Panasonic LUMIX DMC ZS10 Review | 108 Data compared

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 is a compact megazoom digital camera featuring a 14-megapixel MOS sensor, a 16x wide-angle zoom lens, and a 3-inch touch-screen LCD. Priced at an MSRP of $399.95, it excels in high-speed burst shooting (up to 10 frames per second at full resolution) and captures sharp, smooth full HD video in AVCHD format. A major highlight for travelers is its integrated GPS receiver, which automatically tags photos and videos with geographic data, including country, city, and local landmarks. The camera offers excellent shooting performance with very low shutter lag (0.4 second in bright light) and features an array of automatic and manual options, such as aperture-priority, shutter-priority, and full manual modes. However, the ZS10 suffers from notable drawbacks regarding image quality and usability. Photo quality is a weak point, as images exhibit noticeable noise even at ISO 100, and Panasonic’s JPEG processing creates severe yellow blotching and loss of fine detail at higher ISO settings. This issue is further compounded by the complete lack of a RAW capture option, leaving users stuck with the camera's heavy-handed internal...

The Photoxels Panasonic ZS10 / TZ20 Review highlights the camera as a compact, ultra-wide-angle superzoom designed primarily for beginner amateurs and point-and-shoot travel photographers. A major pro of the device is its versatile focal range, which features a 24mm ultra-wide-angle to a 384mm telephoto lens. Additionally, the review praises the camera's ability to achieve fast and precise autofocus performance even when operating under low-light conditions. It is highly recommended as a pocketable travel companion due to its extreme ease of use when running in Intelligent AUTO mode. However, the camera suffers from significant image quality limitations at higher settings, which serves as its primary con. While image quality remains good to very good at low ISO settings, low-light performance is compromised by a noticeable drop in clarity. The reviewer warns users that they must strictly stick to ISO 100 if they plan to make larger photo enlargements, otherwise, the results are only acceptable for small prints and web display. Ultimately, while it cannot match the raw output quality of a mirrorless system or a DSLR, its superb functionality, manual exposure...

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 (TZ20), reviewed on page 5 of the DPReview travel zoom test, features a 14.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, a 16x 24-384mm equivalent zoom lens, and integrated GPS. Designed for versatility, it includes 1080i HD video recording with active image stabilization and a 3.0-inch touchscreen interface. Key pros include the extensive 24-384mm focal range offering significant framing flexibility and effective optical stabilization for travel documentation. Conversely, the 460,000-dot screen is less crisp than competitors, and the camera is limited to ISO 1600 at full resolution, which hinders low-light performance compared to rivals with newer sensors.

The Photography Bay review of the 14.1-megapixel Panasonic ZS10 highlights its impressive feature set packaged into a highly compact design. On the positive side, the camera excels with its powerful 16x optical zoom range (which expands to 21x via Intelligent Zoom) alongside a functional Power O.I.S. Image Stabilization system that effectively counters camera shake at long distances. Additional strengths include a logical physical layout featuring distinct video recording and shutter release buttons, a proper camera mode dial equipped with PASM options, a built-in GPS for geotagging photos, and trendy 3D image capture capabilities. Conversely, the reviewer points out several notable drawbacks, particularly regarding image quality and user experience. The camera's aggressive processing severely undermines fine details, causing images to appear soft across the entire ISO range and leading to noticeable breakdown beyond ISO 400. Performance bottlenecks also include sluggish start-up and power-down operations driven by slow lens movements, tedious physical toggle switches for power and playback mode, and a highly frustrating touchscreen that feels poorly integrated and frequently triggers accidental focus point selections. Ultimately, the review concludes that unless the...

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 is a compact travel zoom digital camera that debuted at a hefty retail price of $399, designed to be an easily portable vacation companion. A key benefit highlighted in the review is its excellent color accuracy, which outperformed all other competitors in its test group by producing minimal color errors, particularly when using the standard and natural color settings. Additionally, the camera boasts exceptional optical image stabilization, showing a 57% sharpness improvement at slow shutter speeds, and offers a highly versatile 16x optical zoom lens (4.3-68.8mm equivalent) packed into a pocket-sized body. Users also benefit from built-in travel features, including an unobtrusive 3-inch touchscreen LCD and a built-in GPS module that automatically geotags photos and videos. Despite these advanced features, the reviewer concludes that the ZS10 fails to deliver satisfying image quality, making it difficult to justify its premium price tag. The most glaring flaw is the heavy automatic noise suppression applied in post-processing, which cannot be disabled and aggressively smears away fine details even at the lowest ISO settings. Consequently, the camera scored below average...

