Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FX500, their first 3-inch touch-screen digital camera

Also features a 25mm ultra-wide-angle Leica DC lens, 5x optical zoom
and 10.1 megapixels. The system can be control with both touch-screen
and joystick. The camera can record High Definition video.

"With the FX500's touch-screen operation, we are giving our consumers
a new interface that we think will prove extremely intuitive during
playback, photo organization and of course – helping to take
high-quality photos," said Alex Fried, National Marketing Manager,
Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company.

In playback mode, a new Easy Organization menu allows for photos to be
selected and viewed by scrolling through the thumbnails located below
the main window. Then, users can edit the titles using an on-screen
keyboard.

Another new feature in the FX500 is Auto Focus (AF) tracking, tracks
the photo subject even if it moves after the AF is set – especially
helpful for catching active children or pets.

Key Features
*Intelligent Exposure – Adjusting over/under exposure in photos

*Digital Red-eye Correction– Incorporated into the built-in flash, the
camera emits a small preliminary flash before the main flash, detects
red-eye and digitally corrects it.

*MEGA O.I.S. – Gyro sensors detect hand-shake and the lens system
shifts to compensate, helping to prevent hand-shake from creating a
blurry image.

*Intelligent ISO – Determines if the photo subject is moving and
changes the ISO setting and shutter speed accordingly.

*Intelligent Scene Selector – Senses the ambient conditions,
recognizes the shooting environment and automatically selects the
appropriate scene mode from: Scenery, Portrait, Macro, Night Portrait
or Night Scenery mode.

*Face Detection – Detects faces anywhere in the frame and
automatically chooses the optimal focus and exposure settings so
portraits come out clear and crisp. Detecting up to 15 faces,
Panasonic's Face Detection can even track a face if the subject is
moving.

*Continuous AF – Maintains focus on the subject even without the user
pressing a shutter button halfway, thus minimizing the AF time.

The ability to take 1280 x 720p HD video content and still photos with
a 16:9 aspect ratio, perfect for viewing on an HDTV.

The Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FX500 will be available in black and silver
models for a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $399.95 in May
2008.