Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2

This camera's ability to capture images in wide-screen format is unique and useful, but the DMC-LX2 is a tad bulky for a point-and-shoot.

The 10-megapixel Lumix DMC-LX2 ($410 as of February 15, 2007), the most recent Panasonic model we've tested, has the same image stabilization feature found on many other Lumix cameras, but it dispenses with those cameras' long zoom in favor of a smaller, more compact body. Even so, the lens protrudes from the camera body by 0.75 inch when the camera is turned off, giving it a total depth of 1.75 inch and making it a little too clunky to fit comfortably in most pockets. The lens cap isn't integrated into the camera body, either; instead, it dangles from a tether while you shoot. If you switch on the camera with the lens cap still attached, you'll get an on-screen warning to remove it.

The DMC-LX2 replaces the DMC-LX1, which we tested last year. The main update involves resolution: The new model takes 4224-by-2376-pixel stills with a wide-screen (16:9) aspect ratio--a format unique to this camera. The HD format is nice for snapping wide-angle shots of, say, landscapes, but pictures that have a distinct foreground subject showed too much extraneous background (though this might be good for capturing unique effects). You can use the three-position switch on the lens to jump to the camera's 3:2 (DVD dimensions) mode, or to its traditional 4:3 mode. In 3:2 format, however, you get only 8.5 megapixels; and in 4:3 mode, 7.5 megapixels. The zoom lens extends to 6.2X if you ratchet the resolution down to 2 megapixels, but at the camera's highest-resolution setting you can only zoom to 4X.

If you choose the right format, the DMC-LX2's unusual, 2.8-inch wide-screen LCD (located on the back of the camera) crops the image just the way an HDTV does. The HD mode takes some getting used to, though. Unless you hold the camera at arm's length, you have to move your eyes to see the entire display. One nifty feature: You can set the display to "high angle" mode, making shots easier to view when you hold the camera over your head--say, in a crowd. The camera has no optical viewfinder.

The camera and the manual say that you can capture movies in either 16:9 or 4:3 mode, but the camera we received for testing allowed movie capture only in 4:3 mode. When I tried to select the 16:9 mode, the camera insisted that I was still in the unsupported 3:2 mode.

Like the DMC-LX1, the newer model has several buttons on its small, well-constructed aluminum body. In addition to the usual mode dial and menu navigation buttons, it has an exposure lock button conveniently situated on the back, and a button on the top of the camera for turning on image stabilization. This feature uses software to reduce blur, and you can use it in multiple scene modes. The tiny joystick on the back controls things like aperture and shutter speed when you use a mode that supports these manual adjustments, but I would rather have used the four menu buttons to adjust these settings. The joystick adjusts the manual focus, too--a function that it does make a bit easier.

Two buttons control the flash. Unfortunately, you must use a button on the top of the camera to pop up the flash manually. One of the four directional buttons lets you select the flash mode, but pressing it doesn't cycle through the modes; instead, it launches an on-screen menu, so you have to use the directional buttons or the joystick to select the mode, and then press the Menu button to enter the mode. That's far more complicated than it should be.

The DMC-LX2 earned excellent scores in nearly all of our image-quality tests. Most shots--even magnified enlargements--looked sharp, and the camera earned our top score for exposure quality. In our lab tests, cameras capture images while mounted on a tripod, but outside the lab, I tried the Lumix's two image-stabilization modes (one works continuously, and the other works only when the shutter release it held down, ostensibly to save battery life). Neither mode can prevent blurry pictures in extremely shaky settings (on a roller coaster, for example), but they will gain you an f-stop or two, which is enough to save some pictures, particularly in low light.

