Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20

Zitat: Recommended Pro: + Broad and well-corrected 16x zoom covers every situation. + 1080i video with zooming, stereo sound and continuous AF. + Built-in GPS with large database of landmarks and easy editing. + Touch-screen interface just tap where you want it to focus. + Fast continuous shooting up to 10fps at the full resolution. Contra: - Patchy image quality even at 100 ISO. Noisy throughout ISO range. - Under-utilised touch-screen. Easy to change AF area by mistake. - Minimal control over image quality - little if any tweaking. - Record / play switch less intuitive than a plain play button. After a modest update to its best-selling travel zoom last year, Panasonic has pulled-out all the stops for the latest Lumix TZ20 / ZS10. The lens range is broader, the video recording now at Full HD, the continuous shooting significantly quicker and the GPS landmark database roughly doubled in size. There´s also now a touch-screen display along with new 3D and composite noise reduction modes, while the vertical streaking which plagued bright highlights in video on its predecessor has been banished. Really, what´s not to like? In these respects the Lumix TZ20 / ZS10 is a triumph, and show Panasonic (necessarily) raising its game in the face of increasingly tough competition. But as described in detail above, the Lumix TZ20 / ZS10 is not without its faults. Biggest of these is the image quality which when viewed at 100% can appear patchy and ill-defined even under good light at 100 ISO. Increase the sensitivity and it becomes even patchier. The new Handheld Night Shot mode does a fair job at minimising noise, but the bottom line is the TZ20 / ZS10 is not a camera for pixel-peepers who like to see crisp and clean details at 100% on-screen. On top of that, the touch-screen can feel under-utilised. At one moment you´ll enjoy tapping the subject you´d like the camera to focus on, then be perplexed at another as you´re forced to laboriously enter text using traditional buttons. The touch-screen inconsistencies are just that though, and shouldn´t be a major stumbling block for anyone considering the TZ20 / ZS10. It could be done better - and hopefully should be with a future firmware update - but it´s certainly not a deal-breaker. The image quality however might be for some. This is a shame since there´s so much that´s really good about the TZ20 / ZS10, it´s frustrating to find it let down in such a fundamental respect. Ironically, while unnecessary boosts in resolution are partly to blame, it´s also down to the adoption of a MOS technology for the sensor. What it ´giveth´ in 1080i video and fast continuous shooting, it ´taketh´ away in photo quality. As earlier Lumix FZ100 owners realised, you can´t have it all. The question then becomes whether you´re actually bothered by this, or if the undoubted benefits of the camera outweigh the quality issues. If you generally view your photos on screen at lower magnification, or make normal sized prints, then it could be a non-issue. Alternatively even if the quality bothers you, you may be happy to trade it for the big zoom, 1080i video, fast continuous shooting and GPS database packed into a pocketable camera. It really is something only you can decide, although you should of course also compare the TZ20 / ZS10 against its key rivals listed above. Ultimately the Lumix TZ20 / ZS10 misses out on our highest rating due to disappointing image quality, but still earns our Recommended award because first, most of its target audience will be satisfied by its output, and second, there´s simply so much else to like about the camera that the good outweighs the bad.

Zitat: Pro: + Good overall image quality + Excellent colour reproduction + Plenty of options to control + Compact and lightweight + Good image stabilization + 16x optical zoom. Cons: - Image contains some noise - No manual focus - GPS is sometimes unresponsive - 3D photo shooting is a gimmicky feature.

Zitat: Pro: + zoom 16x + le nombre de fonctionalité + vidéo 1080i. Contra: - autonomie - il faut s´habituer à l´écran tactile - GPS gourmand.