Chris Coleman checks out the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ50 Wi-Fi camera, as well as a few other new digital cameras from Panasonic.
Lumix meets Wi-Fi
With 9.1-megapixels and a 10x Leica wide-angle lens, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ50 looks, feels and performs awfully similar to the DMC-TZ5. This didn't surprise us much, considering the DMC-TZ50 is essentially just a DMC-TZ5 with Wi-Fi support. Granted, with only a few exceptions, the Wi-Fi-enabled market is still quite small, so a bump in Wi-Fi support is in itself a fairly generous bump in features. Wireless networking on a camera works best when users can bypass the computer and upload photos straight to the Internet, and we were pleased to see that Panasonic has included interoperability with Picasa. This means users can shoot pictures straight to their personal library anytime and anywhere, so long as they're within Wi-Fi range. We'll have to see just how well this wireless functionality works when we get our mitts on it for a review, but regardless, we're still convinced that Wi-Fi / WiMAX support is an inevitability in consumer cameras.
We felt the camera itself was well designed and seemed intuitively put together, just like the DMC-TZ5. It's slim and small, which goes well with the Wi-Fi capabilities, making the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ50 stand out for mobility. We are completely unwilling to judge image quality from the chaotic conditions of a product expo, but we can say that the camera has a clean menu system and that it was easy to navigate through all the sundry features and functions. Wi-Fi thrusts the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ50 into a fairly heavy-duty price range (its current street price hovers just under $400), but if it works well and still delivers good photos, it could be a powerhouse point-and-shoot.
Three familiar faces
The DMC-TZ5 sells for over $100 less than the DMC-TZ50, so it's not quite usurped by its younger brother. The two cameras are otherwise identical, so budget-conscious buyers, and especially those who don't live under a Wi-Fi umbrella, should have no problem stepping down a peg and going for the cheaper TZ5 model. General impressions for this camera were identical to those of the DMC-TZ50; the only differences were the 'Wi-Fi' and 'Picassa' stickers on the TZ50.
Panasonic unfortunately was not showing the new DMC-FX500, but they did have the DMC-FX35 on display. It remains impressively small for a point-and-shoot that has full 720p support, but we're still disappointed that it requires an add-on component cable (and lacks an HDMI out). In our brief look, the interface was identical to Panasonic's other two compact showings, so no complaints there.
Our biggest disappointment was the complete absence of the HDC-SD100 and HDC-HS100, both of which are among the most exciting new camcorders on the horizon by virtue of their 3-CMOS sensor (1 CMOS is arguably better than 3 CCDs, so an array of 3 CMOS chips should be none too shabby at all). Instead, Panasonic had the HDC-SD9, which we've also already seen, and which is still notably small and lightweight. Again, you'll have to wait for our full review before we judge the image quality, but we would like to see what sort of 1080p video comes out of this soda can-sized camcorder.
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