Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4S 8.1MP Digital Camera with 10x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver)
by Panasonic
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Category: Digital Camera
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: PanasonicRelease Date: 2008-03-07
Model: DMC-TZ4S
Color: Silver
Product features:
- 8.1-megapixel resolution captures enough detail for photo-quality 16x 22-inch prints
- 10x optical zoom Leica DC lens; Face Detection
- New Panasonic Venus Engine IV improves noise reduction, elevates the detection accuracy and corrective effects
- 2.5-inch LCD; Mega O.I.S. and Intelligent ISO
- Captures images to SD memory cards (not included)
- SanDisk 4GB SDHC card
- Adobe Photoshop CS5 Upgrade [Old Version]
- Serif PhotoPlus X3
- Adobe Photoshop CS4 Upgrade [OLD VERSION]
- Transcend 8 GB Class 6 SDHC Flash Memory Card with USB 2.0 Card Reader TS8GSDHC6-S5W
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4S 8.1MP Digital Camera with 10x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver)
Customer Review: Nothing is perfect, but this has the combination of size, ease of use, and lens that I wanted. Plus it's PRETTY!
Summary: 5 Stars
Blanket statement: I am in love with this camera!
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TZ4 AND TZ5 (probably not complete, but I thought I'd list the ones I noticed)
1/2 inch smaller screen on TZ4. I hear this leads to increased battery life, which the specifications indicate as well, and I was just fine with the 2.5" screen. Operative word, *was*. I am super happy with my TZ4 but nevertheless have come to wish that I'd gotten the TZ5.
TZ5 does high definition movies. TZ4 does 16:9, but not in high def.
The max resolution is a little less for the TZ4, of course.
TZ5 has in-camera red-eye correction. (Both have red-eye reduction flash.)
The TZ5 can take still shots out of movies, but not at very good resolution. If you don't mind doing that in the computer instead of the camera, a freeware program called Irfanview will do the same thing with *any* QuickTime movie.
TZ5 will take three formats (4:3, 3:2, 16:9) at the same time.
You can view two pictures at a time with the TZ5.
Some parts of the manual are a pain to read for the TZ4, as you have to follow all the footnotes (which mostly deal with differences in maximum resolution).
Oh, heck, having read my own list of differences, I've changed my mind. I'm fine with the TZ4, especially for a lot less money! (That 3" LCD is just *so* pretty....!)
GOOD THINGS
Takes a lot of pictures on a charge. I got about 150 with a *lot* of flash and zoom, plus admiring the pictures extensively and fiddling with the controls a lot. (I was playing with it....)
The LCD mode for holding the camera above your eyes and still being able to see images on the LCD works great. I don't *how* it works, but it does.
Very intuitive controls. You can do the most common operations without even reading the manual.
Very nice controls to use. I love the decisions that were made about what was a switch and what was a button, what was on the quick-access buttons, etc.
Very nice to hold. That was one of the main reasons I chose it - I can't stand the almost credit card sized cameras, but I wanted something I could carry around in my purse. (Or, as it turns out, hanging off my purse.)
I dearly love the DMW-CHTZ3 case that I ordered for it. It's Panasonic's own case, and it is *very* protective and hangs nicely from my purse strap. Some caveats, though. It holds the camera and a memory card and that's *it*. No spare battery will fit, even though the instructions imply that one will. When you open the case it looks like there are three pockets, but it's really just a protective arrangement. Put the camera in the middle pocket. Don't put anything in the outside pockets because either it won't close or you'll damage the camera.
Both zoom and wide angle! Love it! Extended optical zoom (with reduced, but not too reduced for my needs, picture quality) is amazing. The manual recommends a tripod for the highest zoom, but apparently the stabilization works great, because I'm getting good zoom pictures by hand.
Love the charger - no cords, just fold-out prongs. It *does* come with the camera. (I remember one reviewer saying he almost bought one, not realizing it was included.)
The high-speed burst really works - I took a bunch of pictures of one of my dogs that look like a movie when you flip through them.
NOT SO GOOD THINGS
Not a lot of manual control. I can't find any aperture control at all. Shutter control is limited to selecting the slowest speed you'll accept. You *can* control the ISO. On the other hand, it generally does just fine on its own. It is a glorified snapshot camera, but *what* a snapshot camera!
Terrible hiss on the audio. The sound quality is OK otherwise. I noticed this with one I tried in a store, didn't know if it was just a bad unit or what, but bought it anyway as I was willing to live with it in any case. I'm thinking you could probably do something about it if you had the right audio editing software - it's just a high, constant noise, much like the cymbal sound in early Beatles records.
Lens cover *very* flimsy. I touched it lightly just to test and almost had a heart attack. Treat it like you would a hollow eggshell!
When my hand is placed the way it wants to go, I have a tendency to accidentally press controls with the base of my right thumb and cover the microphone with my left forefinger. I wish they'd move the controls down just a little and swap the locations of the microphone and the speaker.
It looks like it is a pain to put a date stamp on a picture in the camera. (Not so much if you're printing.) I don't do that much anyway, but I think I'm glad I don't.
The LCD is pretty washed out in bright sunlight, even when set on "power." It's still usable, though. You might want to consider buying a shade of some sort for it if you are going to use it outside a lot.
Some of the software supplied (ARCSoft) is of the sort that tries to connect to the internet without asking whenever you open a connection. (And that's why we have firewalls..... ;-> ) Installation of the software tied up a lot of memory even after the installations were done - I'm sure a reboot will fix it, but it does not speak well of the software (QuickTime, ARCSoft, PHOTOfunSTUDIO). Except for QuickTime, it's probably not stuff you'd really use anyway, but I thought I'd try it. Did not install the Acrobat reader that came with it, as I've had updated versions of that program break stuff - I stick with my current version, no matter how old, as long as I can. PHOTOfunSTUDIO put an icon in the righthand side of the taskbar (whatever that area is called) without asking. QuickTime did the same in the lefthand area.
Regarding the software that wants to phone home, I suggest Googling "startup manager" or "start up manager" to get a program to stop it. Only one thing that I installed actually started by using the startup menu - the others had to be dug out.
The version of QuickTime you get has a lot of functions disabled. Most of them can be gotten around fairly easily, such as the lack of a "save as" function.
RANDOM COMMENTS
Don't order a 2.5" LCD pop-up sun screen. The housing for the LCD is the same size as for the 3" screen on the TZ5.
Order an extra battery, but shop around. I got one for $26 and change, free shipping.
I notice people have mentioned not liking that the battery and memory card are in the same compartment. That didn't bother me at all. A lever holds the battery in even when the outer door is open.
Be sure and get a high-speed (category 6) memory card. I had some very occasional tiny glitches in movies with a category 4 that I had lying around.
More Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4S 8.1MP Digital Camera with 10x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver) reviews:
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Description of Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4S 8.1MP Digital Camera with 10x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver)
8 MEGA PIXEL 28MM WIDE 10X OPTICAL ZOOM 3.0 LCD OPTICAL STABILIZATION FACE DETECTION SilverDigital Cameras
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