Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500

We love all technology at CNET, but we get extra-excited when a gadget stands out as much as this little fella. I'm Richard Trenholm of CNET.co.uk, and this is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500. It's a 10.1-megapixel point-and-shoot snapper, and there's a lot going on under this fetching brushed aluminium face. It comes in cherry red as well as this silver version, and although the boxy, flat, front is a fairly vanilla bit of styling, the back is a much sleeker affair. It's plastic, yes, but it's glossy black plastic, and it looks rather cool. The controls are here on the right, with Panasonic's usual quick menu button giving you access to commonly-used shooting functions. Above it is a mini-joystick, which we have to say takes a bit of getting used to. It's quite responsive, but it's also just a bit too recessed into the frame for my thumb, so you might want to try it out in the shop. Now if you're wondering why the screen is so mucky, it's because other options are controlled by a touchscreen. But our favourite feature involving the the touchscreen is the option to set manual exposure by moving handy sliders. Simply slide your finger -- or the provided stylus -- up and down to change aperture, or side-to-side to alter shutter speed. Clever stuff. The touchscreen isn't the only feature that deserves mention, though: the FX500 also sports a 25mm wide angle lens, which is one of the widest in the compact market. This means you get more into your images. Among the wealth of other features are a 60 second long shutter, for interesting pictures at night, an impressive 5x optical zoom, and Panasonic's proven optical image stabilisation system. It also shoots high definition video. What more could you ask for in a compact? I'm Richard Trenholm of CNET.co.uk, and this is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500.