Panasonic Lumix TZ8 Digital Camera 2.7 inch LCD – Black
Posted by Notcot on Apr 22, 2010 in Photography |
Product Description
Super Zoom Camera TZ8 – 25mm Wide-angle 12x Optical Zoom Lens and 16x Intelligent Zoom Camera. The 12.1-megapixel DMC-TZ8 features a 25mm wide-angle 12x optical zoom f/3.3-4.9 LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR lens (35mm camera equivalent: 25-300mm) in a compact body. The 25mm wide-angle lens has about twice the shooting area of the standard 35mm lens. The powerful 12x zoom can also be used in motion picture recording. In 3-megapixel resolution mode, the Extra Optical Zoom function provides additional magnification, extending the zoom power to 23.4x by using the center part of the CCD.
- 12x Optical/16x Intelligent Zoom
- 25mm Wide-angle LEICA DC Lens
- HD Movie Mode
- Intelligent Resolution Technology
- Megapixels: 12
I’ve had this camera for a couple of weeks now, and have not yet fully explored everything, but thought I’d start a review and then update it at a later date, once I really know the camera.
What I was looking for
I wanted a replacement for my Sony DSC H9 which was beginning to fail me. I have an SLR but like to have a smaller camera for the times I don’t want to lug a dead weight around with me. I was looking for good image quality, big zoom, manual controls and something that I could put in my pocket rather than carry round my neck.
The ones I didn’t buy
I read several reviews and was tempted by the following, but:
TZ7 – Controls poorly designed, no manual settings.
TZ10 – More expensive and has GPS which eats up battery power and apparently has to be switched off every time you switch the camera on if you don’t want it!
Both of the above have a better LCD screen and better movie options, but this wasn’t a concern for me.
Canon Powershot SX200 – Annoying pop-up flash, no histogram, possibly poorer image quality (depending on which review you read).
What I like about the TZ8
Very nice to handle: quite small, solidly built, pleasing design. The on/off switch moves sideways, rather than being a button, so you won’t switch the camera on or off by mistake. I like the record/review switch on the back, too.
Image quality excellent, pictures remain sharp unless you really wobble when taking pictures. Macro shots also sharp and detailed. The high sensitiviy mode produced very natural colours in incandescent light, which can be a problem with some cameras.
Massive zoom seems to work well, even the boosted e-zoom.
What I haven’t yet established
There are lots of different options when it comes to auto functions, including an endless array of scene modes. I’m not convinced these make a lot of difference, though for example the the “pinhole” option does obviously alter the image quite a lot. The “intelligent auto” does seem to work well; for example identifying a macro or landscape shot by itself. Is the resulting image better than if you leave the camera on “P”? I don’t know yet.
Small things that annoy me
If you want to use intelligent auto and shoot at 3:2 aspect ratio, you have to use the full 11+ megapixels, unlike all the other modes which allow you to do this at around 5 MP.
The zoom lever is a tad over-eager, though I’m learning to use it very gently so the camera doesn’t immediately launch into 12x zoom.
The printed instructions supplied with the camera are very sparing indeed. The full manual is a pdf file on a CD, which is very irritating.
A replacement battery costs over £30 as third party manufacturers haven’t cracked the code yet. Really mean of Panasonic.
***UPDATE 20/04/10
Discovered that my Sandisk 8GB SDHC doesn’t work for movie mode – seems it’s not fast enough, so will only record a few seconds before being overwhelmed. Can’t see this mentioned in the manual, Panasonic should make it clear what type of memory is required.***
Features I would have liked
RAW capability
Optical viewfinder
Remote control
All in all this is proving to be a great camera which I would recommend to anyone looking at the same criteria as me.
Rating: 5 / 5