The crops are taken from the original images, saved as High Quality JPEGs in Photoshop CS2 and presented here at 100%. Each number represents 100 lines per picture height (lpph), so a figure of 20 means a resolution of 2000 lpph.

In terms of resolving power, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 delivers 2100 and 2150 lpph of horizontal and vertical resolution respectively. It may share the same sensor as the FX35, but we’d say it has a very slight edge over the slim Lumix in this test – you’d be unlikely to tell much difference in real-life though.

We’ve also included results from the two highest resolution compacts we’ve yet tested – the Fujifilm FinePix F50fd and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W200, both of which sport 12 Megapixels.

Resolution is of course only one part of the image quality equation, with noise and processing playing a major role. So now let’s look at how the camera handles different sensitivities in our FX500 noise results.