Most helpful customer reviews
452 of 470 people found the following review helpful.
Great camera for candid, event, and wildlife photography
By Martin
I bought this at Costco, so maybe this review won't get printed, but if it does, here goes. I own and still love the ZS-3 and the ZS-7 and have taken tons of images with both. The ZS-10 is a small step backwards in image purity but a big step forward in usefulness. When I want to take a single image of a still life subject in difficult lighting conditions such as backlighting or very high contrast, the 3 or the 7 will yield more reliable results. In those conditions, the 10 sometimes shows some purple fringing or neon borders; not enough to make the images unusable, but remarkable simply because those defects almost never happen with the 7 or the 3. But most of my photography doesn't involve still subjects in high-contrast lighting. I take pictures of the grandson playing with the dog, or of speakers and performers at an event, or of faces in a crowd in a public place, or of birds in nature. In those situations, the high-speed full-frame burst mode of the 10 opens the door to photo satisfaction in a way that the older models never could. When the kid takes the ball from the dog's mouth, the action takes just a second, and with the older models my chances of hitting the perfect moment are statistically slim. With the 10, I can be taking 5, 10, 40 or even 60 full-resolution frames during that second, and I'm going to capture the perfect combination of facial expression and hand position to convey the magic of the moment. When talking heads speak, the motion of their faces makes all kinds of grimaces, and if I only have one or a few snapshots, I may have nothing that I can print without making the speaker look like a fool. With the 10's fast burst mode, I have options; I can make the speaker or performer look at their best. If I were a news photographer in the thick of action, this is the camera I'd want in my shirt pocket. I also like to to take bird pictures. Birds rarely sit still, and if I can only squeeze off a few shots, I may not get the ideal pose with the head forward or sideways and an eye clearly visible. With the high speed burst mode in the 10, I get my choice of bird postures. And did I mention the zoom? I can get perfectly printable shots at the 21x zoom, the equivalent of a 504 mm telephoto lens. The digital zoom takes it out to 84x, longer than 1000 mm; and while shots at that range look like an Impressionist filter was applied, and won't win too many photo contests, they are good enough to accurately identify the bird, or the person, or the object. I recently sold my digital SLR outfit with lenses up to 1000mm and I don't miss it at all. What you can do with this combination of burst and zoom, and in a package of this size, is mind-boggling. And it does a completely satisfactory job with ordinary landscapes, sunsets, flowers, street scenes, family snapshots, and the like. In short, Panasonic's switch to the high-speed CMOS sensor in the 10 does mean a small sacrifice in image quality in nasty lighting situations, but a big gain in usability. The 10 reliably gives me usable images, images that capture precious moments, that are worth printing, and that people love, in situations that were a photographic crapshoot until the 10 came along. To me, that's a big plus in photo satisfaction.
187 of 193 people found the following review helpful.
Awesome Camera and Image Quality -
By TheWindyCity
I am a semi-professional photographer, and wanted a small travel camera to go along with my DSLR. I have owned Panasonic's TZ1, TZ5, ZS3, ZS6. The ZS6 was a disappointment regarding low light image quality. I purchased the ZS10 after I looked at the new specs, and saw that they changed the sensor and added the Handheld Nightshot Mode. This new model is amazing! The low light photos are clean and have low level noise as compared to the ZS6 and ZS3. I was able to use manual mode as well to accomplish some tricks in the field, such as smoothing a waterfal while maintaining the proper scene exposure. I love the other mode settings I can manipulate, such as the white balance and easier EV settings. I've gotten some great shots with that, including improved food shots in Aperture Priority Mode, over using the scene selection for Food, which turned out a little blurry (which may be my fault of being too close). The lense quality is simply amazing. The detail in the photos is remarkable. I would highly recommend this camera. If you would like to see a few shots, send me a message with your email address and I'll put a few photos together for you to compare and help make your decision.
337 of 353 people found the following review helpful.
POOR low light pics, even after FW update (SEE PICS)
By MariaSmiles
This is my fifth Panasonic digital camera, (my eighth digital camera of any brand if you don't count 6 or 7 camera-phones - I like gadgets). I have Panasonic's FZ-28 and just sold my pretty blue ZS-7 to a relative needing a great camera, as I was anticipating this year's model to be even better. I wish I had read the reviews first. Once I did, I was really disappointed, so I ended up buying a Sony HX5V first, since it was only 189 bux and had similar features and was touted to have good low-light performance. I take a lot of low-light pics, so this is a feature I always look for. The Sony pics came out pretty good, but I really missed the Panasonic interface (it just made more "sense" to me & obviously, I was used to it), and the longer zoom (16x vs 10x on the Sony). After a few weeks with the Sony, I took another look at the ZS-10. I found that there had been two firmware updates since the initial release, one which claimed to improve detail. I fell in love with the brown, and took a leap of faith. It arrived and boy, is it gorgeous! The touchscreen is cool, but not totally needed (not totally implemented, either), but that's ok, as the idea of smearing up my LCD with fingerprints, or accidentally touching the screen all the time didn't really appeal to me.
A few days in, I decided to compare apples-to-apples. I set up a little "still life" and took some shots with the Sony and some with the Panasonic, using the same (as much as possible) settings and lighting on each shot, both, before the firmware update, and after (on the ZS-10). I lowered both cameras to 5 megapixels (I usually use this setting). I took some with flash, without flash, and in low-light (60W bulb, diffused, 8' away) and very low light (dark room, with only hall light filtering in) - I wanted to push the boundaries and see what happens - almost any camera can take a good picture on a bright, sunny day. I used the auto modes, the tripod modes (with a tripod), the handheld modes (handheld), the twilight modes, even the self-timer to reduce blur from shutter button presses. I did not use the manual modes (M, S, A, P), as the Sony only has M & P, and I usually take very quick shots in varied environments and do not have time to "fiddle" with settings, like I do when I use my wonderful FZ-28. I am saddened to report that the Sony HX5V beat the Panasonic ZS-10 hands-down. Really saddened (see photos and notes in the Product Images section, Brown color version). I don't care that the Sony costs less money, or that the batteries cost less money (I always buy two), or that it's smaller, or that there's no play/shoot switch (just hit the shutter), or that the panorama mode is super-cool and easy, or that it has a directional thingie with the GPS to tell you what direction you're facing, I REALLY wanted the Panasonic to beat it. Unfortunately, to my eyes, and for my purposes, it does not. I'm so bummed.
PROS (things I care about):
- gorgeous brown exterior color
- stereo mics in sensible place (rarely covered by fingers when recording)
- 16x optical zoom (more, in some modes)
- compact (considering all the features)
- cool GPS implementation with landmarks already inputted
- 30 SCN (scene) modes - these are great when you want a certain "look" to your pics, but don't have time to change the settings (or aren't familiar with them) - the icons are in color, now.
- CUST (custom) setting on dial, so you can set your favorite settings for a frequent scene
- tripod socket in the middle = more well-balanced on weaker/smoother tripods (the sony's is on the edge)
- the battery/card door 'springs' open when unlocked (this makes it easier to access contents with one hand)
- did I mention the gorgeous brown wrapper?
This camera has many more features (3D, 10fps burst shooting, face detection, face recognition, etc.) that are cool, but not important to me, so I did not include them in my PROs, or in my review, as I don't even use them.
CONS (things that bother me):
- disgraceful IQ in very low-light (I realize this is not an SLR, but it's really bad, even when compared to the older, cheaper Sony)
- awful IQ/inexcusably high noise in low light (light from a 60W bulb, diffused, 8 feet away)
- low-light modes "hidden" in sub-menus (the sony has two, right on their dial) - may be possible to assign one to the CUST (custom) setting on the dial
- even when using flash, image is "blown out" (compared to the Sony)
- solid colors appear grainy, image appears fuzzy (even when viewing at 62% - full-screen). I didn't even bother pixel-peeping - the horror!
Yes, there are fewer CONS, but these are higher on my "priority" list and Image Quality is more important than where the tripod socket was placed, etc. After all, I show my photos to many people, but I'm the only one who really looks at my camera.
I am so disappointed and I feel so let down by the 2011 "travel zoom" camera department over at Panasonic. I know they "owe" me nothing, but I feel I have been a great customer and have now been presented with a poor product (when the previous version was fantastic). I have heard the ZS-8 has better IQ (fewer "bells & whistles" & a different sensor), I might have to try it out. But, right now, I feel so upset that my beautiful brown camera is only pretty on the outside, especially once the sun goes down.
As much as it pains me to say this, (especially after being a Panasonic Lumix fan for so many years), my recommendation, for now, would be to look into other cameras. There are other, lower cost cameras that take better pictures and have some of the "ooohhh-aaahhh" features this ZS-10 has. Even if you don't take a lot of low(er) light photos, the IQ when using the flash really concerns me (when compared to the Sony), and, considering the high cost, I don't even think this would be a good "barbecues and birthday parties" camera. Unfortunately, there are many reputable reviews on the web that report the same findings. I was hoping they just got a "bum" camera.
I really want to love and utilize this camera, and I am certainly not a professional photographer, so if you have any practical advice or tips which may improve my low-light results with this camera, (other than increasing the light in the image) please leave your tips in the comments section of this review. Even if it is months from now, as other low-light users may find them helpful. Thanks!
I rely on reviews here at Amazon to help me make informed buying choices. I hope this review has helped you in the same manner. If you voted this as helpful, I Thank You! :)
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