Last update 14 November’09 – Review and Sample Photos @ ImagingResource
Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 / TZ6 announced on January 7, 2009 and is a 25mm wide-angle to 12x telephoto compact 10.1 megapixel digital camera that features intelligent auto mode, optical image stabilization, 2.7 inch LCD, ISO up to 1600, and camera dimensions are (H x W x D) 2.35” x 4.07” x 1.29” weight approx. 0.45 lbs.
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Review Index – (updated 14 November’09)
ImagingResource
“The ZS1 is a photographic powerhouse with a telephoto and wide angle quality on equal with bigger cameras, and to top it off it’s small enough to pack around in your pocket. For photographers who want quality, portability, and don’t want to lug around a bigger SLR this camera hits the sweet spot. Without a doubt it gets our full endorsement.”
RegHardware
“This camera is loaded with features but we wish its manual controls had a little more flexibility. For people who would rather let their camera do all the heavy lifting for them this camera would be a no-brainer. In short, if you want a big zoom, compact body, and don’t really care about video here’s your camera.”
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PCAuthority
“If you use image quality as a guide then this camera wins hands down. If you can live with it’s size then you will be one happy shooter. Its lens sticks out from the body so once you wrangle it into your pocket it’s not going to want to come back out.”
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Steve’s Digicams
“This is a very versatile camera that anyone can pick up and use in almost any situation with great results. With excellent image quality and performance to match, you will not be disappointed with the price.”
TracyandMatt.uk
“The Panasonic Lumix TZ6 is a brilliant Zoom camera. The picture quality is brilliant and it takes pretty good video footage too. Being able to use the zoom when recording video is a definite plus. I thought at first that the camera was a bit bulky but I’ve changed my mind. It’s a camera with and amazing zoom. If it was a SLR camera the lens would be pretty big so Panasonic have done well to fit it all nicely into the TZ6. Over all The Lumix TZ6 has impressed me.”
ePhotozine
“Colour quality is good and I like the portrait images, macro and landscape test shots. It’s a shame about noise but then I’m always disappointed with cameras of this classification. One real surprise was the complete lack of colour fringing on the landscape test.”
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CNET
“If you want a pocketable point-and-shoot megazoom camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 is one of the best options around. Even with its few flaws, it comes out on top of the competition as long as you don’t need semimanual or full manual controls. Again the decision between it and the ZS3 comes down to whether you want the HD movie capture, and if you don’t, the ZS1 is a sound purchase.”
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DigiCamReview
“The camera features a very clever “Intelligent Auto” mode and makes using the camera easy, and fun, and provides an abundance of scene modes for beginners. For those looking for more creativity the camera features manual white balance, exposure bracketing, rapid continuous shooting, a histogram, and other image options. Add in an impressive widescreen video mode that lets you use the optical zoom whilst filming and you have a very impressive all-round package, all squeezed into a stylish, metal camera.”
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Digital Trends
“We were very pleasantly surprised how quickly this one focused in general, and how well it captured images in burst mode, grabbing 2.5 frames per second for five images then taking a breather. While not DSLR levels, it’s far better than most aim-and-forget digicams. Overall, using the camera was effortless. After taking a raft of images indoors and out it was time to closely examine them and make full-bleed 8.5×11 prints.”
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InfoSync
“Color looked great across the board, detail was top notch, images were sharp and noise was very low. We’re surprised we were able to squeeze a performance this impressive out of the Lumix DMC-ZS1’s basic imaging system, as we were under the impression that the step-up Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 would be a major improvement in terms of image quality.”
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PhotographyBlog
“Since its other headline feature of a 10 megapixel resolution has rapidly become the entry-level for dedicated digital compacts in light of the advance of the camera phone. That’s not to say that the images it delivers disappoint; for the most part they are as crisp and colourful as we’ve ascertained.”
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CNET UK
“Panasonic’s TZ-series superzoom cameras just keep getting better and better. The pricier Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 has a better LCD and a higher-quality movie mode, but, for regular stills photography, the DMC-TZ6 is better value by far, offering fantastic flexibility, great image quality, a superb build and finish, and pocketability too.”
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Digital Trends
“Granted, it doesn’t have any manual adjustments to speak of, or HD video capability. That being said, you still can’t go wrong choosing this camera for everyday shooting. Overall, the Canon SX200 IS has more going for it but that in no way detracts from the current contender. Heft them both before you decide, then let ergonomics be your guide.”
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Owner Feedback
Coming soon…
Sample Photos
[Sample Photos @ ImagingResource]
[Sample Photos @ RegHardware]
[Sample Photos @ Steve's Digicams]
[ISO Sample Photos @ CNET]
[Sample Photos @ DigiCamReview]
[Low Light Sample Photo @ InfoSync]
[Image Quality Samples @ PhotographyBlog]
[Sample Photo Detail @ CNET UK]
Owners Manual
Coming soon…
Similar Cameras
Press Release
MIAMI, FL – Panasonic today introduced the LUMIX DMC-ZS3 and DMC-ZS1, both members of the new ZS-Series, the successor to the acclaimed LUMIX TZ-Series and Panasonic’s newest ultimate compact and powerful digital cameras. The LUMIX ZS3 features 10.1-megapixels, a 25mm ultra-wide-angle lens and 12x optical zoom, meaning it has added 2x optical zoom to the award-winning TZ-Series camera, yet reduced its size. The ZS3 also features a LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR lens and High Definition (HD) video recording ability, known as AVCHD Lite.
