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Introduction
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01.Testing / Performance
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02.Physical Tour
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03.Components
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04.Design / Layout
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05.Modes
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06.Control Options
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07.Image Parameters
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08.Connectivity / Extras
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09.Overall Impressions
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10.Conclusion
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11.Specs / Ratings
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12.Comments
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1
Previous: Page 4
Design / LayoutNext: Page 6
Control Options
Portrait Blurs background
Auto Mode (7.75)
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 has a heart icon on its mode dial indicating its most automatic mode. It also has its own menu, with only 4 entries. One entry sets file size to "Enlarge, 4x6, or Email." The second activates auto review, the third controls the beep and the last sets date and time. All the user is left to do is set the zoom and press the shutter.
The heart mode is as simple as it gets, and many users would be wise to choose it.
Custom Image Presets (7.75)
The general notion of presets is that they set the camera about the way an experienced photographer would set a manual camera to get a particular sort of shot. The TZ1 has a typical selection. Following the practice on other Lumix cameras, the TZ1 has two scene mode positions on the mode dial. The user can choose a separate scene mode for each position and can switch between them without having to scroll through the whole list.
Drive / Burst Mode (7.5)
The Panasonic TZ1 has three burst mode settings: High, Low and Infinity. At 3 frames in less than a second, High is a bit faster than Low, which needs the full second to shoot 3. Neither mode can take more than 3 at a time in Fine mode and full resolution. Infinity mode does not violate any laws of physics that I know of – it's not infinitely fast or anything like that. It simply keeps on going, taking shots every 1.2 seconds or so until the user stops pressing the shutter release, the battery runs down, or the memory card fills up. That might get infinitely boring, otherwise, it adds up to a large, but finite number of images.
Playback Mode (7.5)
Playback mode on the TZ1 is pared down. Its slide show lets the user choose to show each image from 1 to 5 seconds, and it offers the option of playing audio clips attached to images. It offers thumbnail modes showing either 9 or 25 images at a time, and it shows a convenient calendar mode, which lets users who rarely download look up their images by date, rather than having to scroll through their whole collection. The display magnifies images up to 16x, which is more than the JPEG's image quality can handle – the difference between 8x and 16x is that the blurs are bigger at 16x.
The TZ1 user can set favorite images, crop images, resize images smaller, change image aspect ratios, rotate them and print.
The movie mode on the TZ1 is as good as the still mode, in a few ways. The color and image quality are good. The zoom lens works while shooting (an advance over previous point-and-shooters with video) and the image stabilization works very well in video, even when the user pans. The sound, however, is awful. A look at the tiny hole in the top of the camera which covers the microphone should give it away – the audio system could probably hide in a gnat's armpit. Though the zoom mechanism is quiet, it's audible in movie clips.
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