Designed for active use, the FT1 is 3.0 meters waterproof, 1.5 meters shockproof and dust-proof. It is the ideal camera for shooting beautiful pictures and movies in the pool or ocean. Swim along with tropical fish and capture shots of a beautiful coral reef, or get action footage of a friend snorkeling. Protected against sand, you can take it to the beach with no worries. FT1's fortified outer body casing and intermediate resin chassis protects it from short falls, making it perfect for work and hiking trips.

FT1 records HD movies (1280 x 720-pixels) in AVCHD Lite, which lets you shoot beautiful HD video with almost twice the recording time compared to the conventional Motion JPEG. Optical zoom can be used when shooting motion images. FT1 is also the world's first compact camera to feature Dolby® Digital Creator, which records dynamic, true-to-life audio that brings out the power of the HD video. The wind cut function minimises distracting sound from the background during audio recording.

iA (Intelligent Auto) Mode makes it easy for anyone to take beautiful recordings. Photo iA Mode controls MEGA O.I.S., Intelligent ISO Control, Intelligent Scene Selector, Face Recognition, Intelligent Exposure and AF Tracking. The new Face Recognition function memorises faces automatically and works to optimise both focus and exposure settings by prioritising on the registered person’s face. Movie iA is also available, controlling MEGA O.I.S., Intelligent Scene Selector, Face Detection AF/AE, and Intelligent Exposure.

The 12.1-megapixel high-resolution DMC-FT1 features a 28mm wide-angle 4.6x optical zoom LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR lens (35mm film camera equivalent: 28-128mm). This gives you the flexibility for virtually any shooting situation – even underwater, where your movement is restricted and the angle of view becomes especially important for composing your picture.

The FT1's 2.7-inch LCD features a high 230,000-dot resolution, and a wide-viewing angle that lets you frame your shot in a variety of ways for both shooting and viewing. LUMIX's acclaimed Intelligent LCD function also automatically adjusts the brightness in 11 steps according to shooting conditions. This LCD provides sharp, clear images in virtually all shooting situations, ranging from nighttime to bright daylight, or even underwater scenes and from low-angle to high-angle shooting.

The Venus Engine HD, with its twin CPUs, has exceptional processing capabilities and low power consumption, enabling both HDMI support and HD movie recording in AVCHD Lite. It features effective noise reduction even at high ISO sensitivity levels. Connect to a Panasonic VIERA via an optional HDMI mini-cable, and use VIERA Link to run mixed slideshows of still and motion pictures. Or, insert your SDHC/SD Memory Card into an HDTV equipped with VIERA Image Viewer (SD Card slot) to playback pictures and movies. *must be recorded in AVCHD Lite