Panasonic Lumix® DMC-TZ1 Digital Camera

ok, i was looking at the new kodaks for nearly £100 but this one came up for a total of £46 inc. p&p. And after a quick search i found on the net what i needed to know. plus i found out so much more now i have it!

The things your probably looking for:
Multiple burst shot: This camera will take 2 frames per second until the max 2 gig memory card is full, this is so good when taking pics of the kids or at weddings so you always get one good one out of the 1000+ pics u can take.

Macro: Yep put something an inch from the lens and you can take the pic no probs.

Zoom: it has a 10x optical, now add the 4x digital and it doesnt lose quality like other 'digital zoom' cameras ive had. Its just incredible!!!

Night mode: you can have the shutter open for 15 30 and 60 seconds, meaning you can stand on a bridge at night and take the lengthy red and white car light pics!! I took some tonight and there fab!

Video: this is incredible quality, as smooth as the digital camera i just boight from america! 30fps and plays on a big tv really well.

on and if you turn the cam to prortrait mode the cam knows its been tilted so it corrects the pic to upright on playback,,, cool!!
i cant fault the camera, im jumping up from a chinese 4.1mp 8x optical zoom to this 10x optical 5mp and its massively more advanced! Worth every penny plus more! Flaxvert.

This is a great compact camera ! The powerful 10 x optical zoom and macro features preclude the need to have a bulky SLR with different lenses. The anti-shake feature means that blurry close-up pictures are a thing of the past. For most pictures its a simple point and shoot, but if you want to get technical there are modes for night, beach, fireworks and lots more - even for babies with a date/age imprint and world time and date stamping. The Li-Ion battery lasts well on a charge, but if you are away from home and don't bring the charger, then the comfort of having a spare battery is a must.

The Panasonic TZ-1 do I reccomend it? Yes.
The Panasonic TZ1 was introduced in 2006 and has since been replaced, at the time of writing, by the TZ3. It is a point and shoot camera that will fit a large pocket or purse. And this makes it easy to keep with you most of the time. It is versitile and takes much better photos than a phone cameras.

It is equipped with a long wide range 10x zoom lens which favours the telephoto end rather than the wide angle use. At longer focal lengths the image tends to be somewhat softer than one would hope for, this is not a defect just an unrealistic expectation of performance. The zoom range is a much wider, and usefull, range than other cameras of a similar size. The wide angle aspect is quite useable although one often wished it could go just a little wider. The next generation the TZ3 answers his observation and has a much better wide angle limit than the TZ1.

The lens is backed up by a built image stabilizer which does work well and allows hand held photographs to taken that simply would not of worked with out it. This adds to the fun aspect of this camera.
This camera is designed for simple operation and gives good results on its automatic settings. There are some conditions that a more experienced photographer would want to use different setting to get the best result. There are a limited number of manual settings that allow for this option
There is no viewfinder just a large LCD screen. This shows a live image when taking pictures and is also used to review the pictures taken. It is easy to erase, there and then, any photos that did not work.

The images are stored on the popular SD memory card (maximum size 2GB). This will fit the printing machines that are available at many retailers.

It can record video with sound which is suprisingly good, but well short of any camcorder. It records in a US format which can be played on most European televisions and all computers. This format can NOT be simply transferred to a European video recorder or DVD.

Panasonic have kept the operation simple, and easy, allowing one to take good pictures straight out of the box.

It uses a proprietry rechargable battery which has a reasonable life. The charger will work in most of the world using an adaptor to suit the local power outlet.

I have not covered every aspect of this camera and one wanted further detailed information there are many more detailed reviews on the web. The owners book can be downloaded from the manufacturers for full information.

Bought this on e bay for only about £60 & well worth it. Bought as a back up to my trusty LX2. Obviously not quite as sharp or dexterous, but a great backup camera for me with a long (x10) telephoto function. In a good light I have got some really pin sharp shots at the x10 end of the lens which are really suprisingly sharp.
I've also used it for video function wathching a couple of bands & this records, both sound & picture, very well.
Well worth the money!

Bought it on behalf of a friend who'd done lots of research as to what he wanted from a compact digital camera (I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7).
The results he's had so far are impressive. Superb pictures with the zoom feature (not sure whether he's used the digital zoom)- very sharp, clear images at high zoom.
I've had my camera for 18 months (and love it and what it produces); we went out and took similar pictures and the TZ1 compares very favourably with mine.
I would recommend this camera to anyone who's looking for a compact digital and might be very tempted to buy one for myself if I see one at the right price!

