With a 12x optical zoom and 25mm wide-angle lens, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5 means business. But did it bring the goods to the table? Find out in our full review, complete with video and image samples.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5 is a peculiar breed. On one end of the spectrum, it's chock full of shooting features, manual controls, and brings a fierce artillery of hardware to the front lines, including a 25mm wide-angle lens and 12x optical zoom. At the other end, the Lumix DMC-ZS5 is designed to suit the beginner, offering Panasonic's tried and true Intelligent Auto and multiple Scene shooting modes. However, if we were to part the seas and pick a side to surf on, we'd go for the more challenging wavesthe advanced shooters.
Why? Well, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5 is capable of producing highly impressive image quality, but most of it has to be achieved in Manual mode. Sure, you can select a scene mode and throw the flash on, but the camera will never deliver to its full potential, and with a 60-second shutter speed capability, you're going to want to take advantage of every manual control this machine has to offer. Plus, there were the classic Lumix firmware bugs and plain, unchanged menu system. Check out our hands-on video and image samples below for more on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5.
Shooting with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5
After an extensive jaunt with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5, it became apparent that this camera was a Manual control performer. With a shutter speed that descended to 60-seconds, we could actually shoot into the pitch-black night sky and achieve a fairly decent exposure, as highlighted in our final image sample. Although we had a tight aperture range to play with (f/3.3 f/6.3), and ISO only reached 1600 (outside of High Sensitivity mode), the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5 exhibited impressive images when we dialed the camera in correctly. Not too shabby for a basic 1/2.33-inch sensor.
Now, if you're a beginner and are looking for a camera that you can simply pick up and the thing will solve world hunger, then the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5 is probably not the answer. Yes, it's packed to the brim with Scene modes, but most of them are just shortcuts that bypass using the Manual controls. We've got artistic shooting filters, like "Pin Hole," "Film Grain," and "High Dynamic," but they are nothing a seasoned shooter can't achive in Photoshop. Basically, in Auto and Scene modes, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5 will pump up the ISO and use the flash whenever necessary, and the results were mediocre. It wasn't until we shot in full manual mode or Program AE that things started looking good.
Then there was video mode. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5 shoots Motion-JPEG 720p HD video, rather than the company's AVCHD LITE, the latter being a significant quality upgrade. So, that meant we got the shaft in low light. There simply weren't exposure settings that were adequate enough to soak in enough light, which you'll see in some of our video samples below. Now, the Canon PowerShot SD3500 IS and Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS both provided decent exposure in low light. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5 had the zoom edge, allowing us to optically zoom while recording video, unlike both aforementioned Canons. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5 also had the best OIS we've seen to date, as we filmed handheld out of a car window and experienced minimal shake. Check out our video samples below.
Price and availability
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5 will be available in March 2010 for $300.
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