There are a number of factors to take into account when choosing a digital camera. Price is important, and so is the quality of the results. But you’ve also got to enjoy using it, and it’s this factor which can easily get overlooked.

And while Lumix DMC-LC40 is refreshingly chunky in a market populated increasingly by sub-miniature cameras, it still manages to be a bit of a fiddle to use. The handgrip’s not quite big enough and, as with the Nikon Coolpix 4300, you find your fingernails scrunched against the lens barrel.

The main mode dial is simple enough, though, and offers fast access to the principle shooting modes, but you can’t help feeling that if a couple of options had been dropped to make space for the playback and continuous shooting modes, you wouldn’t need the extra rotating collar mounted underneath.

Things don’t get much better on the back. On a camera this size, there’s no obvious reason why the buttons should be so small and heavy, and the first time you use the navipad and menu system, you think there’s something wrong with it. The navipad itself is very dead-feeling and unresponsive, while the menus respond with a sluggishness that makes you press the pad repeatedly because you think it hasn’t registered properly However, there was nothing wrong with our camera.

While we’re in moaning mode, there’s that novelty pop-up flash. Lots of other cameras have pop-up flashes too, and there’s nothing wrong with them. But on other cameras, the flash pops up automatically when you need it. Not here. On the LC-40 the flash isn’t going to fire unless you manually slide the switch on the side of the body. And once it’s up, there’s no switching it off until you click it shut again. You’ll get used to this way of working soon enough, but it’s a quirk which just seems a bit odd and unnecessary.

Lumix DMC-LC40 Features and results

Handling is a subjective thing, and there may be many who love the LC-40’s looks and controls. In any event, there’s no arguing over its raw specifications. In particular, you get a very good lens for the money. The 3x zooming range is ordinary enough, but the f2-2.5 maximum aperture isn’t.

Shots are very crisp-looking, if a little granular when viewed close up. We doubt you’ll find a 4-megapixel digital camera which gives you significantly crisper results than this, and while the exposure system is inclined towards underexposure now and again, this will at least cut down on the incidence of blown out highlights – a general problem with digital cameras.

With its selection of scene modes (Macro, Portrait, Lanscape, Sports, Night shots) and its addition of aperture-priority and shutter-priority automation to the standard programmed AE mode, the LC-40 is well-enough specified to give the more expensive LC-5 a run for its money. There’s no full manual mode, and you don’t get the LC-5’s colossal 2.5-inch LCD, but you do get auto-bracketing (over three or five shots), white balance control (ahem), a movie mode and everything else you’re likely to need.

The LC-40’s pretty soundly made, it has a removable lens collar so that you can add telephoto and wideangle converters, and it does all this at a price that undercuts that of most serious rivals.

If you’re looking at chunky 4-megapixel cameras with lots of photographic tools aimed at serious users, you’d also be looking at the LC-5 or Canon’s PowerShot G2. You won’t necessarily see any improvement in image quality with these more expensive rivals, but you will find them easier and better to use. In this respect they have the edge over the Lumix DMC-LC40 – whose controls will annoy some users despite the quality of its prints.

These advanced features include a 4fps burst mode, which can record up to seven frames at the camera’s maximum resolution, which is impressive in a digital camera, especially a modestly-priced pocket-sized model like this one.

There’s an image stabiliser mechanism, too, which should cut down on camera shake with longer telephoto settings and in low light levels. On the downside, you only get a 16MB SD card to store your shots on (32MB or more is better for a 4-megapixel camera), and the ISO range is lower than the average at 50-200.

The neat rectangular styling is coupled with a satin metal finish on the front is very smart, but round the back things look a little messier and slightly less expensive feeling.

You power up via a small but positive switch on the top plate. Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX5 is a snappy performer, and ready to shoot in just one second. The LCD is good, and works well in both bright, outdoor lighting and under dim, tungsten light indoors. There’s an optical viewfinder, too, but it’s small and you’re far more likely to use the LCD to compose your shots.

By pressing the Display button next to the LCD’s top right-hand corner, you can activate a real-time image histogram, display compositional guides or switch off all image information leaving only a clear, unobstructed view of the scene in front of the camera.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX5 Speed of responses

The AF system isn’t the quickest, taking between half a second and a second to focus, depending on the zoom setting and the lighting conditions, it locks on with a clearly audible beep, though, and there’s very little hunting – it’s decisive, even if it isn’t that fast.

The zoom action could be quicker: it takes almost three seconds to zoom from one end of the range to the other, but there are eight intermediate positions in between, so it’s possible to ‘nudge’ the zoom with some accuracy to get the framing just how you want it.

The main mode dial is small but clearly laid out, with settings for program AF shooting and the camera’s various scene modes: macro, portrait, landscape, night portrait and self-portrait mode. There are also settings for playback mode, movies and a ’simple’ mode for outright beginners, in the centre of the mode dial is a button for cycling through the camera’s sequence-shooting modes. A neat bit of design means it’s easy to turn the knurled rim of the mode dial with your thumb while you’re holding the camera.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX5 controls

Below the mode dial is the camera’s navigational controller. This is a single-piece pad you can push up, down, left and right. Normally, these are vague and sloppy, but the Panasonic’s is very good indeed. The movement is short but positive, and it’s just as good – for once – as separate buttons.

Its features and performance aren’t exceptional, but it goes about its work in a pleasing, businesslike way. What’s more, it offers shortcuts to various shooting options while you’re taking pictures. Press up once to activate the EV compensation option, and then up again to set the camera’s autobracket feature; press left to activate the self-timer, with its choice of 2-second or 10-second delays; press right to cycle between the various flash modes; and press down to activate the quick review mode, which displays the last shot taken.

The quality of the navipad is a big bonus when you navigate the camera menus, though these are a little confusing at first. Each option, when selected, expands in size and displaces the others. It’s a bit disorientating at first, though straightforward enough once you’ve got the hang of it. You need the menus to change the white-balance setting, picture size and quality, activate the spot-metering mode and change the ISO. You can adjust the action of the camera’s image stabiliser mechanism, though something must have been lost in the manual’s English translation because the difference between the modes isn’t clear.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX5 Picture quality

Is there a price to pay in image quality when you buy a camera this small and neat? At first, it doesn’t look like it. Fine detail rendition is very good, and there’s little sign of the edge ‘halos’ and digital noise that signify aggressive in-camera sharpening.

However, it does tend to underexpose outdoor shots with bright overcast skies. All digital cameras do this, but the Panasonic seems worse than most. The classic solution is to point the camera slightiy downward to exclude most of the sky, half-press the shutter button to ‘lock’ the exposure, then reframe and shoot.

Indoors, the flash performance seems weak. Available light shots taken in dim lighting seem to come out rather dark, too. And while it’s generally accurate, the white balance can throw up the odd surprise.

Although Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX5 is a neat, well made and intelligently designed digital camera, its features and performance aren’t exceptional, but it goes about its work in a pleasing, businesslike way. The controls, layout and quality of finish lend it a superior feel to most of its rivals. On paper, it’s unremarkable – you have to use it to begin to appreciate it.