Panasonic DMC-SZ1EB-K Black 10x Super Zoom Compact Camera with 25mm LEICA Lens and HD Movie
Compact Digital Camera SZ1 – Powerful 10x Optical Zoom LEICA DC Lens in Slim, Compact Body. The DMC-SZ1 features powerful 10x optical zoom LEICA DC lens from 25mm ultra wide-angle that fits in the slim, compact body (35mm camera equivalent: 25-250mm). The new lens system makes the units overall length short to fit in the slim body despite its versatile zoom range from ultra wide to telephoto. The 10x optical zoom increases its power to 20x equivalent with the Intelligent Zoom function. This is an extensive zoom function using digital zoom with minimum deterioration of image quality thanks to the Intelligent Resolution technology. With DMC-SZ1, there are two options to record spur-of-the-moment scenes 16.1-megapixel high-resolution photos and HD videos. In still image recording, the Sonic Speed AF helps to catch even the most fleeting photo opportunities.
- 16.1 Megapixel Digital Camera
- 10x Powerful Optical Zoom
- HD Video Recording in MP4 Format
- MEGA O.I.S.
- Megapixels: 16.1
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David Kerrigan,
I’ve always used SLRs for photos but needed a good quality compact for times and places demanded something less obtrusive. This little gem hits the spot completely. A Leica lens produces brilliant sharp images, as you’d expect, enhanced with an optical image stabiliser. The x10 optical zoom is a dream, but of course at full zoom, the better the light the better the image. The HD video is excellent quality and is surprisingly easy to hand-hold and get really good images. And as a real bonus for a HD compact, it allows you to zoom in and out whilst recording. That wasn’t the case on our last Sony Compact. Battery life is tops and so is the large, bright 3″ LCD screen.
The camera has a range if settings from automatic to a range of pre-settings. Many are as you’d expect (sports, night scene, soft-focus portrait etc) but there’s some interesting new or newish options – auto-settings for photos of food (!), photos through glass (which may just be a way of switching off the flash – haven’t checked that out and two baby settings. Using these the camera will recognise up to two individual faces (and one for a pet!) Enter their date of birth and if you wish the photos can show the age of the child in question every time a photo is taken! Oh, and a panorama setting which makes taking panorama photos as easy as pie.
I bought mine in Bangkok last week and paid about the same as Amazon are now quoting (£166) but had a leather belt purse (Panasonic DMW-PSS13KK Leather Case) and 4GB card in that price. The 4GB card allows you to take about 650 – 800 photos at 6-6.5MB each, but double that number for 2-3MB photos. And for the record, it worked well in 40 C temperatures.
So lots of plusses, but the HD video tops the bill for me.
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|Lovely little camera,
My trusty old Canon Ixus 70 (my third Canon) finally packed up. I researched in Which?, read all the reviews, and decided to go for the Panasonic Lumix on the personal recommendation of two different people, who had one themselves. I paid a bit more for the DMCSZ1, fairly new on the market, because it offered the Leica lens and the 10x Super Zoom. I like its very simple design, its easy-to-use instructions and its intelligent auto mode which gives good clear shots and excellent colour. It also does well in evening half light, which is nice. You can also photograph quite a large object in a small room without having to stand too far away from it, which is very handy. The Lumix has a brilliant small, light and simple charger, and the memory card from my Canon camera fitted it, which was useful. In fact you don’t need to use a memory card. Having got used to the new camera in grey, rainy London, I then took it to Paris in the Springtime, which was bathed in brilliant sunshine, and there one big drawback revealed itself. Unless one could find a patch of shade to stand in, it was almost impossible to take pictures in bright sunshine; all you got was a reflection of yourself in the big viewfinder. You couldn’t see your subject at all and had to aim and shoot and hope for the best. This is such a pity, as the big viewfinder itself is excellent (out of the sun), and the zoom is fantastic – I took a brilliant picture of Sacre Coeur from literally miles away. Why oh why have all the manufacturers of compact cameras got rid of the small extra viewfinder that you used to be able to look through if you needed to. As a non-techie, I have not yet tried to use the advanced features, but I am sure they will all work well. My only other tiny complaint is that the little metal cover for inserting the USB connection cable to recharge or download photos looks as if it won’t survive intact very long.
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|Great little camera!,
I’m no expert by any means,so I don’t have techical advice. If you want a camera you can just aim and take pictures/videos at the press of a button and get great results.
I bought this camera as I lost my previous Lumix which was the lesser version but still very good.
The extra button for videoing is so much better than having to change the settings….and then forgetting that you have!
I love both this one and my previous one.
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