Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500, Take me to Switzerland!!!
November 25, 2008
The TV was bawling away in the extra large guest room of Glaernischoff Hotel achicken was blazing beyond recognition in the oven placed beside an old fashioned fireplace. Adrian sat on the couch, feasting on the complimentary fresh fruits delivered to him by the management, also surveying his brand new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 Compact Digital Camera that he had acquired from a store at the Zurich Airport. The slim black camera had aluminum panels with a hairline curve on the front that glistened under the dim light. Seems as if, he wouldn’t even consider the smiling of his lucky stars on him, for his firm's choosing him to represent them in the annual summit to be taken place in Zurich, Switzerland. He was so immersed in the 10.1 Megapixel digital camera. However, he rued not taking his Canon EOS 1000D along with him to this exotic part of the world. The opportunity, how glittering it may be, definitely came in short notice. Anyway, Adrian undoubtedly has 48 odd hours of leisure, before the official sessions commence.
The major features could be easily perceived in this compact digital camera with a built-in slide-show program called Demo mode. The camera unfurled itself before Adrian, as he eyed his duffle bag mischievously. Now that he has a camera, although not as commanding as his EOS 1000D that had made even an amateur like him feel like an experienced photographer, all he needed was a place worth capturing. A postcard fluttered amongst other stationaries on the deressing table, and Adrian picked it up out of curiosity. It was an old picture of the Swiss Alps. That instant, Adrian knew what he was going to do next. The Lumix DMC-FX500 with its Leica DC 5 x Optical Zoom Lens and a large 3.0” LCD with a Touch-Screen Interface, rested modestly inside Adrian’s duffle, all geared up for a photographic expedition to the land of mountains, pastures and rolling hills, the land where one can taste Italy, France and Germany all in a single package – Switzerland.
Zürich was the easiest place to reach by plane in Switzerland. With Christmas round the corner, Zürich seemed all set to welcome the most awaited day of the year. Out in the streets, Adrian immediately pulled out his Lumix DMC-FX500. He shot everything that he could see- kids, pets and people, for everyone seemed in such good cheer. The Auto focus (AF) tracking mode came as a pleasant surprise; for it enabled tracking the subjects even after the Auto focus was set. The quality of the pictures stunned him and Adrian felt the spirit of Christmas enter him too. As the sun was slipping away into the horizon, Adrian started fancying the scopes of night photography in this part, because he had heard a lot about the nightlife of Zürich. The city came alive with its numerous clubs and Adrian decided to spent some time in the Mascotte, one of the oldest clubs in the city. With his compact camera tucked into his pocket, Adrian did not miss out capturing the rapturous mood around him. It came with the facility to record video clips for 15 minutes and Adrian simply wished it was longer.
Adrian’s smooth dance moves attracted attention and he made so many new friends and was even invited for a party in the Elm ski resort the next day, which he accepted all too eagerly. The IA (Intelligent Auto) mode took off all the responsibility from Adrian, as he left all the settings to the camera's discretions. All he had to do was touch the screen and the auto focus and exposure were set perfectly. If he experimented with something here, it was with the flash of the DMC-FX500. He shot some pictures to compare them with regular con-flash ones. On his way back to his hotel room, he never forgot to conceive the golden glow of a few grand buildings basking beneath the equally glowing Swiss night sky. He tweaked the White Balance mode of his compact beauty to Preset Night to capture the grandeur. He also shot some of the same images in Twilight Scene Mode to see if he could spoof his intelligent gadget to squeeze out some better images. However, the he did not practically get anything worth mentioning out of this experimentation.
