replaced as often as boxes of Kleenex...