In addition to aperture-priority, shutter-priority, and full-manual shooting modes, the DMC-LX2 offers 18 scene modes, including one for 'Food' and two for taking shots of babies ('Baby1' and 'Baby2'). The latter two modes prompt you to identify your child's birthday; subsequently they refer to that date in stamping photos with your baby's age--for example, "2 years, 1 month, 19 days." (The two Baby modes are identical; there are two of them s you can track the progress of two children.) The camera's menus explain what the scene modes do, but they don't do a very good job of it--the description of Food mode reads, "For taking pictures of food. Take a picture without flash for the best result."

The camera's warranty is a bit unusual, and not in a good way: Most parts are warranted for a year, but the CCD is covered for only six months, and the labor warranty lasts just 90 days. Most camera warranties back their product for a full year on both parts and labor.

* Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18

Our current Editors' Choice superzoom, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18, packs a massive array of features—and an 18X zoom lens—into a relatively compact body. This 8.3-megapixel shooter delivers above-average image quality, and at only $399.95, it's a bargain. (Its biggest fault—noisy images in low lighting—is typical of cameras in this class.) A worthy follow-up to Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8, the FZ18 adds some key features like a longer zoom and wider angle, higher sensitivity and resolution, and Intelligent Auto Mode, which includes face detection, automatic scene selection, intelligent ISO, and continuous autofocus. It's also similar to the Fuji FinePix S8000fd, but the FZ18 delivers more advanced features, greater ease of use, and better performance.

The star component of the FZ18 is its 18X wide-angle Leica lens, which has a range of 4.6mm to 82.8mm (equivalent to a 35mm lens with a 28-to-504mm zoom). The wide angle is a welcome upgrade from the FZ8, allowing you to capture more in group portraits and landscapes. The zoom operates at two speeds, depending on how far you push the zoom lever, and operation is smooth and seamless.

ISO ranges from 100 to 1,600. The camera has an Intelligent ISO mode that detects moving subjects and automatically increases the ISO to decrease blur. Panasonic has added a high-sensitivity mode that enables you to capture photos at an ISO as high as 6,400, although the resolution drops to 3MP. (Needless to say, the image quality also takes a dive.) The maximum aperture varies from f/2.8 at the wide end to f/4.2 at 504mm. The FZ18 offers not only raw mode, it also provides a raw-plus-JPEG option, which isn't usually found on inexpensive superzooms.

The FZ18's design showcases Panasonic's thoughtful attention to ergonomics. At 14.4 ounces (including battery and SD card), the camera is lightweight for a superzoom yet feels solid and well constructed. The FZ18 has a nice, rubberized grip that puts your fingers in a logical position to control the top-level buttons and provides a nice hook on the back for your thumb. On top, the shutter-release button and zoom lever are logically placed for comfortable use. The mode dial lets you select one of 14 top-level settings, including the primary mode selections and most popular scenes. Panasonic has added discrete manual focus and macro buttons, allowing for direct operation.

The back of the camera is home to a 2.5-inch, 207,000-pixel display. The screen is very bright; I was able to frame shots even in full sunlight. On my field tests, however, I found the LCD was sometimes slow to refresh. If that's a problem, you can frame shots with the electronic viewfinder, which has a 188,000-pixel display and includes an adjustable diopter. That's a welcome addition not available in the DMC-TZ3, which lacks an electronic viewfinder.

The buttons on the FZ18's back are well positioned for ergonomic use. The two that you'll use most are the main menu cursor buttons and the joystick. The center button of the menu cursor puts you into the menu system; the four surrounding directional buttons let you control exposure, flash settings, the self-timer, and image playback. If you prefer, you can navigate the menu using the small joystick. It's convenient for accessing commonly changed settings, such as ISO and white balance.

On my field tests, the FZ18 was an impressive performer. It's a blast to use, thanks to its extensive list of features, intuitive menu system, and highly versatile lens. In general, the camera captured images with accurate, natural color and correct exposures, especially outdoor shots. Indoor and low-light shots sometimes suffered from noise (more on that later).