The Elm ski resort was just an hour drive from the airport. It was the prefect place and time for a beginner like him. He contemplated, musing over the overcast conditions that the 'Snow' White Balance Preset mode would come handy sooner than later. His friends from the club were already there, all geared up. The Swiss ski resort of Elm had direct access to 35km of downhill skiing, and Adrian had the time of his life. Since, the touch screen of his camera featured a high-resolution Intelligent LCD, which automatically controls the brightness at a total of 11 fine steps by detecting the surrounding lighting condition, the irresistible snow cover was captured with precision. Adrian took some memorable shots there with his friends and the Advanced Intelligent Auto Mode gave him various shooting-assist functions. The Intelligent Scene Selector set the appropriate scene mode by automatically selecting it from the most frequently used scene modes, such as Portrait, Scenery, Macro, Night Portrait and Night Scenery. It was an unforgettable day and Adrian knew it was more so, because of his Lumix DMC-FX500.
Adrian bid farewell to his friends and spent the next day strolling around Zürich, which housed more than 50 museums, out of which many were devoted to art. He visited the Rietberg Museum and admired the display of some non-European artforms from places, such as Africa, India and China. The famous Swiss National Museum was nothing less than a goldmine for a photographer, and Adrian got a good chance to experiment High-Speed Burst shooting mode, with which he shot about 6 shots per second and the Macro Focus mode that helped him conceive the tiniest of niceties exhibited. The day wore on but the DMC-FX500 did not, for Adrian shot the magnificent museums without using a flash, thanks to the some optimum ISO standards and the DMW-BCE 10 Li-Ion battery. The next day, Adrian left for Brig, keen for a walk through the Alpine passes. He first visited the famous Stockalper Palace, which the local people spoke of with pride. He learnt that the ancient building was built in the 17th century by Kaspar Stockalper. The slim camera assured minimal distortion even at its 25mm wide end, as Adrian shot the palace from various angles, and was delighted at the output.
Just beyond the city gates was the Simplon Pass, through which Napoleon built a road in the 19th century to move his armies. The pristine Alpine breeze played across his face and Adrian was awed at the incredible might of nature around him. He settled in a cozy inn and shopped in the baroque Bahnhofstrasse. He found his pockets emptying faster than he could imagine but he didn’t mind, for he wouldn’t leave Switzerland without a Rolex and an original Swiss army knife. Adrian spent the night peacefully in an inn, where he enjoyed watching all of the still and motion pictures in stunning HD quality taken by his DMC-FX500 by connecting the camera to the TV via an optional component cable (DMW-HDC2). He laughed his head off, watching the antiques of his friends at the ski resort. He even added names and dates to his pictures using the Title Edit function. He explored the camera further and admired the Hybrid Control System that combines joystick control with touch-screen operation. Adrian slept peacefully that night, after feasting on a slab of splendid Swiss chocolate.
December 6th is an important day for the Swiss, for it explained the feast of St. Nicholas. Adrian spent the day among school children in Glarnerland who paraded through the village, ringing and jingling bells of all sizes signaling that a gift was expected. Adrian captured the brilliance of the parade splendidly with his camera. A trip to Switzerland would be incomplete without a trip to the Alps. After a fairy-tale train journey up the mountains, Adrian discovered that when the picture size was set to 3 Megapixels or larger, the photo is automatically resized to 3 Megapixels and was delighted to capture the Alpine magnificence. After a short trek up a slope, which Adrian managed with difficulty, gasping for breath, he cursed himself for climbing up that high instead of dozing off in the inn. But, a single breath of air changed his mind. When he looked around, he realized he had strolled off into a haven of rolls and rolls of flowers nodding softly in the wind. He felt ecstatic and switched his camera to High-Speed Burst shooting mode and shot till his memory card was full.
He laid on the green pastures and spread his arms wide, his eyes feasting in the green brilliance before him, with his DMC-FX500 placed on his chest. Suddenly, Adrian thought he saw a little girl hopping towards him from the snow-capped peak, a herd of goats at her heel and a goat-herd running behind her calling ‘Heidi! Heidi!’ He grabbed his camera in an instinct and laughed on the illusion– if only the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 10MP Digital Camera could capture his imagination too!!!
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