More Panasonic compacts added to line-up

Panasonic LS6
Panasonic has been on a compact camera announcing spree

Panasonic has revealed two more compacts to sit in its compact camera line-up, both featuring 5x optical zoom lenses.

First up, the LS6, which features a 14.1 million pixel sensor, a 26mm wide angle zoom lens, complete with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 and optical image stabiliser.

Aimed squarely at beginners, the LS6 features a range of novice friendly features. Panasonic's own Intelligent Auto system is incorporated, which includes the ability to detect faces and adapt the shooting settings to the scene in front of it.

HD video recording at 720p is available at 30fps, while the camera also comes packaged with PHOTOfunSTUDIO software which allows images and videos to be uploaded directly to social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube.

Leica lens

The second camera, the FX80 boasts a Leica 24mm wide angle lens, with a wide maximum aperture of f/2.5. It comprises of 6 elements in 5 groups with 3 aspherical lenses with 5 aspherical surfaces.

It also comes with Intelligent Auto mode, along with Optical Image Stabiliser for helping to suppress blur, even in low light situations.

Intelligent Zoom is also available on the FX80, which is digital zoom function to boost the zoom by 2x, while promising to minimise the amount of image quality deterioration that is a common problem.

Featuring a 12.1 million pixel CCD sensor, the camera is also equipped with full HD video recording and high speed continuous shooting thanks to a fast Venus Engine FHD imaging processor.

iA mode gives several shooting assist functions including Mega O.I.S, AF Tracking, Intelligent ISO Control, Face Detection, Intelligent Scene Selector and Intelligent Exposure.

Creative Control mode adds a number of digital filters, such as "Retro", "High Dynamic", "Sepia" and "Miniature Effect" amongst others. Beauty Retouch is included to virtually make up human faces, along with Aesthetic Retouch, Foundation and Make-Up Retouch.

Several other features are included, such as panoramic image shooting, USB power shooting and Active Mode.

The Panasonic LS6 UK price has not yet been confirmed, but it will be available in black, silver and pink. The Panasonic FX80 UK price is also not yet known, but it will be available in black only.

Amy Davies

Amy has been writing about cameras, photography and associated tech since 2009. Amy was once part of the photography testing team for Future Publishing working across TechRadar, Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, N Photo and Photography Week. For her photography, she has won awards and has been exhibited. She often partakes in unusual projects - including one intense year where she used a different camera every single day. Amy is currently the Features Editor at Amateur Photographer magazine, and in her increasingly little spare time works across a number of high-profile publications including Wired, Stuff, Digital Camera World, Expert Reviews, and just a little off-tangent, PetsRadar.