Image stabilization worked well. Panasonic gives you two stabilization settings: In mode 1, the image stabilizer is constantly working; in mode 2, the stabilizer is activated only when the shutter button is pressed. On my tests, both options worked fine, although I found mode 1 a little easier to use. The face detection function, new to the Panasonic's superzoom line, automatically sets exposures and focus. It can recognize up to 15 faces, and it worked well under normal lighting conditions, although sometimes not as well in low light. The FZ18 has 17 scene modes, plus an advanced mode that lets you fine-tune the settings in popular scenes. In portrait mode, for instance, you can choose among normal, soft skin, outdoor, indoor, and creative settings.

While testing the FZ18, I discovered two unique and useful features. The high-angle LCD mode helps when you hold the camera above your head to take a shot because it optimizes the display, increasing the viewing angle—on my tests, it worked well. Another feature I like is the Extra Optical Zoom mode, which enables you to achieve a zoom of up to 28.7X. When you use this feature, the resolution drops to 3MP, but images still looked good enough.

For video, you can record motion JPEGs at 30 frames per second (up to 2GB in size) at resolutions of 640 by 480 and 320 by 240 pixels at the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio, and 848 by 480 pixels in 16:9 aspect ratio. The camera adjusted well to various lighting conditions and color was impressive, but you can't zoom during video capture.

On lab tests, I saw some barrel distortion at the extreme edge, which is typical. Simulated daylight test shots at ISO 100 were rendered in accurate color and crisp detail, with no purple fringing. Noise was visible at ISO 200 and objectionable at ISO 400. The FZ18 didn't fare as well on indoor flash tests, yielding images that were less crisp and a bit noisier. The FZ18's boot-up time was 3.2 seconds, which is fast for this class of camera. The camera also did very well on the resolution test, achieving an average resolution of 2,000 lines.

The Panasonic Lumix FZ18 is at the top of its class in features, and its performance was marred only slightly by noisy images under low lighting conditions, which is typical of cameras in this category. It's a perfect option for the photographer who wants more than a point-and-shoot but doesn't need the advanced features of D-SLR models.

Panasonic provides a one-year warranty on the Lumix DMC-FZ18.

Article courtsey of pcmag.com

* Panasonic DMC-TZ5

Basic Specifications

Resolution 9.10 Megapixels
Lens 10.00x zoom (28-280mm eq.)
Viewfinder LCD
LCD Size 3.0 inch
ISO 100-6400
Shutter 60-1/2000
Max Aperture 3.3
Mem Type SDHC / SD
Battery Custom LiIon
Dimensions 4.1x2.3x1.4in (103x59x37mm)
Weight 8.5 oz (240 g)
MSRP $350
Availability 03/2008

Panasonic DMC-TZ5
Overview

Panasonic released the TZ5 in March of 2008, updating the TZ3 with a new sensor, slightly new styling and a few new features.

The Panasonic DMC-TZ5 upgrades the 7.2 megapixel sensor of the DMC-TZ3 to 9.1 megapixels, but maintains the 10x Leica-branded optical zoom lens and Panasonic's signature Optical Image Stabilization (MEGA O.I.S.). The lens offers a 28-280mm zoom range, offering a true wide-angle option. Panasonic has trimmed the size and weight again: it's 0.6 an ounce lighter at 8.4 ounces (240g) and just a few millimeters thinner. It's still not comfortable in a shirt pocket, but it's definitely compact and portable.

Panasonic has made some subtle alterations to the body and interface dials to make it simpler and easier to use. The Panasonic TZ3 crammed 10 settings onto the main mode selector dial; the TZ5 removes four of these settings to the operation menu, and adds a dedicated image playback switch near where your right thumb will rest on the back of the camera body. The results is a less imposing selector dial, that also doesn't switch to playback mode when the dial gets accidentally turned. The Panasonic TZ5's 3.0-inch LCD screen is also maintained, but the resolution has increased from 230,000 pixels to 460,000 pixels, offering a much clearer and sharper playback image.

