Review Date: May 3, 2011
Category: Beginner Amateur
Panasonic ZS10 / TZ20
Photoxels Silver Award – Compact Superzoom
USER’s EXPERIENCE
Monday, March 31, 2011 – Here’s what I receive in the box:
- Panasonic ZS10 (red body)
- No memory card
- Wrist Strap
- Stylus Pen
- Rechargeable Li-ion Battery BMW-BCG10PP 3.6V 895mAh 3.3Wh
- Battery Charger DE-A65
- Interface Cables: USB, A/V (A/V cable may not be included outside of N.A.)
- English and French Instruction Manuals: Basic Owner’s Manual
- Software CD: Digital Camera 2.4 (PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.1 HD Lite Edition, Super LoiLoScope (for video editing), [Advanced] Owner’s Manual (English, French, Portuguese, Spanish)
How do you build a better ultra zoom? By giving it better Full HD video, GPS capability, faster continuous shooting at 10fps, touch screen LCD, longer 16x optical zoom and slow motion video. That’s a lot of features to squeeze into a compact pocketable camera, making the ZS10 / TZ20 ideal as a travel companion!
To enable all these features, the ZS10 / TZ20 switches from a CCD to a MOS sensor. This accounts for the higher resolution video, absence of vertical streaks when recording videos, and faster continuous shooting. All good news especially as the ZS10 / TZ20 succeeds in staying simple enough for beginners to use while providing the manual exposure functions needed for those who want to learn and grow in their photography.
If you are looking for a travel camera that will give you the flexibility to capture all kinds of pictures while on the road, is pocketable, will record GPS locations, and have tons of features to allow you to return with lots of memories easily captured digitally, then I’d say, the Panasonic ZS10 / TZ20 is a sure winner. I just leave it on iA and shoot away.
There is a 3D mode on the Mode Dial and I thought I’d give it a try. Unfortunately, not having a 3D TV, I cannot verify the usefulness of this mode. This seems to be a feature that’s way ahead of the curve since I don’t believe too many people have 3D TVs yet.
Though "just" a point-and-shoot digital camera, I also like it that the Lumix ZS10 / TZ20 has not forgotten those who want a bit more control: PASM modes allow you to explore and learn.
PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.1 HD Lite Edition is the weak link in this otherwise great package. It installs MS Visual C++, MS .NET Framework, and takes forever to install. It’s user interface dates back to the early 80’s, with distracting flashing arrows, low quality thumbnails, and annoying confirmation pop ups everytime you click a button. It’s good enough to transfer your images to your computer and to do simple editing: Brightness & Contrast, Hue & Saturation, Sharpness, Sepia, Negative, Grey Scale, Red Eye Remov[al], Auto Enhancement. There are a number of very good photo editing applications for free download on the Internet that are much friendlier to use.
Here are four reasons why I simply love the ZS10 / TZ20:
- 16x ultra wide-angle image stabilized optical zoom. The 16x optical zoom covers a satisfying 24mm (equiv.) ultra wide-angle to a long 384mm (equiv.) super tele. I love the wide-angle coverage because I can capture wide landscapes as well as include everyone in a large group shot. The tele reach brings far away subjects real close. Add 3cm macro, and there is not much that is happening out there that the ZS10 / TZ20 cannot easily enough capture.
- Compact, Pocketable. The Panasonic ZS10 / TZ20 is compact and light enough that I can carry it in my large trousers pocket or coat pocket. A jeans pocket is a tight fit and I would not recommend it. Recommend that you protect the beautifully designed Lumix ZS10 / TZ20 in a soft camera case and carry that from your belt or in a purse.
- Fast AF As we have come to expect from Panasonic digital cameras, the ZS10 / TZ20 focuses fast and precise, making it a joy to use in good and low light.
- Intelligent Auto Everything. The Intelligent Auto (iA) shooting mode really works! In fact, I don’t bother to use any other mode to capture well exposed and great looking shots. The Panasonic ZS10 / TZ20 takes good quality images at the low ISOs and the high ISO images up to ISO 400 are perfectly acceptable in small prints and for Web display.
No review is complete without some improvement suggestions:
- Improve image quality (perhaps using less MP resolution). Low noise has been achieved at the expense of fine detail, and some users will be put off by this.
- Replace PHOTOfunSTUDIO software with friendlier and up-to-date photo viewing and editing software.
If you are looking for one digital camera that has pretty much everything you need for snapshooting, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 / TZ20 is a well-designed compact ultra zoom digital camera that will make many point-and-shoot photographers happy. Just set it to iA shooting mode for hassle-free shooting under almost all conditions. Though there have been some compromises as far as the image quality is concerned (low noise vs. detail), I don’t believe most users would notice if they make normal-sized 4×6 in. prints or display for Web-only. Besides, it is choke-full of practical features and beginner photographers who desire a compact camera with manual functions and incredible lens reach should find that the ZS10 / TZ20 answers their needs well.
Next: Panasonic ZS10 / TZ20 QuickFact Sheet / Buy