There is a reason behind the above mentioned title: The king of Compacts. Read on:


Panasonic has introduced its first compact camera with an advanced hybrid control system of both touch-screen and joystick control; the FX-500 and boy, is it to crave for! Check out the following specs that I have obtained from their official website:
"Perfect premium stylish &amp; slim DSC with Ultra wide angle 25mm Leica DC lens and 3.0? Intelligent touch-panel LCDThe new 10.1-megapixel DMC-FX500 features a 25mm ultra-wide angle Leica DC lens with 5x optical zoom. Touch-screen operation on a large, 3.0-inch LCD brings new enjoyment to the digital photography and enables easy manual operation, which is another first for the FX series. A variety of advanced functions, including Intelligent Auto mode, HD motion picture recording and HD component output, and slideshows complete with music, also enrich the camera?s potential and user experience.The newly developed Leica DC lens with 5x optical zoom boasts a 25mm ultra-wide angle of view that captures almost double the recording area at the same shooting distance compared with a conventional 35mm lens.For more intuitive operation, the DMC-FX500 has a hybrid control system that combines joystick control with touch-screen operation. Basic settings can be directly controlled by the joystick, and others extensive ones are finely adjusted by touch or by moving a slider on the screen with the finger or an included stylus-pen.Auto focus (AF) tracking is also new with the DMC-FX500. It continues tracking the subject even if it moves after the AF is set, which is especially helpful for catching active children or pets.The iA (Intelligent Auto) mode is a helpful shooting assist function that lets the user leave all the settings to the camera. Taking maximum advantage of this iA mode, users can go a step further to set auto focus and exposure on the desired subject by simply touching it on the screen. This kind of quick, easy rational operation is given form by the new touch-screen interface."


OMG! HD VIDEO! YES, THE FIRST COMPACT CAMERA TO RECORD VIDEOS IN HIGH DEFINITION! Not excited yet? How about 25mm wide angle, hybrid touch screen control system (3 in), intelligent Auto mode, superior image quality, and oh I forgot to figure this in:


"An amazing shutter lag of as short as 0.005 seconds and 2.5 frames per second at full resolution while face detection and an automatic scene mode selector are also included!" Need I go on?


The camera will retail at a reasonable price of 400$ (I was waiting for it to be released here in the UAE (so far 2 months) as I eagerly kept calling Panasonic?s showrooms asking them about release dates every now and then. But now I have some great news for you everybody: - last time I called Panasonic, they claimed it will most probably hit the UAE?s markets on June 10th. YAY!


This is why I gave it the prestigious rank of "king of compacts" for this year. The Fx-500's superiority in quality, performance and value all add up to make anyone drool over! So Sony, you can kiss my backside goodbye; your ugly Cyber shots are unreasonably expensive. Hell, they are not even comparable to Pany's amazing specs!


So guys and gals, I strongly recommend that you get this cool Camera. Thank god I saved Retro at the last minute as he was about to hastily buy that Sony 12 MP camera... Actually, I am really excited as we are both going to get our cameras next month inshallah! Yay!
I can't wait to start taking High quality pics and HD VIDEOS!