The DMC-TZ5 offers a first for Panasonic cameras: Hi-Def recording in its movie mode, at 1,280x720 pixels (720p). The addition of a new Component connection port allows you to view your Hi-Def masterpieces on your Hi-Def television. Standard movie mode recording is still available. The Panasonic TZ5's ISO sensitivity has also been pushed one more stop with a maximum sensitivity of 6,400 in a dedicated scene mode. Panasonic hasn't added manual controls to its feature set, preferring to aim this camera at the point-and-shoot market.

Panasonic didn't re-invent an already good camera, maintaining a versatile lens with amazingly little distortion, and its ease of use. Instead, they have improved what didn't work, and added Hi-Def movie recording, and a few new features to the Panasonic TZ5.

Panasonic TZ5
User Report

Look and feel. The Panasonic DMC-TZ5 is a box-style camera with an extending lens. The high-res 3.0" LCD screen dominates the rear of the camera; there's no place to fit an optical viewfinder, but with this screen and several options for determining the brightness of it, you don't feel like you need one. Controls are laid out intelligently across the top and rear of the camera; the battery and memory card are accessible from the bottom of the Panasonic TZ5. The tripod mount is tucked away on the extreme right of the bottom, meaning it's quite practical to keep the camera mounted on a tripod and still be able to change the battery or memory card.

The handgrip, long a feature of the TZ-series, has improved with each generation. On the original TZ1 there was nothing but the protruding groove of the camera to hold onto, and the slick finish of the camera made it a bit slippery at times. Panasonic addressed this problem by adding a small horizontal strip of texturized rubber to the front of the grip, giving the fingers something to grip; they have further improved this on the Panasonic TZ5 by putting the strip in the vertical orientation. Your fingers naturally find the strip with your index finger resting on the shutter release button. One-handed operation is quite feasible, but for most shots you'll find yourself using your other hand to support the camera while you make adjustments to settings. It's worth noting that there isn't much real estate left on the front of the Panasonic TZ5 to place the flash; you have to make sure your middle finger is out of the way, or you might end up partially obscuring the flash.

Panasonic has made a few adjustments to the number and layout of controls on the Lumix TZ5. Gone is the image-stabilization button, replaced with an E.Zoom button which allows the user to instantly zoom to the maximum range and back again. The zoom function of the camera is quite good, with the zoom rocker providing a very responsive level of acceleration. It's not terribly fast, taking about 2.5 seconds to go from 28mm to 280mm, but then, the lens is fairly beefy.

Panasonic has also added a dedicated recording/playback switch to the Panasonic TZ5, just above the notch where you rest your left thumb on the rear of the camera. Everything else remains unchanged from the TZ3; the zoom rocker is still a trigger collar surrounding the shutter release button, and an on/off switch is tucked in between the shutter button and the mode selector dial.

A four-way direction pad and central button control the Panasonic TZ5's menu navigation. The only other change of note is that Panasonic has helpfully labelled the microphone area of the top of the camera, as a visual cue to not cover the mic during video or audio recording.

Interface. Panasonic has introduced a new Quick menu interface system with the DMC-TZ5, which overlays the most common settings onto the LCD screen. Pressing the Q.Menu button introduces a menu bar to the top of the LCD screen, allowing the user to change nine settings on the fly without having to enter the main menu screen. Specifically, the user can change the Panasonic TZ5's image stabilization mode, burst shooting mode, focus mode, white balance setting, ISO setting, intelligent exposure mode (either on or off), aspect ratio, quality setting, and the LCD power mode. In some modes however, there will be fewer options available for the user to set, as the scene modes take away some of the burden of decision-making. The best thing about this new menu is that because it overlays the LCD screen, you can see the effect your new setting will give you in many cases. For example, you get a visual demonstration of the effect of the image stabilization mode you're selecting; choosing one aspect ratio over another will show you exactly how it will look on screen. It's a very quick and effective way of changing settings, and the user is guided through these settings with short but instructive bits of text.

