Panasonic LUMIX TZ10 Digital Camera - Black

Far too much to write about this product, so I'll keep it short. Few points - on board memory is not enough so you'll need to invest in an extra memory card that's generation 6 or above, although I'm doing fine with a 16GB generation 4 card. The battery takes about 1.5 hours or less to charge and believe me, you'll probably want to invest in an extra Panasonic battery as it can drain fairly swiftly with lots of use. Lifting off static pictures to your PC is easy, however if lifting off video, you have to install the software that comes on a CD to do this. At the moment Youtube can't recognise the video format wich is an M2TS file, so you need to convert the file to MPEG for Youtube uploads. To edit HD video your PC needs to be very fast, at least 2.3Ghz even higher I think. Software to handle M2TS files is sparse too at the moment so check what software you need and if your PC is even fast enough to handle this. I edit my videos using a stand-alone Panasonic DVD recorder/Freeview/hard-drive box and not a PC myself as my laptop is not fast enough until I upgrade. Although you can use the automatic function to take pics, this utterly defeats the object in owning a camera like this. I learnt how to control the ISO, shutter and exposure manually and this is where this camera comes into it's own. When I was controlling everything manually, the results were far superior to auto, so I suggest you go off and learn what ISO, shutter speeds and different exposures can do. I found using auto simply wasn't delivering good results for me and if you learn a bit of this, you'll take amazing pics in low level light situations without having to use a flash for instance, where the results are far more atmospheric than bleaching everything out using the flash. The pics are lush and awesome as well as the video. The zoom is simply amazing as well as the macro (I photographed a bee on a flower petal and you can clearly see grains on pollen on it's legs, when viewed back on a PC screen) Slight annoyance when videoing and zooming in as the motor noise gets recorded too but barely noticable. Pics get recorded with all properties which is great, ie, right click the pic on your PC and select details to see all information of that single picture. This camera also has GPS to geo-tag holiday pictures but keep it in the off mode as it drains the battery even when switched off. Overall, this is an awesome piece of kit and truly amazing at how much technology they can compact in such a small unit with absolutely stunning pictures. However, you will not get amazing pics if you do not learn how to control ISO, shutter speed and exposures, imho.

I wanted to supplement my Fuji S9500, with which I am still well pleased, with a smaller digital camera. I was nearly seduced by a cheaper Fuji XP30 waterproof but went for the Panasonic in the end partly because of the 12 reviews I read, partly because of their photo samples (picture quality is what I buy a camera for) and partly because it is basically a Leica. I've had it only a few days and am delighted - ignore the negative reviews you might find. It is intuitive in use, has all the options a keen amateur (and for all I know, a keen professional) might want including easy and high quality video (even in mpg format, which I'll mostly stick with)and a great lens. It's actually given me a problem, because the picture quality is better, just, than my Fuji so it may supplant rather than supplement it. Thanks, Leica. There have been complaints about battery life and it certainly needs replacing more often than the 4 AAs in the Fuji; but I bought a spare (NOT a Panasonic one) which works perfectly and recharges faster than the original - I have just ordered a second spare, at £12.95 inc delivery. I can take 200 pix a day when out walking, so I don't want to be short of battery. If I find a battery with more than 895 mAh, I'll grab it. The GPS is certainly a drain on the battery but you'll rarely need it; I have a handheld GPS anyway, so I can always backtrack and compare the timings of photo and route waypoint. I've had a Canon AE1 Program for over 25 years and my first digital 8 years ago was a very good Nikon until the shutter delay became a nuisance, but the Panasonic TZ10 is easily the best camera I have handled. I cannot imagine needing to replace it until they make the same package available in a credit-card sized camera. It's also good value now that the replacement TZ20 has come along - I doubt it will be much better. PS - I don't work for Amazon, Panasonic, Leica or anybody in the photographic business! Panasonic Lumix TZ10 Digital Camera - Black (12.1MP, 12x Optical Zoom) 3.0 inch LCD Premium Range - DMW-BCG10E, DMWBCG10E, BCG10E, DMW BCG10E - 2 Year Warranty Replacement Lithium Li-on Digital Camera Battery for Panasonic Lumix :- Lumix DMC-TZ6, DMCTZ6, DMC-TZ7, DMCTZ7, DMC-TZ8, DMCTZ8, DMC-TZ10, DMCTZ10, DMC-ZR1, DMCZR1, DMC-ZS1, DMC...

