Customer Reviews

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 12MP Digital Camera with 4.6x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Silver)

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(38)

 

 

I have been using DSLRs for several years, and currently use the Canon 40D and a wide selection of lenses. I bought this camera as a pocket camera that is easy to take anywhere, and for its HD video capability, as I'm currently in Thailand for several weeks doing some geology research for my master's thesis, and it's impractical and annoying to lug around my big camera everywhere. Therefore my expectations may be different - I am not expecting perfect image quality, full manual controls, etc., because I have my other camera for that kind of thing when I want it. I'm not sure that I would want this as my only camera, because the image quality isn't perfect, but if I didn't have a DSLR I don't think I would notice.

In any case, the main thing I have been using this for is taking HD video. This is excellent, and looks phenomenal on a computer screen. I haven't tried playing it on a TV but I assume it would look excellent there too. It is 720p, not 1080p like the new DSLRs will do, but it still looks great - surprisingly great, even, considering the size of the camera and its lens.

Others have apparently had trouble using the AVCHD Lite codec, but I have not. I can import the .mts files flawlessly into the Kdenlive video editor on OpenSUSE Linux 11.2 with KDE 4.2. I'm not sure what the status of this codec's support in the popular Mac and Windows video editors is, but if you're using Linux, don't worry about it because it works great and the quality and file size are much better than using MPEG2. As it's a small camera with a small lens and few manual controls, video is not going to look like that from a professional camcorder or from a new DSLR with HD video, but it's easily as good or better than that from the small sub $1000 HD camcorders that are available. Manual control of exposure compensation and ISO for video isn't apparently possible - a workaround is to use the scene modes, which works decently well. The night scene modes give pretty good high-iso (i.e. grainy) video at night, even in dark bars and clubs (or here in Thailand, riding in the back of a tuk-tuk). I really like that there's a dedicated movie button - you can immediately start recording a video no matter what else you're doing on the camera by hitting the button.

The camera's responsiveness is very good - obviously not like a DSLR, but much quicker than I'm used to from point and shoots, including other recent models that I've handled. You don't get full manual controls, but if you know what you're doing you can almost always get exactly what you want out of it. I usually leave it in "Normal Picture" mode, which gives you the most manual control. All other modes will either default to use the flash if the camera deems it necessary (which, as in most point and shoots, is almost all the time apparently), or will use the built-in LED to aid focusing, both of which are extremely distracting if you want to be discreet (or if you just don't like the look of straight-on flash).

You do have to know what you want to do with the camera if you use "Normal Picture" mode, it's not just point and shoot - but you will get the best results. The "Intelligent Auto" mode works OK - it tries to decide the best scene mode for you based on what it thinks you're taking a picture of. I would suggest just dialing in the scene mode yourself (there are a lot to choose from) as when I was trying that mode it would sometimes choose the wrong thing. That would be the best mode if you wanted pure point-and-shoot action, though.

Image quality is probably about on par with other point and shoots with folding optics. I don't know too much about this as I'm used to my 40D and other DSLR images. It is certainly more than decent for my purposes, though. Impressively, I've been taking high-iso shots without flash in really dark Thai bars and clubs that turn out ok - they are relatively long exposures of 1/2 to 1 1/2 seconds (or more) so I steady the camera on something, and there is motion blur, but I think that adds to the photo. The image noise in these cases is very obvious, but not overly distracting. Don't expect the results you'd get from a DSLR with a fast lens, and you won't be disappointed. Definitely practice your technique in various situations to get the best results with this camera.

Menu navigation is a little strange at first. I am not sure if it is really non-intuitive, or if I'm just used to the excellent navigation on DSLRs. I think users of point and shoot cameras probably have different expectations - most probably won't have a problem with this. Once you get the hang of it it's not really a problem, anyway, but for me it really was strange at first. All the controls you want (all the manual controls available in "Normal Picture" mode) are quickly available by hitting buttons on the back. You don't have to dig through menus to get the the settings you need most often. It's a similar setup to that on the Canon Powershot series, and probably other cameras as well as far as I know. I really like the different auto-focus options they give you - there are more options than on my 40D, and similar options to the professional series DSLRs from Canon and Nikon. Obviously, they aren't going to work as well as on those cameras, but I quite like the "1-area High Speed" and "Spot" focus modes, which are very fast and work quite well. Unfortunately there is no manual focus, and in tricky situations it can be hard to get it to focus on exactly what you want - in those cases try "Spot" focus, but even there it doesn't always give you what you want.

