Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 Digital Camera Review

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1

First Impressions Review

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 houses 5 megapixels on its 1/2.5-inch CCD and couples it with a lengthy Leica DC Vario Elmarit 10x optical zoom lens. On the back of the inch and a half camera body is a 2.5-inch LCD screen that has the world’s first High Angle mode. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 will retail for $349 when it becomes available in March.
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Panasonic DMC-TZ1


Model Design / Appearance
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 is thin compared to other ultra zoom cameras, but thick compared to other compact models. The TZ1 is a little more than an inch and a half thick, and it’s even thicker where the right hand grips the camera. The stepped grip has a bumpy highlight in the middle with the TZ1 logo. The camera’s design is very rectangular, perhaps to allude to its widescreen capabilities? The TZ1’s metal body has a plain look with a very simple design. Its relatively traditional aesthetics are made a little more interesting with the silver and black color offerings.

Size / Portability
The TZ1 measures 2.29 x 4.41 x 1.58 inches and weighs just over a half pound without the battery. When fully loaded with the lithium-ion battery and the memory card, the camera weighs 0.58 lbs. The camera looks quite portable at this size, although it isn’t ultra slim or super light-weight. A wrist strap attaches to the right side for easier portability.

Handling Ability
The pre-production TZ1 models at PMA did not lend themselves to an accurate assessment of the camera’s handling or feel, so we will have to take a hard look at this when we conduct our full review of the TZ1 in the coming months.

Still, handling on the PMA models was comfortable considering the circumstances. There are bumps on the back of the camera that act as a thumb grip. The front has a hand and finger grip contoured and etched from the body.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size
There aren’t many buttons on the camera body, which is a nice feature for consumers who are intimidated by their presence. Oftentimes when a camera doesn’t have many buttons, it compensates with ridiculously long menus but that isn’t the case with the TZ1. It is just a simple camera in terms of available options. The buttons that are on the body are crammed toward the bottom and are a bit small. The most important button, the shutter release, is big and comfortable though.

Menu
The menus aren’t as long as anticipated, considering the lack of buttons on the camera body. Still, they require quite a few taps of the multi-selector. The menus are organized into folder-like tabs showing the recording and setup menus. The system is complemented by a few live views – white balance and color effects – and rather large text. Unfortunately, the text is in all capital letters which can drive some users crazy and isn’t the most readable format. The patriotic red, white and blue colored menus have page numbers in the top right of the screen (i.e. 1/3 for first out of three). The following is the recording menu.  

White Balance
Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Custom, Custom Set
Sensitivity
Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800
Aspect Ratio
4:3, 3:2, 16:9
Picture Size
5 M, 3 M, 2 M, 1 M, 0.3 M
Quality
Fine, Standard
Audio Recording
On, Off
Metering Mode
Spot, Center-weighted Average, Multi
AF Mode
1-point, 1-point high speed, 3-point high speed, 9-point, spot
Continuous AF
On, Off
AF Assist Lamp
On, Off
Slow Shutter
1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1
Digital Zoom
On, Off
Color Effect
Off, Cool, Warm, Black & White, Sepia
Picture Adjustment
Standard, Natural, Vivid
Flip Animation
Picture Capture (up to 100 photos), Create Motion Picture (Frame Rate 5-10 fps, Create), Delete Still Picture

The biggest problem with the menus is the indistinct icons used in them. For example, all of the AF Mode options are depicted as icons so users have to guess which one is which. Text does not appear when users scroll over the icons either. The setup menu is much more text-based, thank goodness.  

Clock Set
Time, Date, M/D/Y
World Time
Destination, Home (select from world map)
Monitor
+/- 3 brightness
Travel Date
Off, Set
Auto Review
Off, 1, 3 sec
Power Save
Off, 1-10 min
Economy
Off, Level 1, Level 2
Beep
Off, Level 1, Level 2
Shutter
Off, Level 1, Level 2
Volume
5 levels
No. Reset
Yes, No
Reset
Yes, No
USB Mode
PC, PictBridge
Highlight
On, Off
Video Out
NTSC, PAL
Scene Menu
Off, Auto
Language
English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified

 Within the playback mode, the following menu options appear. 

Slide Show
Start, Duration 1-5 sec and manual, Audio on and off
Favorite
On, Off, Cancel
Rotate Display
On, Off
Rotate
Set, Cancel
DPOF Print
Single, Multi, Cancel
Protect
Single, Multi, Cancel
Audio Dubbing
Up to 10 sec
Resize
Set, Cancel
Trimming
Set, Cancel
Aspect Conversion
3:2, 4:3
Copy
Internal Memory to Card, Card to Internal Memory
Format
Yes, No

 All in all, the menus are easy to navigate with the five-buttoned multi-selector, but the overabundance of capital letters may drive you to insanity.

Ease of Use
The automatically oriented TZ1 is quite easy to use. It has a look that is inviting to beginners because of its plain face and lack of buttons and clutter. This Panasonic Lumix’s only drawback is its use of icons. Consumers who are not familiar with the Panasonic setup may not know that the heart icon on the mode dial represents the Simple mode – and they may not know that the Simple mode is Panasonic’s most automatic mode. It’d probably be more helpful if the heart was replaced by the actual text: “AUTO”.

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