Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20

Not dust proof – We purchased our camera 2 years ago to take overseas. We took fantastic photos. However many were spoilt by the speck of dust which found its way inside the camera. We returned it to Diamonds assuming it would be repaired under warranty. wrong! We had to pay for it to be cleaned as we were told we did not care for it properly, which was totally… Read more

wrong. We have just returned from overseas and once again have photos spoilt by a dust speck, despite us taking particularly good care of our camera. We contacted Panasonic, and guess what, they do not want to know about it. Takes great photos with a great zoom. It leaks dust and the dust speck has spoilt hundreds of our photos where the zoom was used. Panasonic do not accept that the camera could be faulty, even after only 3 months.

Great camera except – Had this camera for 18 months and thought it was great - would have given it at least a 4. Then coming back from an overseas trip I discovered bits of cheap looking chrome coloured plastic in the bottom of my bag - I thought they were just from some junk appliance until I realised they were the picture taking and focus buttons from my camera which… Read more

I had packed into my bag. I don't know what caused them to break in the bag (the camera has never been dropped or abused) but when I looked closely these buttons appear to be plastic and connect via another piece of what looks like a thin fragile plastic rod.

In all other respects this camera appears to be made of quality materials but this has shocked me - I had assumed they were metal. I think it is unlikely that these buttons would be knocked under normal circumstances given their location on the camera and haven't found any other complaints about this feature so it may have been a freak knock in just the right place that broke them, but really the materials are quite poor for what I paid ($340).

I have put it back together and the camera works but the buttons are now very loose and likely to come off again - I'll probably have to buy another camera as I need something reliable and this is 6 months out of warranty. Not good enough for this price. Great zoom, mostly easy to use, fast action (booting up and capturing images), reasonable picture quality inmost circumstances. Mainly the issue in the review. The GPS does run through batteries very quickly. Picture quality in just OK in some light conditions.

Good features in a small package – After many years of carrying gear bags of lenses and accessories for SLR cameras, like many people I've been downsizing since digital gear came in. When my favourite Canon bulky mid-size camera threatened to die, I decided it was time to make the move to a compact. However, I wasn't willing to sacrifice everything for size. I do a lot of… Read more

bushwalking and want a camera which can still deliver a powerful zoom and crisp detail.

The zoom on this camera is slightly lower powered than I've been used to but at 16x optical, it's among the leaders in its class. Like most cameras, the digital zoom doesn't deliver great picture quality but is powerful enough for a decent record shot when you really need it. Coupled with a very wide angle normal view, it makes a very versatile camera for many conditions.

It can handle macro shots well, with a very handy feature - the touch screen allows you to tap the main subject you want it to focus on and it will track that and focus even if it's moving. This is a huge improvement over digital cameras with auto-focus which annoyingly often focus on something totally unimportant in the frame and refuse to focus on what you want it to.

My previous camera was 10 mpx and at 14 mpx I expected this to deliver even better resolution. I was a little disappointed to find that it delivers less - possibly due to the fact that it formats its pictures in jpg rather than RAW. However, the quality is not at all bad and for most purposes, particularly viewing on a computer or uploading or for normal printing, it's more than adequate.

One thing it is particularly good at is coping with high contrast landscapes, leaving my old camera for dead. Instead of providing shots with areas of underexposed, black shadow meeting burnt-out white shots, it gives pleasantly balanced exposures with good colour rendition.

When I bought this camera I had no intention of using it as a movie camera. However, its ability to shoot full HD movie enticed me to experiment and I was very surprised by the quality of the results. Its built-in stabiliser gives remarkably good images in hand-held use, even in tracking shots while walking. It maintains focus extremely well, although if you move too fast, the resolution suffers slightly.

The only problem is the downloading. The card loads into our Panasonic TV and PVR systems for direct viewing but, as a Mac user, it took me a while to work out how to download the movies into my computer for editing. The problem is easily solved with inexpensive downloadable software from Pavtube, which converts the clips either for iMovie or for Final Cut HD.

There are many other features in this camera which I haven't yet explored, including virtual 3D, GPS, lots of pre-set scenery settings and other bells and whistles. I'll be looking forward to working through its capabilities.

Overall, having initially felt that I was going backwards in quality, I've been pleasantly surprised at its power and versatility. And most of all, its compact size and weight mean that I'll grab it in situations when I wouldn't have bothered to take the larger Canon. They say the best camera is the one you actually have with you, not the one left at home. Size and weight; powerful zoom; touch screen focus; movie quality; wide angle lens; good exposures in high contrast lighting resolution fairly average; sometimes hard to see in viewfinder in strong light

I love my panasonic lumix – Great zoom (16x) and resolution yet compact enough to fit into my handbag so i can carry it all the time and never miss that wonderful shot :) My last camera was also a Panasonic lumix with 10 x zoom and after 4 years when I needed to replace it, I was more than happy to go with the new Panasonic lumix. Just got some great holiday snaps and… Read more

noticed this camera is even better as there is less hesitation before the camera takes the shot. Love it. Compact, easy to take anywhere, great zoom and resolution for such a small camera and easy to operate Turn off the GPS to make the battery last longer

Very nice allround 'tag-along' camera – Packed with features but small enough to carry in a belt bag. Has brilliant zoom and high resolution. battery life is good even with GPS on. Zoom, GPS function Bad performance in low light.

Great all round general photography – The zoom capability made me buy this compact digital camera. It has a lot of features and functions and it does take a while to learn them or memorize the different custom setting. The iA (intelligent Auto) mode takes good pictures. The zoom works well in brightly lit areas/outdoors. It also has shutter and apperture priority if you are an… Read more

enthusiastic photographer with touch screen zoom and spot zoom.

If you are planning for a travel, i suggest buying this camera a few months and learning its features and taking many test shots. This will enable you to customise some settings and make it easy to capture a candid moment.

The GPS is a slow though.

The other great thing is its one button recording mode. 16x zoom, compact, good battery life and customisable settings. The flash is at a bad location and easily blocked by fingers holding the camera. Slow GPS.