[Closed] Lumix DMC-FT2 - any good?

Daughter is on her 3rd Lumix and loves em.Takes nice pics. Current one is the "small" dslr and is a lovely bit of kit. Gets rattled about in her handbag on it`s daily trips to work/school and grandson (4)can take cracking pics to

I've not tried it but I have a waterproof camera which is brilliant for biking/skiing/sailing/etc and I have a Lumix which takes brilliant pictures. If I was in the market for a new camera the DMC would be on my shortlist.

Ed oxley uses one for his "Great Rock" MTb training videos I think.

I've got one... love it!

takes really nice pictures, with lovely bright colours... the hd video is good too, but I've not used it for much more than the novelty (it stores them in a funny format which I had to find a converter for - not difficult).

durability and waterproof wise, I haven't dropped it far yet, few centimetres at most, but I have used it underwater (hot tub 😉 and river) and got it coated in mud (washed under tap, feels very bizarre) lots of times.

Just got back from 2 weeks in scotland, it lived in my jersey pocket, with no need for a case - meant I took lots of pictures, because there was no faff with getting it out and taking pictures quickly. Charged it once while I was away.

I also used it snowboarding this year, again straight in the pocket, no case.. felt confident enough of the waterproofing and shockproofing that I was taking films of people while riding along; wasn't worried about dropping it or burying it in snow.

Any specific questions, just ask.

Dave

Cheers Guys. Dave, sounds like it's good in the cold & wet then 🙂 - just the sort of thing I'm after. You might be able to help me on a couple of specifics. I normally just use pre-set 'scene modes' to take landscapes or fast moving biking shots. Are the sports and landscape modes easy to access, or do you have to go into menus etc.?

(From the picture I've seen, it looks like the sports setting is on the 'menu dial' ...er...or whatever they call it.)

the dial is very easy to choose modes on, it has sports like you said, plus a 'scene' setting which pops up an additional menu to choose which 'scene' you want (this includes landscape).

I have found that the intelligent auto mode is very good for most cases, and it is this that I find myself using most of the time... it detects faces or horizons and lighting conditions then shows you an icon of which 'scene' it is going to take the picture as... it is pretty good at guessing! It also has fancy stuff such as autofocus tracking and the like, which I rarely use because I want to point and shoot then get on with my ride.

All the controls are quite easy to use with gloves, except possibly the power button, but there is a knack to this which you'll get the hang of quickly.

If I have one complaint about the camera it is that the mode dial moves a bit too easily... taking it in and out of a jersey pocket, it inevitably moves, and you have to check that it is on the mode you want it to be on... easily remedied and I don't see a way they could have got around it while still leaving it easy to use in gloves.

Dave

Thanks for getting back to me Dave.

Crikey, the intelligent auto sounds fantastic. Get the feeling the technology has moved on just a wee bit since I bought my current compact (about 7 or 8 years ago). There's so much choice now, I didn't want to make an expensive mistake.

I've got a Digi SLR that I tend to use for work stuff only, 'cos it's such a PITA to cart around when travelling or biking etc. I get a bit worried about it getting damaged aswell. Also, as I've got older, I've become much lazier with non-work photos - hence wanting something tough & weatherproof that I can just point & shoot with minimal faff, whilst still getting reasonable image quality. From what you've said and the reviews I've read, it sounds the perfect camera.

Cheers.