Panasonic adds Wi-Fi to its Lumix TZ-series

Reuben Lee | Mar 20, 2008

Panasonic seems to be introducing incremental feature upgrades to its new cameras these days. Just less than 24 hours ago, we saw the Japanese camera maker showcase its new FX520, which is an upgraded model to the FX36, but with an added touchscreen interface.

Today, Panasonic Japan did it again with its new Lumix offering, the TZ50, which sports an almost identical feature set as the TZ15 annnounced at the annual photo tradeshow PMA earlier this year, except for one big difference: Wi-Fi. The TZ50 comes equipped with onboard 802.11b/g which will allow users in Japan to wirelessly upload pictures to Panasonic's Lumix Club Web site from the camera. The global launch of the TZ50 should, however, see the camera maker unlock this function for uploading to other popular image-hosting sites.

Like the TZ15, the 9-megapixel TZ50 is packed with an impressive suite of features for a compact shooter, including a 28mm wide-angle Leica lens with 10x optical zoom and 720p HD video recording with component video-out. Also onboard the TZ50 is a 3-inch LCD display, SDHC card support and the latest Intelligent Auto (iA) shooting-assist functions.

The TZ50 is expected to retail in Japan for about 49,800 yen (US$500) this May. So far, we have not heard from Panasonic on when it plans to roll out the camera in other parts of Asia.

Update: Panasonic has confirmed that it is not planning to launch the TZ50 in other parts of Asia, besides Japan.

Filed under: Digital Cameras
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