Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80 review

Image quality
Besides its sluggish performance, the LS80 also produces generally disappointing pictures, save one notable quality. The camera produces remarkably accurate colours that tend to appear neutral, even in awkward lighting, thanks to an effective automatic white-balance system.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Time to first shot

Shutter lag (typical)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W55

1.4

1.3

0.5

Canon PowerShot A470

1.4

2.1

0.5

Canon PowerShot A590 IS

2.3

1.8

0.5

Samsung S850

2.1

2.1

0.5

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80

2.2

3.2

0.7

Unfortunately, besides colour, the LS80's pictures simply don't look very good. Photos taken at the camera's widest angle suffer from considerable barrel distortion and vignetting -- the darkening of corners in a picture. Noise and artefacts damage picture quality, even at lower ISO settings.

Grain appears even at ISO 100, the camera's lowest sensitivity setting. By ISO 400, heavier noise, and Panasonic's attempt to suppress it, obscures or outright ruins text, hair and other fine details. Strong colour reproduction is a nice touch, but it can't make up for the LS80's myriad other picture problems.

Conclusion
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80 distinguishes itself as one of the least expensive cameras available with an optical image stabilisation system. Unfortunately, while that feature is handy, it simply can't make up for the camera's sluggish performance and poor picture quality.

If you're looking for an affordable budget camera, forego the LS80's image stabilisation and instead look to the Canon PowerShot A470. It doesn't include optical or mechanical image stabilisation, but it shoots faster and produces much nicer-looking photos.

Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday