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Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 reviews
You can find here the most interesting reviews / ratings from the well-known expert sites about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 Camera. Here are the reviewers:
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- 29 January 2009 - |
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- 4.5 |
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- 19 September 2008 - |
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- 0 |
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- 27 August 2008 - |
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- 4.5 |
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- 12 May 2008 - |
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- 4.5 |
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- 05 May 2008 - |
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- 0 |
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- 05 May 2008 - |
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- 0 |
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- 22 April 2008 - |
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- 4.5 |
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- 02 April 2008 - |
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- 4.5 |
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- 17 March 2008 - |
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- 4.5 |
PhotographyReview 's conclusion / rating - 29 January 2009 |
“ The Panasonic Lumix TZ5 is a cool-looking, user-friendly little camera with one of the widest and longest zoom lenses available in a point-and-shoot. The 28mm-280mm Leica zoom lens provides a lot of creative options for framing and shooting pictures.
Intelligent Auto mode is a great addition to the usual Auto and scene modes, and really does help get better pictures by identifying scenes and adjusting focus and exposure for them. Metering and exposure is good in average or better lighting conditions. While the camera does not allow manual shutter and aperture settings, adjustments can be made to ISO, white balance and auto focus modes. Optical image stabilization helps compensate for blur caused by shaky hands. Image quality is generally good and compares favorably with other cameras in its size and price range.
Video recording is available in QuickTime and HD formats. Those with high-definition televisions can even hook the TZ5 up directly to their HDTV for HD output.
Overall, I think the TZ5 is nearly perfect for tucking in my purse so I’m never without a camera. The one area where I’d like to see real improvement is image quality, particularly noise. But for now, it’s a tradeoff I’m willing to make for the privilege of carrying a 28mm-280mm lens in my purse... ”
PhotographyReview's rating: |
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- 4.5 |
Complete review here
DPInterface 's conclusion / rating - 19 September 2008 |
“ The Panasonic Lumix TZ5 is a relatively compact camera for a super-zoom. It has a useful 10X optical zoom lens which starts at 28 mm and it comes with optical image stabilization. While there's a nice lens in front, there's a fancy LCD on the back too. The Panasonic Lumix TZ5 has a large, high-resolution 3 inch LCD, on which you can see what you're framing in almost any condtiion. Some things like the plastic doors and tripod mount could be better though
In addition to being a small camera that you can carry with you almost anywhere with you, the Lumix TZ5 has plenty of scene modes and Intelligent exposure features. The thing that it lacks here is more manual controls. Sure there's custom white balance and metering mode selection, but how about some manipulation over shutter speed and aperture?
The Panasonic Lumix TZ5 is also quite fast, especially autofocus using high-speed mode. There are three burst modes to choose from, one of them is a high-speed (but reduced resolution) one and general shot-to-shot times were quick. Only in low-light did the camera's AF become sluggish but it eventually managed to lock focus thanks to the assist light.
All-in-all, the Panasonic Lumix TZ5 is a compact for a 10X zoom camera and combines many features like lots of scene modes, a nice lens and fancy 720p movie mode into a bring-anywhere design. There aren't too many quirks to this camera and image quality was good as of whole. If you can live with a do-it-all camera without needing manual controls, then the TZ5 gets my recommendation.... ”
DPInterface's rating: |
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- 0 |
Complete review here
TrustedReviews 's conclusion / rating - 27 August 2008 |
“ Over the week that I’ve been using the Panasonic TZ5 I have come to really like it, and will miss it when I have to give it back. It is a well designed and solidly made camera which is tough enough to survive quite a bit of rough treatment. It handles superbly, performs exceptionally well and is a genuine pleasure to use. Apart from its zoom range it’s a bit limited in terms of creative features, but has a good range of automatic functions that produce good quality pictures in almost any situation. It is quite expensive, but it is a product of real quality and as a general purpose snapshot camera it is hard to beat. ... ”
TrustedReviews's rating: |
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- 4.5 |
Complete review here
PhotographyBLOG 's conclusion / rating - 12 May 2008 |
“ The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 represents an incremental evolution of an already winning blueprint, retaining the fundamental design of the hugely successful TZ3 model, whilst adding a smattering of new features. Current owners of the TZ3 won't be clamouring to upgrade, and if you can still find one at a bargain price, it remains a fantastic purchase, but for everyone else the new DMC-TZ5 is a very appealing camera in a saturated market, thanks to its combination of 10x ultra-zoom lens and relatively compact dimensions. Using such a small camera with such a large zoom range opens up lots of photographic opportunities that you just won't get with similar sized models, and the ability to zoom from 28mm up to 280mm and still get sharp results thanks to Panasonic's Mega O.I.S system is a revelation. Everything from wide-angle scenics to distant close-ups is possible, all from a camera that you can just about squeeze into a (large) pocket.
