This is a great time to be shopping for a high-end pocketable digital camera -- assuming you're the sort who doesn't get overwhelmed when faced with plenty of options. With recent offerings like Fuji's
F200EXR, Ricoh's
CX1, and Casio's
EC-FX100, it's a busy market, and now the arrival of Panasonic's DMC-TZ7 makes it even more so. Reviewed by
Photography Blog, the 10 megapixel cam was found to offer great image quality at both ends of its 12x, 25 - 300mm Leica lens, functional image stabilization, and minimal noise up to ISO 400 (though it does go all the way to 1600). Even the 720p video recording impressed, which you can see for yourself in the sample vid embedded below. At the end it nabs a perfect rating, which might make it perfect for your pocket -- if you don't mind that $400 MSRP.
posted Mar 26th 2009 9:03AM
What a beautiful camera!!
The images look great, but at what point is the resolution finer than can be detected by the observer? Most people's holiday snaps only require 640x480.
Still, I want this camera.
640x480??? Have you tried printing 640x480. I know we do not think much about the average people, but even my 75 year old relative can tell the difference between 640x480 and 2Mp.
@KIFF
A lot, a lot of people's snapshot are as good as 640x480 sadly. Yes, you can get a 12Mpixels image file, but that doesn't mean it has a real 12M resolutions (actual details). Consider facebook hosts the most online photos among all website and people are living with their 600x? photos.
Haha I managed to change my avatar!
Success!
Failed attempt at a first trollpost. Congratulations!
Wtf this comment/login "system" is horrible, horrible, horrible.
Wth I'm going home, and I still regard it a success!!
How? I've uploaded two different file types about five times and it never takes.
When you click your last comment to open your profile page, you have to ghange "Engadget" to "blogsmith" in the url, then you just upload and upload until it accepts it. And I think it's 64x64 max. Takes a while to update throughout the system, thus giving you the chance of looking like a moron in public...
I have wanted one of these Cameras for a very long time. You see,...I grew up a poor boy in India, and through the many strifes and experiences of my childhood, I learned so much about life. I recently starred on the India version of "Who Wants to be a Millen-air". After successfully answering so many questions, the police beat me very hard because they did not believe that I could possibly know these answers.
This camera would have really helped me to prove that I truly experienced these situations. Please save me another beating and let me have this camera.
Let me have Latika and you can have the camera.
vote that shite up, just for Millen-air.
I would put any of these as direct competitors at all, just because they're small-ish, Engadget. The Fuji's main selling point is its SuperCCD and potential for low-noise high-ISO; the Ricoh for HDR, the Casio for high speed burst and the Panasonic for ultra-zooming in a really small package.
That lens range is quite incredible, and rather useful, since it starts at 25mm.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I honestly believe that Panasonic is producing the best P&S cameras on the market right now. Just look at the LX3 or the FZ28/FZ50. Hell, the FZ30 (pred. to the FZ50) was so well-loved by users that Leica later put their own OS on it, rebranded it as their own and sold it for twice the price.
I have the LZ7 and love it apart from how quickly it tears through batteries, although its a plus that it uses the AA variety. This camera is definitely in the running as a replacement to my current one though.
@jonthemiller
If you're using regular Alkalines, this would explain the battery life. In most cameras Rechargeable NiMH or disposable Li-Ion will yield much longer battery cycles. The former of course also has the advantage of being reusable.
Totally agree. I have not been that impressed with the Canons that I have dealt with even though everybody recommended them on the internet. The Panasonics I have used have been much better.
The lens is a bit slow, 3.3 at it's widest setting, there are no manual controls either.
Those things are not important to most people, granted, but if they're important to you (They're important to me) you might keep looking.
Granted, I have a dSLR and a fast prime lens for taking pictures in low light, but I'd like something faster than 3.3 in my P&S. In fact I'd prefer a faster, shorter lens over this 25-300 business. (Which is quite impressive, I will admit)
Creating a lens that is both fast and long is, needless to say, very difficult. It certainly couldn't be made this small.
Sounds like you need the Lumix LX3. f/2 lens, manual controls, but only goes to 60mm.
extremely expensive though £285+ in UK :( TZ5 is over £100 cheaper.
I picked up the TZ-5 in a sale at Jessops in January, £143. Fantastic purchase. I'm firmly in the P&S crowd, for which the TZ5 performs admirably.
The recording at 720p, which I didn't really buy it for, is much better than I expected tbh, my only slight gripe being that it struggles a little to maintain focus when zooming during recording.
There is a firmware update that fixes the focus issue. Check out Panasonic's website.
It's ok for a p&s I guess but I do notice grain in the blue of the sky even at 80 ISO, which annoys me, I always check out sky because often test pictures have buildings/streets of stone and such materials and it's damn hard to see grain on pictures of grainy materials obviously.
These cameras are great..battery life still amazes me on the Lumix line..
Is this thing available to buy yet? I can't find it for sale anywhere. The links in the review page are not for this model, but for other models.
I bought a TZ-5 before heading out to Chicago last month and just love it. The night pictures come out amazing... My fav shot though for night is inside Space Mountain's station @ Disneyland. Soooooo nice. I'd love to buy the TZ7, but it may be until at least the next version. Still, anyone who needs a camera, this has gotta be a solid choice. Oh and the hi-speed burst? Effin love that too....
looks sweet - 12x zoom wow! now if i only had a reason to spend that kind of $ on a new camera when my old kodak 5 MP still serves...
Smash it with a hammer! Problem solved!
I just recently got the Canon competitor to this one (Ixus 110is / Powershot SD960IS) (small form factor, wide angle lens, "HD" video) and posted some examples of low-light video performance here:
http://blog.ambor.com/2009/03/hd-video-on-canon-ixus-110is-powershot.html
Would be great if someone could post some low-light sample video shots to compare. These small P&S cameras have great headline specs, but can struggle in low light.
ambanmba
@ambanmba - your Canon SD960IS is not a competitor to this camera. The Panasoic is in a "compact super zoom" type category. The Canon SX200 IS is the competitor to this camera.
it's excellent considering the size of the camera. You get near DSLR noise ratios, but you can edit that out later, but you will have the shot since you can carry it everywhere.
I own the TZ5 and it's a awesome machine, but do buy a second battery if you take more than 200 pictures for an event.
Engadget, you should clarify that the overseas version is the TZ7 & the US version is the ZS3.
http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Cameras-Camcorders/Digital-Cameras/Lumix-Digital-Cameras/model.DMC-ZS3S
Panny is producing some very impressive cameras of late. Kudos to them after years of really bad noise handling now having some of the best in the P&S business.
here's another good review of the TZ7/ZS3
http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2009/03/21/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-TZ7/p1
Video seems flipped though.. Cars driving on wrong side of the street. Odd.
nothing firmware and new traffic system can't fix!
I have a TZ5 and I love it! Sure a DSLR would be better but for a point and shoot that baby rocks, the TZ7 looks slightly better tho...
I took this video at a Neil Young concert with my TZ5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH7h-Kj2cdw
Actually, your video is what made me decide to get one, also for concerts.
The TZ7 has stereo sound and mp4 video, so the video is better but it uses Sony's AVCHD codec, which is very hard to work with on anything other than Sony Vegas.
AVCHD works fine in Final Cut these days