I bought the TZ10 as an upgrade for my TZ7 which I had only for a year and is attracting high bids on ebay as I type! The TZ10 is a huge improvement for me over the TZ7 - using the automatic everything setting (iA) it takes well balanced photos both inside and out. The TZ7 was a bit underexposed on indoor flash photos. Anyway, best way for me to report my likings of the TZ10 are in a list, so.... PROS. * Superb indoor flash photos on iA exposure setting. * Fantastic lens as you would expect from Leica. No discernable barrelling, vigneting, or aberrations of any sort. How much of this is down to the lens alone or to manipulation by the camera's electronics I don't know but it's the results that count. Excellent zoom range. * Excellent macro focussing ability. I tested this on a hairy catapillar in the garden and some colourful moths I found. The detail is very good indeed. * Love the exposure options - Programme, Shutter priority, Aperture priority and Manual as well as two user definable settings and Panasonic's own iA setting (which I seldom use). * Fast response to pressing the shutter button. I'm in the habit of half pressing the shutter button so the camera sets up the focus, exposure etc. before I take the actual picture. Handy when there are people in the shot because I can make sure I'm happy with the composition at the time I take the shot. For 'grab' shots where I just point and shoot the camera is still quite fast. * OIS image stabiliser. My, this is good! As an example, I took a macro zoom picture of an insect on a branch of a shrub which was blowing gently in the breeze. The immage stabiliser held the shot so that the final picture was razor sharp - no image blur or camera shake, just a super picture! * GPS. I don't use this at home but I do when I'm out and about and then I put it on 'flight' setting. In this mode GPS is switched off when the camera is. With GPS set to 'on' it continues working even when the camera is switched off and it uses the battery up quite quickly. * Movie mode. I'm not a keen movie maker so this camera takes more than adequate movie shots for me. I can zoom whilst recording and it has good quality stereo sound. The picture quality is excellent and I certainly have no need for a seperate camcorder! * Small size and build quality. This camera is small enough for me to carry around conveniently so I seldom leave it in the car or at home when I'm out. This means I take more photos. That's what it's all about, isn't it? Build quality is good and robust - I don't feel like it will break during normal use. CONS. Can' think of any considering this does exactly what I bought it for - to take around with me, to take good quality photos, to give me a level of control over the composition and exposure of the photo and to record short movies when the need arises. It's true that the battery might not last the day if all the bells and whistles are left turned on but this has not yet caught me out. There are many features on this camera that I won't use e.g. superimposed picture frames, so I can't comment about those except that I find them gimmicky and unnecessary. Finally, I bought the TZ10 in preference to the TZ20 because the difference in price didn't justify any benefits for me. Also, the TZ20 has some touch screen functionality which would annoy me if every time I accidently touched the screen I changed some setting! In conclusion, I am so happy with this little camera that I can see me settling in to using this often and for some years.

All the reviews of this camera that I read before buying gave me a good impression of it's strengths and weaknesses, so I was very satisfied with it when it arrived. It takes great photos on Intelligent Auto setting except that the highlights are a bit burnt out. The real drawback is the lack of an optical viewfinder, as the viewing screen is almost useless in bright sunlight. Most other compact cameras suffer from the same drawback, so come on manufacturers, give us back a means of framing shots accurately in bright light. It really does produce very good images, and Intelligent Auto is very clever indeed. There's a lot of clever technology here with scope to adjust a fair range of settings. The battery goes down fairly quickly compared to other cameras I have used, but spares are not over costly. It may not have all the advantages of a decent DSLR, but you will have this one in your pocket all the time, and the image quality won't disappoint, especially at the very modest price. 12 Months later. I still love this camera, although I now have and DSLR as well. The image quality still seems very good, though not in the same league as an 18mega pixel DSLR with a good lens. The zoom range is great for such a compact camera. The lack of an optical viewfinder still drives me mad in bright sun. I have had excellent shots of gannets in flight with the Panasonic. I'm off to Ecuador and the Galapagos islands soon and will take both cameras, and expect to get some spectacular shots with the Panasonic. 15 months later I used both cameras in the Galapagos, and the Panasonic was great for close-ups and instant shots of birds and animals. My DSLR does take better images, but it's much bigger and many times heavier. The more I use the Panasonic the more capable it seems, and it's small size and good zoom lens make it brilliant as a travel camera.

Bought this camera ready for a holiday and having read and seen other reviews was pretty sure I was making the right choice, upon receiving the camera it immediatley felt of the quality Panasonic products have come to have the reputation for. It arrived on the morning that I was departing for my hols so didn't have time to study any in depth instruction's, however I found the camera intuitive and easy to use, it has a useful on screen help function which tells you about the different scene modes and their best uses along with other useful info to help get the best out of your shots. Having used it for 2 weeks I cannot fault it in anyway and the quality of the shots it takes are extremely good, it does help to play around with the scene setting's and not just rely upon the intelligent auto setting, having a little knowledge about photography will certainly help you get the best from this camera which can be truly stunning photo's with ease. Zoom lens is excellent and the anti shake really makes a notable difference to the quality of long zoom shots. Would definately recommend this as a good all round compact camera, can be a little bulky but a small price to pay for such high optical zoom and it did still fit into my jeans pocket but only without a case.

