Review: Panasonic TZ10

Panasonic's Lumix TZ10 digital camera. Photo / Supplied

I've long been a fan of Panasonic's Lumix compact zoom cameras. Japanese engineering means they're pretty robust beasties, and being Panasonic also means the sticker price is also pretty reasonable. The addition of Leica optics seals the deal.

Looks and feel-wise, the TZ10 seems pretty similar to it's older TZ7 sibling. This isn't a bad thing as the ergonomics of the TZ7 were pretty decent and while the TZ10's small changes are only minor improvements, they are improvements.

Its all-metal body now sports a small handgrip (making for a more comfortable shape) and the TZ10's top-mounted controls have also been rearranged for the better. About the only other real sign of changes is the raised hump on the TZ10's top that is for the GPS antenna.

After using the TZ10 for a week or so I was pretty impressed. Panasonic seem to have put a considerable amount of effort into the TZ10's optics. Under its hood, the TZ10 houses a 14.5-megapixel image sensor (with an effective image capture size of 12 megapixels).

Attached to this is a 12x optical zoom f/3.3-f/4.9 Leica lens (equivalent to 25-300mm). Throw in some hoopy post-capture image processing smarts (which Panasonic are calling Intelligent Resolution Technology) and a crisp 3" LCD screen on its rear, and I was able to shoot some pretty respectable pictures.

If the feature-itus stopped there, the TZ10 would be a passable compact camera, but Panasonic have also added 720p high definition video capture (which also records stereo audio), manual exposure modes and GPS. The latter allows the TZ10 to automatically record the location where any photos were shot at using a built in database of over 500,000 landmarks worldwide. In short, about the only thing missing from this puppy is a kitchen sink.

As with the TZ7, the TZ10 also shot surprisingly passable HD video. Recording at 1280 x 720, hi-def video is captured at 30fps and was recorded in AVCHD Lite. Under normal daylight conditions video looked good and also passable when shooting under low light levels. Audio is captured using two directional mics on the TZ10's top. Panasonic have also added access to photo scene settings and a usable zoom whilst in video mode.

Panasonic are also touting what they call Intelligent Zoom enhancement. To my gadget-jaded inner cynic, this smelt of yet another attempt to wrap yet more spin around digital zoom.

Whilst I'm not a fan of digital zoom, (I only ever use it as a last resort), I tested it in the interests of seeing if it lived up to the hype. Whilst the results were generally better than expected, with the TZ10 giving detail in digital zoomed pics a bit of extra enhancement, optical zoom is still the way to go. There's still a whole lot to be said for moving in closer rather than using digital zoom.

What really grabbed me with the TZ10 was it's optional manual controls. While a digital SLR will obviously almost always trump a compact zoom camera with creativity options, the TZ10 gives more control over shooting than many similarly-priced compacts thanks to aperture priority, shutter priority and full manual exposure modes. Where many other compacts around this price point have preset scenery modes, these basic manual controls let me take great pictures.

About the only real grizzles were to do with the TZ10's lack of a continuous shooting mode (it has a three-shot burst mode but sports/wildlife shooters might this limiting) and battery life. Taking photos with the TZ10's GPS feature enabled, its battery died after only 87 photos (several of these required I use the zoom and the flash).

Turning the GPS feature off helped considerably but I never managed to get to the spec sheet's claimed 300 shots on a full charge.

Verdict

Overall I'm pretty impressed with the TZ10, Panasonic have managed to cram a whole lot of functionality into its petite body, building on the already good TZ7 to come up with an even more impressive design.

For shooting snaps while on holiday, the GPS feature might be useful, but given its impact on battery life I'd recommend either an extra battery or keeping it turned off when not needed. If you're in the market for a compact zoom camera, the TZ10 is definitely worth a look.

Panasonic Lumix TZ10
RRP$698

Specs
Image sensor: 14.5 Megapixel (12 megapixels usable)
Zoom: 12x optical with digital zoom
Focal length: (35mm) 4.1 - 49.2mm
Shutter speed: 60-1/200 sec
Viewfinder: 3" LCD
Modes: Photo (Jpeg) and 720p video recording (AVHCD Lite)
Storage: SD, SDHC, SDXC
AV Out: HDMI
Battery: 895 mAh Li-ion rechargeable