- 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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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
5.0 stars
"Great pictures in an elegant user friendly design."
Pros: This camera feels good in your hand. The dials and buttons have distinct tactile feedback unlike many popular brands such as Canon. When you move the dial, you know you have moved it. No mushy buttons or sloppy wheels. Layout is good and easy to use.
Cons: My biggest problem in buying a new camera has been in finding one I liked that also had a view finder. I finally gave up, but I wish Panasonic would add one to this camera. It is the only serious con I can find.
Summary: I have been turned off by all of the dozens of digital cameras I have tested. The often highly rated Canons, for example, have mushy feeling buttons and dials. I have also found most of them very uncomfortable to use. The effort to make things smaller and smaller has resulted in cameras that are not fun to use because they feel so awkward in your hand. The Lumix is definitely not for the person who wants to be able to fit his camera into the thumb pocket of his Levis. But what you get in the size tradeoff can't be beat. It actually has a time tested design that puts your thumb on the back of the camera, your index finger on the shutter release, and best of all, a nice top to bottom cradle for your middle finger. You can hold this camera with one hand with no fear of it flying out of your hand. It also appears to be well built. I actually bought a Canon IS 850 but the second time I used it the camera slipped out of my hand and hit the floor. What happened to it was pathetic. The thin metal casing didn't dent; it buckled. The delicate long extending lens bent to about a 20 degree angle. The camera was destroyed.
Although I haven't tested it (and I won't!), the Lumix looks like it might withstand a short fall without serious damage. My last camera was an Olympus and it also could stand up to that rare but inevitable fall. At the risk of sounding chauvinistic, the Lumix feels like a camera made for a man's hand. Those teeny tiny Canons are best used for dainty hands.
The camera's layout and menus were all easy to understand and use. I was doing just about everything I wanted to do with it without every opening the manual. I've only taken a handful of pictures but they looked great and the indoor ones actually looked better than the Canon 850 I had for 24 hours.
Last but not least, you can't beat that extra wide lens and the 10x optical zoom. It's great. If only it had a viewfinder I would be in heaven.
Where to buy
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 (Blue):
$298.99
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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