Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2

Handling (6.50)

The TS2 is large enough that the hand can get a good grip, but this doesn’t feel especially tight: the lack of a ridge on the front and the slick metal skin makes for a slippery grip. Putting the included silicone cover onto the camera makes the grip tighter, but also makes it larger and less attractive looking.

We also found that it is a little easy for the ring finger of the left hand to slip and end up partially or completely covering the flash.

Buttons & Dials (6.00)

The TS2 has a slightly unusual arrangement of buttons, with the shutter near the back of the top of the body and the two zoom buttons in front of this. Most other Panasonic cameras use a zoom ring around the shutter, but presumably this arrangement was sacrificed to help waterproof the camera. The new arrangement works adequately, but it is not comfortable, as you have to reach from the shutter to the zoom and the back again with your index finger.

The other controls on the camera are a pretty standard arrangement, with the mode dial on the back of the camera and

Menus (6.00)

The menus of the TS2 are divided into two parts: the quick menu and the main menu. The quick menu (accessed by pressing the Q Menu button at the bottom of the back of the camera) contains the basic shooting controls that are used more frequently, such as ISO settings and image size. These are arranged along the top of the screen, and you use the directional control to move and select the desired option.

The main menu is accessed by hitting the menu button in the middle of the directional control and is where the more in-depth controls are located. These are divided into three tabs: Rec, Motion Picture and Setup. The Rec controls include features such as picture quality and the intelligent ISO settings in addition to all of the options on the quick menu.

The quick menu of the TS2	The main menu of the ZS3

Manual & Learning (7.00)

The TS2 comes with a basic operating instructions printed manual, but the full manual is only available on the included CD-ROM as a PDF file. We found this manual to be well illustrated and generally well written. Unlike many camera manuals, it shows you what the features do rather than just include a pidgin English explanation.