Intelligent Auto Mode Makes Your Camera Smarter

The Promise

Just last year dozens of scene modes seemed to be requisite for a digital camera to stand out on the shelf. Now, less is more, thanks to a crop of digicams with smarter Auto modes. This technology, found in Kodak, Panasonic, and Sony cameras, detects your environment and adjusts the camera’s settings accordingly, choosing the most appropriate scene mode. That means you can spend more time taking pictures, and less time scrolling through menus.

The Gear

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 ($399) has 10.1 megapixels, a 5X optical zoom, a 3-inch touch screen, and Intelligent Auto Mode, which adapts to new environments using face detection, optical image stabilization, and automatic ISO. Intelligent Auto Mode is enabled by default, but you can manually select scenes by pressing the dedicated Mode button, highlighting Scene mode, and using the joystick to scroll through your choices. It corresponds with five scene modes: Scenery, Portrait, Macro, Night Portrait, and Night Scenery.

The Method

To test how accurately the FX500 gauges—and compensates for—different shooting conditions, we took identical shots in Auto Mode with the Samsung NV24HD ($399), a 10.2-megapixel shooter with 3.6X optical zoom, dual image stabiliation (optical and digital), face detection, smile shot, and blink detection.

Intelligent Auto Mode Makes Your Camera Smarter