Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10

Panasonic's TZ-series cameras have always been a favorite among photo enthusiasts. The long-range optical zoom, decent image quality and good handling are some of the highlights of this lineup. Its most recent addition, the Lumix DMC-TZ10, takes this further. The Japanese firm has listened to consumers' suggestions and implemented manual exposure control for the new snapper. There are also several new features, such as GPS and multi-aspect ratio image sensor, which are not common among compacts, making the TZ10 a unique shooter.

Design

The large lens barrel takes up about half the front of the camera, while the other end is slightly raised for better grip. Aesthetically, there's not much difference between the TZ10 and its predecessors.

If you've handled a Panasonic compact before, you'll find the button layout familiar. The new addition is the Exposure key beside the dedicated movie-recording button. This is to facilitate manual exposure control.

At the top you'll find a stereo microphone, the GPS module mode dial, shutter button, zoom lever and power switch. A thing to note is that mode dial now offers more resistance when turning, unlike its predecessor which was a tad too loose.

The side of the TZ10 sports a mini-HDMI and AV-out/Digital port for connecting the Lumix to a compatible display. The bottom houses the battery and memory card slot.
We're no strangers to Panasonic's camera, so using the TZ10 is a breeze. In general, the shooter's handling is quite intuitive, with the buttons appropriately placed to allow easy access while shooting with one hand. The camera's menu doesn't deviate much from other Lumix snappers, and most of the commonly used settings can be activated via the Q.menu key on the back. All in, we're quite satisfied with the TZ10's button layout. However, at 218g (with battery and memory card), the camera's a little hefty though some will feel that adds to the solid quality of this Panasonic.

Features

One of the TZ10's new features is the onboard GPS module. This function captures geographical information and tags them to the EXIF data of the image. The first time you activate the GPS, it takes a while for the camera to get a lock on your location. But once that is done, it runs in the background without slowing the snapper down. As with most GPS-enabled device, this works best under clear skies where the camera can get strong GPS signals from the satellites. If the Web album you use has geotagging features, such as Google's Picasa, you can view on a map exactly where the images were captured. We did notice though that the TZ10 would use the last remembered location to tag onto an image if there was no GPS signal available.
Google's Picasa allows you to where you took a picture on map.
With full manual exposure, the TZ10 is all set to compete with the Canon PowerShot SX210 IS and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V. Here's a comparison table to see how they stack up.

Specifications/model	Canon PowerShot SX210 IS	Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10	SonyCyber-shot DSC-HX5V
Image resolution	14 megapixels (1/2.3-inch CCD)	12 megapixels (1/2.33-inch 14-megapixel multi-aspect ratio CCD sensor)	10.2 megapixels BSI CMOS sensor
Zoom range	14x optical (28-392mm)	12x (25-300mm)	10x (25-250mm)
LCD size	3 inches	3 inches	3 inches
Max video resolution	1,280 x 720 pixels	1,280 x 720 pixels	1,920 x 1,080 pixels
Shooting modes	Program, shutter/aperture priority, manual, auto, scene modes	Program, shutter/aperture priority, manual, auto, scene modes	Program, manual, auto, scene modes
Dimension/weight	105.8 x 59.3 x 31.9mm/ 245g	103.3 x 59.6 x 32.6mm/ 196g	102.9 x 57.7 x 28.9mm/ 170g
Related links	Review		Review

An interesting aspect of the TZ10 is the multi-aspect ratio image sensor. The 1/2.33-inch CCD has a maximum resolution of 14 megapixels, but only 12 megapixels are utilized so you get full-resolution shots whether you're capturing in 4:3, 3:2 or 16:9 image formats. What we'd like to see in the TZ10 is the ability to take pictures in square, or 6:6 format.

Performance

The TZ10 took approximately 2 seconds to start up. Shutter lag with prefocusing measured 0.1 second, and 0.4 to 0.7 second without prefocusing, depending on the lighting condition. Such timings are on par with its rivals.

As with most other Panasonic's recent shooters, the TZ10 comes with the Sonic Speed AF feature which promises faster autofocusing. The point-and-shoot was quick to lock onto our subjects, which helped us easily capture impromptu moments. But as with most compacts, the AF was slow to react and tended to hunt for the subject in low-light conditions.

According to Panasonic, once the TZ10's GPS module is turned on, it will remain active even when the camera is powered down. This is to allow the Lumix to gather accurate GPS data when taking pictures. While such a feature will definitely drain the battery, the power sued was surprisingly insignificant in our tests. After using the camera for two weeks, we noticed the battery tended to drain faster than conventional compacts, but it still held up well, delivering almost 250 shots on a single charge in our trials.

Image Quality

ISO comparison chart for the TZ10.
We found the TZ10's picture quality quite impressive as well. The camera has an ISO range of 80 to 1,600, and the best results occurred between ISO 80 and 400. Images captured at ISO 800 were decent for a point-and-shoot with minimal color noise. However, most fine details were smeared in images snapped at this ISO sensitivity setting. There was no visible color shift from ISO 80 to 800, although we noticed that photos taken at ISO 1,600 had a slight yellowish tinge, which is normal for a point-and-shoot.
ISO 400 comparison between the TZ10 and the PowerShot SX210 IS.
We compared the ISO 400 pictures taken with the TZ10 and the PowerShot SX210 IS, and noticed that the Lumix delivered much better photos. The comparison above shows that the Panasonic managed to retain more details and had a sharper photo than the Canon.

Conclusion

Compared with its rivals, the Lumix stands out with its quick performance and good picture quality. The design may not have changed much, but it worked well for us. The GPS module has its quirks, but it is a good implementation to have in a camera that appeals to frequent travelers. These, and more, led to a strong recommendation to award the TZ10 an Editors' Choice award.