The TZ10 is a very impressive camera. I'd researched various sources for comparisons and this one seemed to be highly rated everywhere - and no wonder. It has every facility you are likely to need, and more besides. The User Guide is not the easiest to understand, because there's so much to learn, but the guide is very precise. It would be useful if Panasonic had provided a 'how to use' document rather than a list of features written by engineers. I liked the GPS facility. I'd read earlier comments that the GPS receiver can be active even when the camera is switched off and others had suggested this might run down the battery. I didn't find this to be a problem at all. I had the GPS on most of the time and took pictures for two days before the battery required re-charging. During a driving trip to many towns across Europe in a few days I found the GPS very useful in reminding me where each picture was taken. In tourist areas it was even clever enough to identify the nearest landmark from its in-built database. It's a pity that the standard MS Windows XP picture viewer doesn't recognise the extra (GPS) information recorded with each picture, so, after transferring pictures to a PC you have to use the Panasonic software to see the complete set of picture properties. I found the Intelligent Auto mode by far the most useful setting; occasionally I switched off the automatic flash but otherwise the camera did everything itself. The pictures are very good indeed. Even long exposures zoomed in, without the flash, came out well-focused, whereas on previous cameras I've found that the slightest movement blurs the picture. And the zoom range is extraordinarily good. Movies taken in HD (720p) are excellent, with surprisingly good audio recording. I chose to record in Quicktime format because I was unsure if my video editor could handle AVCHD Lite (it could!). I strongly recommend this camera.

I've had my red TZ10 for more than a month now. Have tried some manual settings but largely used the iA mode and that's probably best to use if you are an amateur. I recently shot a large number of pics of the spring blooms in St. James Park and around Buckingham palace, and have been impressed by the stunning quality of pictures, both close-ups and distant shots. The pictures are sharp and colours very accurate. I have not found the battery life to be of particular concern, as long as you don't shoot too many videos and can charge at the end of the day (has lasted me the entire day with 250+ pics and 3-4 videos, GPS turned off most of the time). I do make sure however that the battery is fully charged before I head out for a full day. Have not used the GPS function much so far, as I plan to do that only when I am travelling outside the home city (when you need to remember where you took the pics!). But it sure is a great feature. Now for the downside! The camera produces really poor quality shots in low light conditions, therefore it's a struggle to shoot at night. The flash is less powerful than some of the other cameras I've used (Sony T300, an old Nikon). Although the performance is a bit erratic - sometimes it gives you good pictures even in low light - just that you can never predict when it will 'perform'. I guess this can be handled using some manual settings (I am not sure exactly which!). Increasing the aperture has worked for me on some occasions. Video capability - truly great! To sum up, a great camera except for the low light performance which could have been better. Build quality and ease of use are good, and looks great too (a bit more serious and 'pro' than other compacts). Recommended!

I have bought items from Amazon for the past few years. When I ordered my Panasonic TZ 10, I thought I would try Amazon's Prime Service trial. It offered free next day delivery. So, I ordered the item on the 3rd of January as I was going on a trip to London on the 5th. I phoned Amazon when it didn't turn up and they told me that it was sent on the 4th January by First Class Post. Now it would be easy to blame the Post Office for late delivery, but if Amazon are offering next day delivery, they ought to send it by courier and not a method that could take several days. In the end, it turned out on the 9th of January. Not very good for Amazon's Prime next day delivery! The TZ 10 is a nicely engineered product. It feels nice and solid in the hand and the controls are clear and nicely laid out. Picture quality is excellent and the 12 times zoom lens is a real bonus in such a compact camera. I tried out the GPS in the garden. The satellites were found in about 1 minute. I checked the position given in the ex-if file against Google Maps, and the camera was spot on. The Manual controls are somewhat limited in their range but do give you some degree of control over the camera. The intelligent auto mode gives good results and is very simple to use if you don't want to think about it. The movie modes are extensive and very good. However, the high definition modes do eat up a lot of memory, so be prepared to buy a big card if you plan to take movies of some length. As always, I wish Panasonic would supply a Manual rather than a CD - not much good when you're on holiday! All in all, I think this is an excellent all round camera for most occasions and I am well pleased with my purchase. Less so with Amazon's Prime Service.

Ottimo prodotto, era da molto che la cercavo!