I actually found that the Panasonic TZ5's Quick menu setting was preferable to using the standard menu system to make these changes, as it offered slightly more information regarding one setting over another. For example, if you want to change the focus mode, you have six options to choose from: in the regular menu, you are presented with icons only; with the quick menu, you get the same icons, plus a line of text at the bottom of the screen that describes the selection.

The Panasonic TZ3 introduced the option to display a live histogram during shooting, and it's still available in the TZ5. It's not incredibly advanced, but it does give you an accurate representation of the various levels of luminosity in an image: shadows, mid-tones, and highlights.

The menu system maintains a virtual mode dial that first appeared in the TZ3. The menu appears briefly whenever you rotate the physical mode dial, so there's never any question of what mode you're in. It is important to note that the SCN1 and SCN2 selections actually activate the same menu selection, the Scene mode. The only difference is that each maintains a separate memory of the last scene setting you used. So if you want to quickly flip between Scene modes, you just have to switch between the two selections on the mode dial. What I didn't like about it was that you had to confirm the scene selection prior to shooting: the scene selection menu comes up automatically and you have to press the shutter button or menu/enter button to begin shooting.

Panasonic TZ5 Basic Features

* 9.1-megapixel, 1/2.33-inch CCD sensor delivers image resolutions as high as 3,456 x 2,592 pixels

* 10x optical zoom lens, equivalent to 28-280mm

* 4.0x digital zoom

* 3.0-inch color LCD monitor (460K pixels)

* Shutter speeds from 1/2,000 to 60 seconds, depending on mode

* Aperture range from f/3.3 - f/11, depending on zoom position

* Built-in flash with 5 modes plus Red-eye Reduction

* 50MB internal memory

* Power from 1,000mAh proprietary lithium-ion battery

* PictBridge compatible


Panasonic TZ5 Special Features

* Face Detection

* 23 preset Scene modes including "Clipboard" mode

* Movie mode with sound, and Hi-Def movie recording (1280x720p)

* Voice Memo option for still images

* Two Optical Image Stabilization modes

* Macro and Self-Timer modes

* Adjustable ISO from 100 to 1,600 equivalents, 1,600 - 6,400 in HI-SENS mode, plus 3 auto-ISO settings

* Adjustable white balance with five settings, including a Custom adjustment

* Overlaid "quick menu"

Panasonic TZ5 Conclusion


Pro:

* 10x optical zoom with true 28mm wide angle
* Almost distortion-free lens
* Excellent quick menu system
* Compact body for zoom range
* Optical image stabilization
* Sturdy build
* Big, 460,000-pixel, 3-inch LCD
* Easy to Use
* Simple mode for handing the camera off to the less experienced in the family
* Ability to limit ISO in Auto and Intelligent ISO
* Very good Automatic White Balance
* Fast startup for a long zoom
* Good shutter lag for a long zoom
* Blazing shutter response if you prefocus
* Almost two frames per second at full resolution (1.87)
* Twenty-three Scene Modes
* Fast download speeds
* Good macro performance
* Good print quality at ISO 100 up to 11x14; ISO 1,250 good at 5x7
* Above average battery life

Con:

* Anti-noise processing muddles detail at all ISO settings
* Moderate chromatic aberration at wide angle and telephoto
* High contrast in harsh outdoor images
* Somewhat subdued color compared to other cameras in this class
* Flash coverage is uneven at wide angle, and insufficient at telephoto
* Cant delete photos just taken without going to playback mode, unless in self-portrait mode
* Hi-definition video recording requires fast SD memory card
* Moderately soft corners
* Flash doesn't throttle down well in Macro mode
* Flash power does not adjust noticeably
* Poor low light performance at low ISOs
* Continuous mode performance is slower than the TZ3, offering 1.87 fps to the TZ3's 2.99 fps.