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- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 9 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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10 out of 10 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Fantastic Camera -"
Pros: Features and Zoom
Cons: 8 out of 10 for photo's.
Summary: When comparing this camera against the Canons and Nikons in the world I was very surprised to find that while the brand Panasonic doesnt hold up to them - this particular camera holds it weight against any 9-10MP Digital Compact Camera I have seen. I looked at about 10 different cameras in my research for a new camera, and while many factors weighed my decicison ultimately I was swayed because the the photo's on this camera are great and the features are one of the best I've seen outside of a DSLR. When researching camera's this time around I actually went to several stores in my area to feel the camera's as opposed to just reading blogs and people reviews. And while I found these two websites very very helpful
http://www.cameralabs.com/
http://www.dpreview.com/
I felt that holding and using the camera's after I had read the reviews and blogs were much more helpful. In narrowing my choices I was looking for a camera that wasn't quite a DSLR in size, but had big enough features that I wouldnt miss a DSLR. I really considered the Nikon D80 or the Canon EOS Rebel XSi, but in the end I didnt want to carry around the load of a DSLR with the lens and size of the body they have. While I loved the idea of having a camera for a long while 10 years or so, the convience of putting a compact in my pocket or bag real quick forced me to reconsider my options. That said, my choices narrowed down to the Canon SD870 and the Panasonic DMC TZ5..
Both of these camera's are very sold in build and feel. Both have large 3 inch LCD's.
And I found after doing some research and looking at photo's on the net from both camera's that the Panasonic more than held it's weight when comparing the two. That surprised me because I expected from a Brand perspective that the Canon would be a flat out better camera...Nope it really wasnt. The Panasonics LCD screen display jumps out at you with the vividness of display. The colors are just flat out the best I have ever seen in a LCD screen. And while thats great when looking at your object, we all by camera's for the photos. When I viewed the Canon photo's at various websites I was impressed, it takes really really great photo's. But when I looked at this website I just found that the photo's were very much alike in detail and image quality. And I was very amazed by that. Then I factored in the features of the huge 10X wide angle zoom, and the plethora of photo features like tagging photos by category, title and date so when you upload them to say iPhoto theyre distinguishable from another days downloads.
Look at these photo's
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonictz5/page11.asp
But all that said, I wasn't completely sold on it until I went to J&R in NY and felt the Panasonic in my hand. I have to tell you, the blue version I picked up is just beautifully designed - the weight was fantastic and made me feel like it was solidly built, and the color was so different and beautiful in my hand. The camera didnt have a slick feelt to it compared to some other camera's made of metal or polished metal that sometimes made me feel like it my slip out of my hand. The metal they used here feels really good and the blue just makes the camera look really different.
The zoom on the camera is fantastic, you can take really wide angle shots and feel like you've captured about 50 feet of range.
When I went back to compare and feel the Canon SD870 in J&R I just felt that the Panasnic had a leg up in overal design. The photo's were in my estimation the same in terms of quality - and that's saying a lot because Canon's photo's are excellent. Price wise the Canon was 10 more than the Panasonic so prices wasn't a factor. And while I hate following crowds - I noticed that J&R had like 20 units of the SD870 left, and two people had just purchased the black models of the TZ5, and they only had 3 units left. Not that stock should matter in purchasing a camera, but karma told me to go with the Panasonic, and i did.
I took the train home and before I got home I took a quick photo outside - and I just felt like the camera is a fantastic purchase.
I highley recommend.
Where to buy
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 (Blue):
$298.99
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$298.99 | Yes |
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