Panasonic Lumix TZ1

Panasonic Lumix TZ1 Review

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 is a remarkable camera in one way- it is the first truly compact 10x zoom camera. Normally, cameras with 10x zooms are nowhere near pocket sized. The TZ1, measuring 4.4x2.3x1.6 inches and weighing 8.8 ounces, is surprisingly small. Although it's not an ultracompact, it's small enough to fit in large pockets and small enough to fit unobtrusively in your bag on your world travels. However, as always, there's a catch. In squeezing the TZ1 down into that compact size, some compromises had to be made. The way the TZ1 manages to sqeeze a 10x zoom into such a small package is through the use of an extremely small sensor, 1/2.5" in size, and through the use of folded optics, wherein the lens is actually bent 90 degrees inside the body of the camera using a prism. The small sensor size leads to more image noise at higher ISOs than you'd like. Another limitation is that this camera only has two aperture settings, f/2.8 and f/5.0 at wide angle, and f/4.2 and f/7.1 at full zoom. Key features of the Lumix TZ1 are its large 2.5" LCD screen, 5 megapixel image sizes, is 35-350mm (35mm equivalent) zoom lens, optical image stabilization (almost a necessity for long zoom cameras), and can go up to ISO 1600 (with major drawbacks). The TZ1 uses SD memory cards, and has one of the best movie modes around. Battery life is supposed to be excellent, able to take 250+ pictures before recharging.

Using the Panasonic Lumix TZ1


The TZ1 looks nice, and has a similar look and feel as other Panasonic cameras. Its construction does feel cheaper than I'd expect, for instance, its shutter button feels a bit flimsy and plasticky when you push it. The grip on the right hand side is nice, and lets you hold the camera quite well. In-use, the TZ1 feels fairly responsive. The zoom lens takes about 3 seconds to zoom out all the way (and when fully zoomed, the lens extends out to about an additional inch). The TZ1 has no manual modes, which is disappointing to photo enthusiasts, though many people will not care. To make up for that, it has 18 scene modes. Some thought was given to the LCD display items, as the TZ1 is able to show the ISO, aperture and shutter speed chosen (when you do a half-push of the shutter), and, even a live histogram. The LCD display also has a bright mode for use in bright sunlight, and a high angle mode for if you hold it above your head, an very nice touch.

Image Quality


Straight out of the camera, the images are definitely soft. Most images can benefit from sharpening. Purple fringing is sometimes present in high contrast situations (but this is a problem with most digital cameras so is not unique to this camera). And finally, highlights tend to get blown out pretty easily (that is, in scenes with high contrast, it can't capture the full dynamic range of brightness), no doubt due to the small image sensor used. Overall image quality is about average. One of the special features of this camera is the ability to go up to ISO 1600, which is important in low light situations. On the TZ1, ISO 1600 is only available in a special "High Sensitivity" scene mode. I actually very often find myself in low light situations, and I own a Fuji F10 (see review) which also goes up to ISO 1600. Well, let me say clearly that the ISO 1600 on the Panasonic TZ1 is terrible compared to the Fuji F10. There simply is no comparison. The Panasonic TZ1 basically combines groups of pixels into one super-pixel for its ISO 1600 mode which effectively reduces its resolution dramatically. The resulting picture looks blocky and pretty bad when viewed at full resolution. For lower resolution uses, such as small 4x6 prints or for display on a web page, it is sufficient though. Below, I conducted an ISO test of a many (but not all) of the ISO settings on the TZ1. Overall, ISO 80 to 400 are clean and usable- I would have no hesitation to use anything in that range. ISO 800 is getting noisy and also starting to lose significant sharpness (probably due to noise reduction algorithms used), so it should only be used when necessary. Finally, ISO 1600 is pretty bad- although noise is well controlled, it was at the extreme expense of reduced sharpness. To me, it looks like the 5 megapixel image has the equivalent sharpness of a 1.25 megapixel image.

ISO80

ISO200

ISO400

ISO800

ISO1600

Another note on low light shooting. In the standard shooting mode, the maximum shutter speed is 1 second. The only way to get longer shutter speeds is in Night Scenery mode (up to 8 seconds) or Starry Sky mode (which ONLY lets you choose speeds of 15, 30, or 60 seconds). The TZ1 seems to be lacking in enough white balance setting choices, with only 3 preset values. I found that in my home, the only way to get reasonable white balance was to do a custom setting, which fortunately it is able to do.

Movie Mode

The movie mode on the Panasonic Lumix TZ1 is very good- one of the best available. It of course uses image stabilization during movie mode. It can do resolutions of 320x200, 640,480, and 848x480 (wide screen mode) at a frame rate of 10 or 30 frames per second. Movies can be as long as what fits on your memory card. In fact, I was able to do a continuous 1 hour movie at 640x480 10fps. Battery life was excellent in movie mode. After the hour of recording, the battery was still more than half full (however, other higher quality movie modes may eat up battery life faster due to increased processing power needs). Here's what the estimated movie times are for a 2GB memory card: 
640x480 10fps --> 67 minutes
640x480 30fps --> 22 minutes
848x480 10fps --> 58 minutes
640x480 30fps --> 19 minutes
Another nice feature is that you can zoom while in movie mode, which is a reare feature for digital cameras to have. The zoom is rather slow in movie mode (taking about 12 seconds to go from wide angle to full zoom). The sound quality on the camera is just fair, not great- the sound seems to be full of white noise. And, it is mono, not stereo. If Panasonic could improve the sound quality and make it stereo, it would be just about perfect. Also, I wish there were a few other frame rates to choose from, like a 20fps mode, and at least one intermediate resolution, such as 512x384. Overall though, this is one great movie mode for a compact camera.

Thoughts compared to the Fuji F10/F11

I also own a Fuji F10, which is slightly smaller than the Lumix TZ1. I have to admit, if I could ONLY take one camera on a trip and had to choose between the TZ1 and the F10, I'd pick the F10, for one reason- it has much better low-light capabilities. I just happen to prefer natural light pictures without flash, and the F10 is better for those types of pictures. Different people will have different preferences though- for instance, if you like pictures of birds or animals, having a large zoom such as on the TZ1 may be better for you. In reality, both cameras have their own unique strengths and weaknesses.

Conclusion

The Panasonic Lumix TZ1 is touted as the ultimate travel camera, and it comes close to being that, but, you'll have to be aware of the tradeoffs. It has a great set of features that make it a good choice for travelling. Its compact size, large zoom, great movie mode, and image stabilization features are good to have. However, there are tradeoffs: a small 5 megapixel image sensor, average image quality, poor quality ISO 800 and 1600 modes, lack of manual controls, and limited apertures. Overall, I think it is a very good choice for a general-purpose travel camera.

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