The move from a 7 to 9 megapixel sensor thankfully hasn't come at the expense of image quality, which has actually been slightly improved since the last generation of Lumix models. ISO 800 on the DMC-TZ5 is comparable to ISO 400 on the older TZ3, despite the increase in megapixels, with much less aggressive noise-reduction techniques. I'd be happy to use ISO 100-400 for most photos, with ISO 800 reserved for low-light situations, a marked improvement on the TZ3. ISO 100-400 isn't a particularly versatile range, but the usual excellent optical image stabilisation system means that the DMC-TZ5 is still an adaptable camera, as you can take a photo at a faster ISO speed and therefore a slower shutter speed, and still get sharp results, without adversely affecting the battery life too much. The High Sensitivity mode provides a fastest ISO speed of 6400, but the image resolution is automatically reduced to 3 megapixels and there's far too much noise and blurring of detail at that speed.... ”
PhotographyBLOG's rating: |
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- 4.5 |
Complete review here
DCResource 's conclusion / rating - 05 May 2008 |
“ Photo quality was very good. In most cases, the TZ5 took well-exposed photos with pleasing, saturated color. Photos are slightly soft, though not enough to cause concern for this reviewer. On previous TZ-series models, noise reduction was a big problem. Panasonic has addressed that here, though your photos have noise in them instead, especially in shadow details. The noise does clean up well, though, since details are left intact (even at ISO 800), and if you're making small to midsize prints, you don't even need to bother with that. Noise reduction is still present, though it's not nearly as harsh as it was on the TZ3. Redeye and purple fringing were not problems, as the camera removes both of these annoyances automatically.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 is quite an impressive package. It's not perfect, but it's arguably the best camera in the "compact" ultra zoom class. From its 28 - 280 mm lens to its 720p movie mode, the TZ5 can do just about everything. If you're after a point-and-shoot camera with some serious zoom power, then the TZ5 should be high on your list. ... ”
Complete review here
DigitalCameraReview 's conclusion / rating - 05 May 2008 |
“ Journalists covering the digital camera industry seemed to be almost universally disappointed that Panasonic didn't, for the second update in a row, listen to their pleas to include more user exposure control on the next TZ camera. The TZ3 sold well, and many of those same kinds of users will continue to find the TZ5 appealing. Even so, I can't help but feel that Panasonic missed an easy opportunity to become even more dominant in its fairly small peer group by simply tacking on P/A/S/M modes: though it's the more competent camera all around by a fair bit, the TZ5 will likely continue to give up ground among a certain segment of its market to the likes of Canon's manual-exposure equipped SX100.
I've come to think of Panasonic's Lumix camera as some of the most consistently refined devices on the market, and in light of this high standard, discovering the TZ5's rough edges after spending a little time with it comes, perhaps unfairly, as that much more of a disappointment. Countering this, the TZ5 adds a (usually) great new screen, takes a step toward addressing the TZ3's high-ISO concerns, can shoot HD video that rivals many camcorders, and, perhaps most importantly, does all of this while retaining basically everything that made the TZ3 so good – good speed, good optics, and a compact, stylish package. The saving grace for Panasonic's choice to stay conservative with the TZ5 may be that (in the U.S. market, at least) there are so few rivals to the TZ cameras that the latest Lumix is almost guaranteed a strong following whether or not it provides much in the way of heavy innovation.
