HP TouchSmart. Touch the future now.
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 19 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Great camera all-around, esp. for its size"
Pros: 10x optical zoom in a super compact; HD video; easy to use.
Cons: Video time limit, not great in low lighting or high-speed situations.
Summary: When I started looking at the market for digital cameras, I had three criteria: Small form, good optical zoom, and HD video. My dad told me there's no such camera. Well, come April, this camera was released and I had already been looking at it. 10x optical zoom in such a small camera is amazing, and HD video on top of that!
I wanted a small camera because I plan on doing some traveling, and I hate feeling like a geeky tourist having to pull out a big, awkward camera everywhere. This thing is sleek, beautiful, and nothing to be ashamed of showing off. The HD video amazes my friends and family. I plan on traveling in Greece soon, and Japan and Korea in the future, and this will be the camera I take with me. I don't regret my purchase one bit.
That being said, there are some criticisms I will make, since some people want different things from a camera.
First, this camera is not good at shooting in low light, indoors, etc. It will up the ISO, then run the photo through an in-camera noise filter, also removing/blurring some detail. I will use a tripod when shooting at night (which won't be often) and manually set the ISO. Of course, there's always flash.
Second, when shooting video, if you use zoom, the microphone will pick up some of the internal noises (it's kind of loud; big lens and all). This is even more of a problem if you Cover the microphone with your Finger! So be careful.
And last, I can tell you that this camera won't be the best at capturing high-speed situations in photos. But to counter that, I would just switch to video. There may still be some trouble with a lot of motion, but really it's give-and-take. You get a lot for your money, but you have to consider what situations you want to use this camera for.
I can honestly say that for the situations I want to use it in, this camera is perfect: Huge zoom, Wide angle lens, HD video, compact form. And did I mention decent price?
Where to buy
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 (Black):
$255.00 - $359.95
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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$255.00 | Yes |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$359.95 | Yes |
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