“The LUMIX ZS3 is a powerhouse performer with enormous versatility. Compared with the TZ-Series, it extends the power of the optical zoom from 10x to 12x and expands the wide-angle lens from 28mm to an ultra-wide 25mm, giving it the range for virtually any shooting situations,” said David Briganti, National Marketing Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “Despite its superior lens specifications and functionality, the ZS3 is remarkably smaller and lighter than its predecessors, making it easier to carry on travels and everyday shooting opportunities.”
The ZS3 is the world’s first digital camera to feature HD video recording in “AVCHD Lite*2”. Compared with the conventional Motion JPEG format, AVCHD Lite allows longer recordings with breathtaking HD visual and audio quality. This combined with a well-considered control interface, which includes a dedicated movie recording button on the camera’s back panel, makes the ZS3 a hybrid model that performs admirably for both still and motion image capture.
The ZS3 also expands Panasonic’s popular Intelligent Auto (iA) mode with the addition of Face Recognition – a feature that “remembers” faces from previous shots*1. When a registered face appears in the frame, the camera will prioritize focus and exposure to capture it beautifully.
With Face Recognition, when a familiar face is recorded several times, the camera will prompt the users to register the face. Once registered, if the face appears into the frame again, the camera will display the name specified for that person and prioritize focus and exposure so that the registered face is bright and sharply focused.
New this year to the ZS-Series, iA mode is also available in Movie Mode. It automatically selects the most suitable Scene mode and helps to correct handshake, focus and brightness problems – making iA mode your one-stop solution to capture beautiful still and motion images. In Movie Mode, the ZS3, Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) helps prevent handshake when using the high-powered zoom. Face Detection automatically detects a face in the frame and adjusts focus, exposure, contrast, and skin complexion so it turns out perfectly. Intelligent Exposure continually checks the ambient light level and adjusts the exposure setting as conditions change to prevent blown highlights and blocked shadows. And Intelligent Scene Selector automatically switches between Normal, Portrait, Macro, Scenery, and Low Light modes according to the situation to optimize visual quality.
The imaging power of LUMIX has further evolved with the Venus Engine HD, which boasts two CPUs to provide approx. 2.4x processing capability and support for AVCHD Lite and HDMI output. It integrates all the advanced functions and camera operations with high performance and low-power consumption. In image processing, luminance noise and chromatic noise are reduced separately before and after signal processing. This is further refined by separating noise two-dimensionally into high-frequency and low-frequency noise. The circuits then effectively reduce only the low-frequency noise to minimize the unwanted noise and help produce beautiful, sharp still and motion images.
Playback with the ZS-Series is also easy. Simply insert the camera’s SD Memory Card into the VIERA® HDTV’s Image Viewer SD Card slot for a photo slideshow*3. Alternatively, connect the camera via an optional HDMI mini cable, the DMW-HDC2, to a VIERA Link™-equipped Panasonic VIERA HDTV and use the television’s remote control to run mixed slideshows of photos and videos. The ZS3 features a 3-inch, high resolution 460,000-dot Intelligent LCD with a wide viewing angle, improving visibility during recording and playback.
Other features of the LUMIX ZS3 include:
- Increased Scene modes for both still and motion image shooting – optimized for a variety of situations. There are 26 scene modes for still image and 17 for motion image (Portrait, Soft Skin, Transform, Self portrait, Scenery, Low light, Food, Party, Candle light, Sunset, High sensitivity, Beach, Snow, Aerial, Pin hole, Film grain and Underwater)
- Two new My Scene settings let users assign their two most frequently used Scene modes to the setting, and with a simple switch, allow access to either scene instantly.
The ZS1, like the ZS3, features a 25mm ultra-wide angle, 12x powerful optical zoom. Distinguishing it, the ZS1 features a 10.1 megapixel CCD, a standard iA mode (no Face Recognition) for still image recording and a 2.7-inch, 230,000-dot Intelligent LCD.
The DMC-ZS3 will be available in silver, black, blue and red for a suggested retail price (SRP) of $399.95, while the DMC-ZS1 will be available in black and silver for an SRP of $299.95. Both models will be available in April 2009. For more information, please visit www.panasonic.com/lumix.
*1 Depending on background and facial expression, camera may not recognize a registered person. For family members with similar facial features, camera may not correctly identify the intended subject.
*2 The “AVCHD” is a high definition (HD) digital video recording / playback format jointly established by Panasonic Corporation and Sony Corporation. The “AVCHD Lite” is a subset of the “AVCHD format” for HD digital video cameras with HD video recording restricted to 720P. The new “AVCHD Lite” Logo and the “AVCHD Lite” License are restricted to devices within the AVCHD Video Camera category. Digital cameras have now been added to the AVCHD Video Camera category. For more details, please refer to the “AVCHD Information Website”. http://www.avchd-info.org/
*3 AVCHD Lite motion images recorded onto an SD Memory Card or a DVD disc cannot be played from a device that does not support the AVCHD standard.
*4 3-megapixel (4:3), 2.5-megapixel (3:2), 2-megapixel (16:9) recording. (10fps in Speed Priority mode / 6fps in Picture Priority mode)