At the end of the day, I came away with mixed feelings about the TZ5. It's a competent package that continues to do something relatively unique, and it will still get the job done with style and speed in most cases. Choosing to break little from the heritage of the TZ line, though, I can't help but feel that it's not as outstanding as it easily could have been.... ”
DigitalCameraReview's rating: |
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- 0 |
Complete review here
DPReview 's conclusion / rating - 22 April 2008 |
“ While the step from the TZ1 to the TZ3 was quite a big one the upgrade from TZ3 to TZ5 is more evolutionary. The main changes are an increased megapixel count, a higher resolution screen, and an improved movie mode, now offering HD quality output. The newest member of the TZ family, like its predecessor, is a fast and extremely versatile camera that is also compact enough to carry it anywhere you go, and it's now even more fun to use.
The 28-280mm 10x zoom makes the TZ5 an ideal travel companion covering an enormous array of photographic assignments, from wide angle landscape shots to wildlife photography (well, as long as the wildlife remains fairly stationary). But the Leica badged lens has not only an impressive zoom range, it also offers admirable edge-to-edge sharpness across the zoom range. Combine that with very little distortion even at wide angle and you've got a truly excellent lens.
Unfortunately, as before, what's behind the lens does not entirely match the glass. Although image quality has again been slightly improved with the new model (noise reduction at higher ISOs is a lot less intrusive) all is still not rosy in Panasonic's garden. The tiny sensor means that noise and a general softness caused by noise reduction is visible in the TZ5's output even at base ISO. Of course things don't exactly get better at higher sensitivities and anything higher than ISO 400 should be avoided if you plan to print your images at a decent size or publish them online at a high resolution. ... ”
Complete review here
PhotoReview 's conclusion / rating - 02 April 2008 |
“ Panasonic's new 9.1-megapixel DMC-TZ15 digicam is the latest in its 'Travellers' Zoom' series of cameras. Replacing the 7.2-megapixel TZ3, it introduces a swag of new features that will appeal to point-and-shoot photographers who want a slim camera with a long zoom lens. The TZ15's body is marginally smaller and lighter than its predecessor but just as pocketable and equally well-built... ”
PhotoReview's rating: |
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- 4.5 |
Complete review here
Camera Labs 's conclusion / rating - 17 March 2008 |
“ As we commented of its predecessor, it’s hard to find cameras to rival the Lumix TZ5 because it simply represents a unique proposition on the market. After all, while there’s plenty of super-zoom cameras with stabilisation, none can squeeze into a trouser or coat pocket like the TZ5.
The lack of manual control can be annoying for enthusiasts, and the performance at higher sensitivities is, like most compacts, nothing to be proud of. But these are about the only real downsides to the TZ5. So if you’re happy to leave your creativity to various scene presets and limit the sensitivity to 100 or 200 ISO then you’ll enjoy some great-looking photos.
The only fly in the ointment is the earlier TZ3 which may not sport the TZ5’s latest gadgetry, but still shares the same lens and form factor. So if you can live without the new features, it represents superb value while stocks last.
That said, the asking price of the new TZ5 remains very reasonable and by adding several neat new features, Panasonic has improved on what was already a winning model. The HD movies may be no replacement for a proper camcorder, but they’re still impressive, as are the more detailed screen in playback and the improved automatic facilities.
But it’s the core feature which still impresses. As we said of its predecessor, the TZ5 is a highly compelling proposition for anyone who wants the flexibility and power of a long zoom with the carry-everywhere convenience of a compact. Once again Panasonic has a camera that easily deserves our Highly Recommended rating.... ”
Camera Labs's rating: |
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- 4.5 |
Complete review here
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