Pros:
- Excellent Quality Pictures, especially with the 10x Optical Zoom.
- Really easy to use and the 2.5 inch screen gives you a great chance to check your photo.
- Movie clips are fantastic quality and you can zoom in and out whilst recording

Cons:
- Seperate Lens Cap is a bit of a pain and out-dated, would be better with an auto closing lens cover (check TZ2 & TZ3)
- Movies are recorded as .mov files on Quicktime. Doesn't play on Windows Media Player and a bit awkward to convert
- Seems to be a bit slow to download from camera to PC (compared to my Fuji FinePix)and doesn't have a cradle option (need to use USB cable each time)

Overall a brilliant point and shoot camera with some pretty good options for photo taking (night scenes, fireworks, underwater and many more.
Would recommend to anyone who likes to take a lot of photos.
Note to Panasonic - Sort out the Quicktime .mov format and change to MPEG / .avi, and you've pretty much cracked it.

Love it. Easy to use + gives great pictures. Actually bought one faulty on ebay to try to fix the one my hubby dropped! It worked though now I have a 2 tone TZ1. Still great. Did buy another second hand too - had best offers on a faluty one and a working one at the same time and won both! Not complaining though as son loves his and takes better pics than me now. Highly recommended as easy to use - just don't drop it!

I bought this camera so that I have something smaller than my dslr to take out and about. I did a lot of research and the reviews seemed pretty good, even for a camera this old. The key was the massive optical zoom which at 10x (300mm) is great. The screen is good and the range of settings gives you the chance to be more creative with the exposures. It's quite solidly built, heavy for a compact I suspect but this is something I like. My only dislike is the slightly fuzzy image quality in low light(even with optical stabilzing on)and when using the zoom past 5/6x. It's ok in full sun. This maybe because I compare it to the dslr but to be honest it's all I can compare it too!
For £60 it's does all I want it too

The Tizzy has won so many awards for good reason, and all are justified. I have owned a TZ1 for several years, and bought this one for my partner. The most sought after feature is the enormous 10x optical zoom, which combined with the digital zoom, gives huge, unrivaled potential in a pocket sized camera.

We have been using a very good Panasonic Lumix® DMC-TZ1 Digital Camera for several years. When my daughter expressed a desire to have the same camera, I looked on Ebay. Brilliant. I located one that was close to home so I could collect. I knew all about the camera and really like the definition in photos taken with it. Now I have a happy daughter snapping away too.

i love this camera my husband bought it for me for christmas. its the best digital camera i've had. the zoom in fantastic and the picture does not distort when you want to zoom in on a picture already taken. its very easy to use quite self explantary. fantastic camera, fantastic quality very pleased.

PERFECT DIGITAL CAMERA!!! Im very very happy about this product. Pictures are perfect. Lots of programs. Longlifa battery.

This camera has that rare ability to make a amateur picture look professional. The preset features are so quick and easy enabling an amateur (like me) to take excellent pictures.
You know when you've got a GREAT camera when people takin photos of you with your camera, always comment on how good the picture was that they took.
From the view screen right through to the 10x zoom, everything is top quality.
For a point and click, you would be hard pressed to find a camera that took better pictures.

This is a great camera for the price, it is faairly compact (still fits in my jacket pocket) and has fantastic 10 X digital zoom. Other good feature is image stabiliser

I had already bought one of these for my husband, and he thinks it is a really smart little camera, so we decided to buy another one for his dad. Simple to use with extra functions for those more experienced!

I was looking for a compact camera with a big optical zoom and a fast shutter speed and this one fits the bill. For an amateur photographer this camera is easy to use and takes good clear photos.

Cracking little camera, for a good price. It is easy to use (as most digital cameras are) with many preset settings such as beach, snow, sport etc. The best feature by far is the optical zoom from its' Leica 10x lens, which comes out no further than any other camera on the market with only 4x. With this large magnification comes shake, but this camera has anti-shake settings which sort out the problem. I am very pleased with this camera; 5Mpix is adequate for my photography but as soon as I bought it out came the 6Mpix version!! Probably why it was at a cheap price.

Very disppointed with the whole process. Spent ages deciding on which camera to purchase and made detailed researches to ensure that this was the correct product for me. A lenghty delay after purchase - communication poor - two emails from me to determine that the camera had been despatched. Then at the last possible delivery, I recieved an email informing me that the item was going to be sent as it had been damaged in transit - took ages for refund to be credited to my account and I had to request advice from ebay.

This is an easy to use camera. It has an excellent zoom, the best that you can get on a compact camera. This means that you can take those close up shots, but still slip the camera in your pocket for those party shots where an SLR is just too bulky to use.

Picture quality is good, and easy to transfer to computer, with a plug in and go system. It also has a good size LCD.

In fact, the only down side is the fact that there is no viewfinder, so you have to use the LCD panel, and the battery. You can't use standard batteries with this, but the battery life is reasonable, and it is rechargeable, so not that expensive to maintain.

An excellent quality camera for a very reasonable price.