The camera (available in silver or black) is 3.8 inches wide by 2.1 inches high by 1 inch thick and weighs 6.2 ounces with battery and SD/SDHC card–definitely small enough for a pants pocket, though just sliding under our thickness criterion for an ultracompact. On top sits a power switch, shutter release surrounded by a zoom ring, and a button for Panasonic’s Extra Optical Zoom feature. A single press of the E.Zoom button fully extends the wide-angle 3.6x f2.8-5.6 28-100mm lens. Press it again and it increases the optical zoom power to 7.7x, but drops the resolution to 3 megapixels. A third press brings the lens all the way back. The quick-zoom aspect of this button is nice, but the “extra optical zoom” is digital trickery.

In addition to its 14.7 megapixel 1/1.72 inch CCD image sensor, the FX150 also features a relatively fast (f/2.8) 3.6x Leica DC Vario-Elmarit zoom that starts at the equivalent of 28mm, a 2.7 inch LCD, and Mega O.I.S. image stabilization.

Basic shooting modes include an Intelligent Auto setting, plus manual exposure control and a wide-ranging list of scene modes. Auto bracketing, a live histogram, 720p HD video recording, an 11-point AF system with Face Detection, manual white balance, and a high-sensitivity ISO mode are also included, as are claimed 2.5 fps burst shooting and very good battery life.

DMC-FX150 Major Features:

• 14.7-megapixel imager with 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 aspect ratios
• 3.6x Leica zoom lens, equivalent to 28-100mm on a 35mm camera
• Optical image stabilization to prevent camera shake and blurring
• RAW and JPEG still image modes
• 11-point AF system with Face detection technology
• 2.7-inch TFT color LCD with High Angle mode and 100% frame coverage
• Intelligent Auto, Program, Manual and 25 scene modes
• ISO Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600; High Sensitivity Mode (1600 – 6400)
• 2.5fps Burst mode (Max 4 JPEG Fine images, 3 RAW)
• QuickTime movies in either standard (640×480/320×240) or wide (1280×720/848×480) aspects
• Built-in flash with auto, fill, slow synchro and red-eye reduction modes
• TTL Auto White Balance, 5 presets and custom set
• 50MB of internal flash memory
• Card slot supports SD/SDHC/MMC card storage
• Plug-n-Play USB, Mass Storage compliant
• PictBridge Direct-Print compatible
• Powered by rechargeable Li-ion battery