Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX40

On the outside it’s just another standard-looking compact camera, available in black, red or silver.

On the inside, however, the Panasonic Lumix FX40, a step up from the company’s FX37 model, is packed full of excellent features.

These include the ability to shoot high-definition video (at a resolution of 720p), a 5x wide-angle zoom lens, 12.1-megapixel resolution for still images, face recognition and subject-tracking auto focus.

The latter ensures that the camera is as adept at taking portraits as landscapes.

Panasonic has gone further by including an extra zoom that boosts the range to a 9.8x, but this does mean that the resolution of the camera drops to a poor three megapixels.

The camera’s processor is said by Panasonic claimed to be over twice as fast and more efficient than the previous version.

Certainly the camera was responsive to the touch and fast to respond to each button press and twist of its shooting mode dial, which is neatly recessed into the top-right-hand corner at the back.

Beginners are well catered-for courtesy of both a clean, unfussy layout and the FX40’s Intelligent Auto mode.

This allows for point-and-shoot operation, in conjunction with the rear 2.5in screen, as the camera is pre-programmed to recognise familiar scenes and subjects and change the settings accordingly.

So, point the FX40 at a flower and it’ll switch to close-up (macro) mode, or faced with an open field it will choose the landscape setting.

Face recognition, which is a bit more of a gimmick but does work, can be programmed by the user to recognise subjects it has seen before.

And, for families with children, registering a baby’s face with the camera will ensure it switches to the optimised baby mode the next time the camera is pointed in the baby’s direction.

Having taken a shot in the standard mode the FX40 took two or three seconds to save it to its memory - either the 40MB internal storage, enough for 40 or so pictures, or an SD or SDHC memory card.

In terms of picture quality, the FX40 delivered pleasingly vivid results under clear blue skies.

Low-light conditions proved more testing, the camera occasionally struggling to find focus or determine which mode to select. We also found its flash poor.