The PCMag review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 describes it as a point-and-shoot camera loaded with helpful travel features but ruined by poor photo quality. On the positive side, the camera feels tough with its sturdy metal body and comfortable handgrip. It stands out with an expansive 16x Leica optical zoom lens that stretches from a wide 24mm to a telephoto 384mm. This model also has a bright 3-inch touch-screen LCD and built-in GPS that logs location details onto your photos. It can even shoot 1080i high-definition video and create 3D landscape images that can be viewed on a 3D television. However, the reviewer heavily penalizes the camera due to major flaws in image performance, making it very hard to recommend for its $379.99 price tag. The 14-megapixel photos are plagued by blurry edges and digital noise reduction that gives images a messy, heavily compressed look. Low-light shooting is equally weak; its slow f/3.3-5.9 lens forces the camera to raise its sensitivity, causing images to become grainy at ISO 800 and above. The camera also suffers from slow startup speeds...

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10S is a 14.1-megapixel superzoom compact point-and-shoot camera built around a 16x Leica DC Vario-Elmar optical zoom lens that covers an expansive 24-384mm focal range. It comes packed with premium features, including a large 3-inch touch-screen LCD with 460,000 dots, built-in GPS that automatically geotags photos, and unique capabilities like 1080i HD video recording and a dedicated 3D image capture mode. The camera also boasts solid build quality with a metal body and a small handgrip, making it comfortable to hold during travel or casual use. However, despite its impressive paper specifications, the camera earns a low 2.5 out of 5 (Fair) rating due to severe performance and imaging flaws. The primary cons include subpar overall image quality with heavy-handed digital noise reduction that results in blurry edges, alongside weak low-light performance where images become noticeably grainy at ISO 800 and above. Furthermore, the camera is slow to start up (taking 2.95 seconds) and suffers from significant shutter lag (0.73 seconds). While the 3D mode functions well for stationary landscapes, moving subjects introduce ghosting, and the video...

The Panasonic Lumix ZS10 (also known as the Lumix TZ20) is a compact travel-zoom digital camera featuring a 14-megapixel CMOS sensor, an ambitious 16x optical zoom lens (24-384mm equivalent), and a built-in GPS module for geotagging location data. On the positive side, the camera excels with above-average battery life (260 shots per charge), strong overall operational performance, and high-speed continuous shooting up to 10 frames per second at full resolution. Its standout feature is an exceptionally full-fledged movie mode that records Full HD 1080p video at 60i with stereo sound, allowing users to utilise continuous autofocus, optical image stabilization, and optical zoom while recording. Furthermore, it offers full manual controls, a highly legible 3-inch touchscreen, and excellent corner sharpness in well-lit conditions. However, the camera suffers from significant image quality limitations due to aggressive noise reduction, which triggers at ISO 200 and causes noticeable detail loss, softness, and smudging at ISO 400 and above. This makes the ZS10 poorly suited for low-light environments. Additional drawbacks include an underwhelming interface where touchscreen usability is awkwardly restricted to only certain menu sections,...

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20 (ZS10) is a versatile travel superzoom compact camera that transitions from a CCD to a 14.1 Megapixel MOS sensor, enabling major performance upgrades. The biggest pros of this model include its expanded 16x optical zoom lens (24-384mm equivalent), effective Power OIS image stabilisation, and the total elimination of vertical sensor streaking in bright videos. Thanks to the new sensor, continuous shooting speeds skyrocket to a swift 10fps at full resolution, complemented by a new 1080i AVCHD Full HD video mode, an automated Handheld Night Shot mode, and 3D image capture. Additionally, its built-in GPS functionality features a massive internal database of over one million landmarks that displays actual location and place names directly on the 3-inch screen. However, the camera suffers from several notable cons regarding image processing, hardware design, and touch-screen integration. The switch to the MOS sensor results in default JPEG images that look soft, fuzzy, and marred by noise reduction artifacts when viewed at a 100% crop, with no option to shoot in RAW or manually adjust noise reduction. Panasonic also removed the...

The CNET review highlights the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 as a highly capable compact travel zoom camera that prioritizes robust performance and features. Built around a 14-megapixel MOS sensor paired with a Venus Engine FHD processor, this point-and-shoot shines in its operation speeds. Users gain access to a remarkably versatile 24mm ultra-wide-angle lens equipped with a powerful 16x optical zoom. On top of rapid-fire performance—boasting full-resolution burst shooting up to 10 frames per second—the device packs high-end modern amenities. These premium additions include full HD video recording in AVCHD format, semi-manual/manual exposure controls, a 3-inch touchscreen LCD, and integrated GPS capabilities designed for seamless photo geotagging. YouTube · However, the review emphasizes that you will ultimately pay more for these fancy features and speedy performance than for actual picture quality. While the camera takes very good photos under bright, outdoor conditions, the heavy JPEG processing aggressively crushes fine detail and introduces prominent image noise and artifacts even at its base ISO 100 setting. This makes the camera less than ideal for full-scale image enlargements or tight cropping. Beyond the lackluster low-light...