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Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5

 Product Rating: 9.6

By Dave Dornlas, Phototoday.net

I've been able to avoid flying in helicopters for about thirty years now, but my luck finally ran out which was actually very fortunate.

I'd been offered the opportunity by Panasonic to attend their pre-2008 PMA event. The event included a press conference where their newest cameras were announced along with information on the new technologies incorporated in them.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5

For the second part of the day we were all issued Panasonic's new Lumix DMC-TZ5 to use during a helicopter trip out to the Grand Canyon, a visit to the Las Vegas Speedway, and at that evening's dinner event. A lot of chances to put the TZ5 to the test. 

Opening the carrying case, my first impression of the TZ5 was that it was a handsome camera. Taking a closer look I saw that it was a 9.1 megapixel digital camera with a 10X optical zoom that goes from 28 to 280mm (35mm equivalent lens) with a 3" LCD screen.

A wide angle lens for tight spots 

One feature I like to see in travel cameras is a wide angle lens and the TZ5 sports a 28mm Leica DC Vario-Elmar lens. Wide angle lenses are great in tight spaces like cobble stone back streets or the interiors of historic buildings or on a helicopter safari into the Grand Canyon.

The fact that the lens is made by Leica, one of the best names in optics, is all the better. The shots I made lived up to my expectations as they were crisp and sharp and will look great as wall photos or as ingredients in a photo book of my adventures that day.

Shooting modes

This camera includes 6 basic shooting modes: Intelligent Auto, Normal, Motion Picture, Clipboard, SCN1, and SCN2. These shooting modes are the entry way to additional options such as choosing scene modes designed for pets, beach, snow, portraits, fireworks, baby, aerial, and many other scene modes that cover the most challenging photo situations you might encounter.

Intelligent Auto Mode

The TZ5's Intelligent Auto mode is made for folks who simply want the camera to figure things out and make great photos.

Selecting IA for your shooting mode turns on Panasonic's Mega O.I.S. (optical image stabilizer), Intelligent ISO Control, Face Detection, Intelligent Scene Selector, Intelligent Exposure, and Digital Red-Eye Correction.

What amazed me is that it actually worked. When I was shooting small desert plants the camera knew to switch to the macro mode to capture close-ups. When I stood and turned to shoot the canyon walls the mode was changed to the scenery mode. And when I decided to make a shot of a couple of my buddies at the press conference the TZ5 decided the night portrait mode should be selected so that the flash would fire and a long shutter exposure would be used to get the background just right.

Intelligent Exposure

One of the truly amazing new features highlighted during the press conference was Light Detection/Intelligent Exposure. What the engineers at Panasonic have figured out is a way to chop the scene the camera sees into 3000 sections and then figure the correct exposure for each section. The result is a scene that more closely matches what your eyes see.

The example they showed was a building in shadow and a bright blue sky. Normally you'd expect the camera to expose for one or the other or something in between. What you'll probably see is the sky is right but the building is in shadow  and under exposed. Another possibility would be for the sky to be "blown out" or over exposed while the building looks right. Neither of which is a good solution to your shooting situation. With Intelligent Exposure this little camera figures out how each section should be exposed and uses those exposures to correctly produce the captured scene.

I checked this out by shooting from my hotel room at the tower across the way against a beautiful sunset. The first time I did it I used the normal mode and it looked fine, but the hotel tower was a bit darker than I'd like. For my second shot I used the IA setting. This time the sky was pretty much the same, but now the tower was lighter and showed more detail.

I was pleased to find that Panasonic's Intelligent Exposure was an easy-to-use camera function that produces truly amazing results.

A 10X zoom & a little extra

This little camera has a 10X zoom that becomes a 280mm lens at the long end of its range. In addition, it also has something called an "extra optical zoom" that makes it a 16.9X zoom.

At first this threw me and a lot of the others gathered at the event. We're used to seeing additional digital zooms which really don't do much more than blow up a part of the image which is often of dubious value.

Las Vegas Speedway Pit area 28mm view	Las Vegas Speedway Pit area at 10X

What's happened here is the Panasonic engineers figured out a way to get a little more movement within the lens that would increase the results to a 16.9X zoom. The trade off is that the megapixels drop down to 3 which is still a lot of information for a good image.

The two shots above show the pit area of the Las Vegas Speedway, one at the wide setting that gets the whole area in and the second shot pulling up just the first open garage on the left made at the 10X setting. If I had wanted to, I could have gotten even closer by using the extra zoom feature.

To get to the extra zoom feature you have to depress a little button that takes the lens to the full out position and then push it one more time to engage the extra zoom. If you're traveling and want to get a good shot of wildlife that would otherwise be out of range, with this camera you have a chance of getting something nice.

Mega O.I.S (Optical Image Stabilization)

Whether it be a nice hand held night shot of the lights of Las Vegas, a telephoto shot of race cars moving around an oval track or getting a steady shot of the Grand Canyon from a helicopter, you'll find Panasonic's robust optical image stabilization system--Mega O.I.S. will give you great results. The system is a completely optical system that uses gyrosensors to detect hand-shake and then shifts the lens with the O.I.S. to correct for the hand-shake.

The TZ5 also allows you three options with their image stabilization. To turn it all the way off. To have it always on. To set it to only work when the shutter is depressed. While this may not seem important the image stabilization system does draw a bit of power and these options let you lengthen the life of the TZ5's lithium-ion battery.

A whole bunch of nice little touches make this a great camera

In addition to the TZ5's Intelligent Exposure, Intelligent Scene Selector, Mega O.I.S., Intelligent ISO Control and Face Detection AF/AE, there are a lot of little features that finish off this gem of a camera.

Take for example the placement of the preview/shooting switch located on the back of the camera just behind the shutter release which makes it easy to find and use.

I also particularly liked the camera's LCD viewfinder. It's 3" with 460,000 dots for a detailed bright image that adjusts automatically to the ambient light in 11 steps. The screen can also be set so that when you hold the camera over your head the contrast adjusts so that it's easier to see...a nice touch that you might not even think about, but the folks at Panasonic did.

Two separate scene shooting modes

Then there are the two scene selections on the shooting mode dial instead of just one. The day I tested the camera I set Scene 2 to the "aerial" shooting mode for the helicopter ride and Scene 1 to the sports mode when we were at the race track. Later I changed Scene 1 to the "party" mode for the evening's event. The photo to the right is bright and in focus even though it was taken in a very low light situation.

There's even a "clipboard" setting that lets you take photos of maps, timetables and other travel stuff. The twist is that when you do it on this setting the information is stored in the 50MB of internal memory the camera has so that you can get to it without having to run through all your normal photos that are stored on your SD memory card.

Well worth consideration

By the end of the day I'd made 207 shots with this camera in a lot of different situations and the results more than pleased me to the point that I hated to turn it back in.

If you're interested in a great little travel camera that fits comfortably in your pants pocket, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 will be available in March 2008 for a MSRP of $349.

Panasonic DMC-TZ5 Samples and Specifications 

 

2/07/2008

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