Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5K 9MP Digital Camera with 10x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black) by Panasonic
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Digital camera reviews of Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5K 9MP Digital Camera with 10x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)
Digital camera Review: Absolutely love this camera!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have a dSLR and wanted a point and shoot to carry with me at all times and one that would be easy and fun to use for my husband - one that wouldn't have too many intimidating settings but that would produce good results. I LOVE this little camera. He can set it on IA (Intelligent Auto) and get good pictures 95% of the time. (Panasonic has since come out with an updated version with very similar features and I imagine I would love that one too.)
What I particularly like about this camera:
True wide angle:
What does that mean? It means you can get a full group of people in a shot without having to back up so far that they look like ants or you can't really see their faces. It also means that you can get closer to buildings, if you like to take architectural shots, and get more of the building in from closer = better view of the building and its details. Basically you can get closer to whatever you are shooting, get more of the item in the photo and still see it. Very nice for sweeping landscapes on vacation too!
Great zoom
Combine the fabulous zoom with the awesome wide-angle and you get a fantastic range in one small camera body
Zoom with video!!
No one talks about this but most small cameras don't give you the ability to zoom while you are using the video. (check it out) This one does a great job and I really, really like/need this feature. It's much smoother to zoom from the camera than to walk closer once the video is running. So, let me repeat - ZOOM WITH VIDEO :))
Very nice image quality.
It's not a dSLR but I didn't expect that. I can get very nice images straight out of the camera and I can give it to my mom, my husband, a complete stranger, set it to IA or whatever setting I want and get a nice picture.
Tons of settings
The menu gives you the ability to choose from tons of pre-sets like landscape, macro, pets, snow, fast burst, etc. It has two menu selections to you can set them to the two you use most frequently and it makes it even faster and more convenient to change if you want to.
Great IA
Use the Intelligent Auto setting and the camera will even change to macro mode for you! It works fabulously.
Relatively fast first click and next click
Very acceptable (meaning low) delay from start up to first click and from one click to the next. Plus, you can set it to the fast burst setting if you want to shoot several pictures in a row very quickly.
Other:
Leica lens with a Panasonic affordable price!
Image stabilization!
I love this little camera and would buy it (or the newer version) again!
Digital camera Review: Amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
This camera is a phenomenal point and shoot. Takes exception pictures, a zoom that puts it in a class of its own, and great battery life.Digital camera Review: Amazing
Summary: 4 Stars
Very nice little camera indeed. I love the zoom and the fast shooting. Also pretty nice definition, good movie mode and nice color.
I would recommend this little camera to anyone that wants flexibility without bulk. I am using a Transcend 16 G card and I think that's what you need if you plan to shoot movies in addition to pics.
Digital camera Review: Amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer service was great. Don't order things online very often but now I will! Thanks so much, best camera I have ever had.Digital camera Review: Amazing Point and Shoot!
Summary: 4 Stars
[EDITED] 03/29/08: []-indicates modifications
I've had the camera for [about 2 weeks now] so bear in mind that not all the features were tested. Also, this is my first advanced point and shoot camera so I cannot compare it to others I didn't own. I've tested the reasons why I chose this particular camera. The high resolution, compact size (can't really test that except that it fits in my pocket great!), and its ability to shoot high resolution video.
The high resolution is amazing but only a 4 star. 4 because there will be much playing around to do in order to get the sharpest possible image. Perhaps the ISO was set too high, perhaps I didn't use the perfect setting, much playing around to be a perfectionist - and only because I am coming off a manual digital camera where you have full control.
The pre-set settings in this are incredible! It even has a pre-set setting for PETS! I shoved the camera in my spaztic cats face and as he was trying to get away, I had a clear and up close shot of his face (with FLASH!) Any other digital camera and it would have been fuzzy or non existant as the lag between shutter, flash, and actual photo would be greater than the cat's ability to dissapear within a second. I did this more than once - super sharp and ultra fast! Poor cat...
There are baby-settings where you can give it a name and birthdate! Probably so you can title your pictures automatically later - I don't know yet - but it's cool!
Face detection - perfect! 4 faces in one shot I believe. Also, the flash compensates to the distance to each face (multiple flashes) so if you're closer to one person, that person's face won't be washed out in light! That's amazing technology!
Enough tech - plenty more in there to play with - onto the video!
I wanted a camcorder replacement so I don't buy another gadget just to take the few videos I DO want to take. Something fast and easy to capture the moments as they arrive out of nowhere. This camera's ability to take 1280x720 wide-screen videos to display on our flat-screen is what I was looking for. I only give it 4 stars though - which is STILL such a feat! The reason for a missing star is the camera's inability to focus fast enough on moving objects or while you're zooming. I'm sure the motor tech will develop over subsequent cameras but for SUCH a small package to deliver such high resolution "clips" is truly a feat! The maximum length of video at the highest resolution [tested] is 2GB [turned out to be 10:38 minutes]. Most videos won't need that much continuous shooting anyway so that's not a big deal. The format is Quicktime's MOV. I'll need to play around with transfering that to DVDs but looks great on the computer! You can get the optional component cable that hooks directly onto the camera to the TV for instant enjoyment. (it comes with a VGA cable). [I hooked up the camera to a 42" HD Plasma via the AV cable and got a great resolution - better than a broadcast TV and JUST shy of HD sharpness - but I was up next to the screen so sitting back at the couch - doubt I could tell the difference. The AV cable is mono with one video out so the sound only came out of the center channel speaker. I'd give the sound 3-stars as there was a detectible background noise - I made sure to test it with little sound to decipher. Sounds and voices came out clear - but it was not high fidelity by any means. This is definately NOT a surround sound HD camcorder! The camcorder "clips" however are phenomenal!]
Oh, also, to download pictures from the camera to the computer? NOTHING REQUIRED TO INSTALL!!!! You plug the camera in the USB port, turn on the camera, choose PC on the camera (you can set it to always be that), and the computer recognizes it as a hard-drive from where you can drag and drop to your hearts content!
This is NO DSLR where you have full control - but that's not what this is for. So as you can tell, I highly recommend it and know it will be the perfect companion for pretty much all your photo-video needs in ONE tiny package (which travels VERY well!).
[I am still working on posting samples - I'm sure others will beat me to the punch now that it's widely available and on sale]