Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ5 Review

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4.6 stars
Average rating for this product is: 4.6 out of 5

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Sony Fan's Review of Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ5

20th Dec 2008

Overall Rating

3.5 stars
  • Value for money
    5 stars
  • Image Quality
    3 stars
  • Features
    5 stars
  • Time Digital Camera Owned
    6 - 12 Months
  • Battery Life
    3 stars
  • Ease of Use
    5 stars
Good Points

10X zoom, high res screen, HD video capture, nice cosmetic design, reliable auto modes, effective image stabilisation, burst mode performance.


Bad Points

Settings can be changed by accident


General Comments

I bought this camera as a point-and-shoot for holiday snaps and other spontaneous shots, so was looking for something versatile that would fit in my pocket.

The TZ-5 is easy to use, thanks to an attractive and intuitive on-screen interface. There's no touch screen but the navigator buttons allow very fast operation. The flip side of this is that settings can be changed accidentally when you have the camera in your hand. I was very disappointed to find out that a large quantity of my summer holiday snaps were taken at 0.3MP, when I had thought it was set to 9MP.

The main settings include a wide choice of scene modes, a fully customisable mode and an 'intelligent auto' mode which guesses what kind of screen you're trying to photograph and chooses the most appropriate scene mode and settings for you. It does a pretty good job of this and I have been able to rely on it most of the time.
The screen itself is large, bright and very clear. This makes it very easy to show others your pictures straight away without having to explain to them what's in the photo.

The 10X optical zoom is smooth in operation and combines well with the optical image stabiliser to create clear images at full magnification. At the other end of the scale, the wide angle is better than most compact zoom cameras, and you can quickly move between each extreme with one press of the 'E Zoom' button.
The video mode includes a 720P high definition option. The results are not as good as the video you get from a good SD camcorder but do look significantly better than the clips I've seen from any other still camera, especially when viewed on a widescreen TV or computer monitor.

Overall, the DMC-TZ5 lives up to expectations as a versatile compact camera. The picture quality isn't as good as you'd get from a more serious camera, such as a Canon Powershot, but the combination of pocket-ability and features allow to take it virtually anywhere and capture a vast range of shots and clips.

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