Now, of course, the big thing about this camera that calls for the high price - because let's face it, for the specs on this camera it is pretty expensive - is that it's waterproof. This works great and is really a lot of fun. I took it into the cold Pacific Ocean at Newport Beach and it held up great. Taking underwater HD video is a lot of fun. [...] I will have some more videos, from Thailand, up soon as well. I've also taken it in a hotel pool, and it worked great there too. Even if you don't plan on going snorkeling or anything with this camera, it being tough and waterproof is a great feature - I don't ever worry about just slipping it in my pocket. It's the rainy season here right now and I don't carry an umbrella, so I could easily get soaked at any time - I would be very careful with a non-waterproof camera, but don't have to think twice about always carrying this one with me.

Do be careful, though, and be sure to read the instructions - there are some things you should do to take care of it so that the waterproofing holds up. The waterproof seals really could be better than they are, but if you take care of them I think they should hold up pretty well.

One thing you might also want to watch out for is battery life - when I took it to the beach, I only got about 25 minutes of video recording and a few photos before the battery (which was fully charged beforehand) was completely dead. The Pacific is quite cold, of course, which may have been the reason for the short battery life, but it is something to be careful of. Extra batteries are annoyingly expensive, and I haven't seen a third-party version available yet, but I would have to recommend getting one because so far it seems that the battery life is unpredictable. I left it recording video on my desk with a fully charged battery to see how long it would last, and it went about 2 hours (which is about what you can fit on the 16gb SDHC card I got with the AVCHD lite codec). That seems pretty good, but in real life use you will probably get considerably less life out of the battery.

The zoom range is pretty decent; I usually stay at the wide end and I appreciate that they give you the 28mm equivalent - a lot of other point and shoots are at their widest at 35mm, which is significantly less wide. The lens is not exceptionally fast - which I assume is due to the folding optics design - but it normally is fine, even in dark places as I described earlier. I don't really ever zoom in too much, because with the slow lens it's usually blurry except in bright light. The optical image stabilization works well, and is active during video recording (if you want it to be) to remove some of the jitter, which is kind of annoying in videos, and which you'll get a decent amount of with this camera due to its small size.

Macro images are nice - you can get quite close. Be careful about the "Macro Zoom" mode, though - it is actually a digital zoom! You can get much closer, but the image quality really suffers. This looks especially bad if you use it during video. I suggest simply never using this option. The regular macro mode works fine. You can get closest by zooming to the widest setting, which seems weird, but it works.

The camera is pretty stylish and has a nice feel and heft. It feels really well built, mostly metal, and not all smoothed out and boring like most modern electronics design. If you're into gadgets, you'll really appreciate the industrial styling of the camera, and the weight. The screen is very good; it is bright and visible in direct sunlight and will automatically adjust the brightness depending on where you are (if you set it to - you can set the brightness yourself, too). One problem with the design - and one inherent to this type of camera with folding optics - is that you will often find your fingers covering the lens until you get used to holding it. Kind of annoying, but understandable due to design limitations.

Overall - I think this is great as a pocket camera, for its HD videos, and as a backup for another camera. I personally would not want it as my only camera - I would choose my DSLR. I would not hesitate in recommending it to anyone who isn't interested in a DSLR, though, and who wants a tough, neat little camera, great for traveling. To be honest, I've taken very few shots with my 40D, and quite a lot of them (and a heck of a lot of video) with this in the week or so I've been in Thailand so far.

This camera is great! Here's why I (filmmaker/parent)bought this one instead of others:
1. Wanted to shoot HD video anywhere, any time, without having to lug around my HVX.
2. Shoots on memory cards, unlike the Sony P.O.S. I bought that shoots HDV and if the camera breaks you're up a creek. If the camera croaks, at least I can get the footage/pics off of it.
3. I have kids, so I never know when I'm going to want to shoot it, and this camera is easily small enough to fit into a cargo pocket or pants pocket (I'd recommend getting a body glove neoprene cell phone sleeve to put it in - fits perfect).
4. I have kids, so it has to be waterproof/dusproof/indestructable since I want to take it to the pool, camping, hiking, etc.

Pros:
- Shoots video super-instantly and easily, recording with one button push vs. my wife's olympus which makes you go through menus.
- Video is SUPER-smooth, probably because of the super-wide angle lens. I mean, rediculously smooth.
- Stills look great too.
- Did I mention nearly indestructable.

Cons:
- No lens cap at all - bad design - an indestructable camera where the lens is always exposed? always carry it in something.
- STUPID USB cable that's proprietary and DOESN'T charge the battery when it's plugged in.
- AVCHD Lite looks good, will import into Final Cut Pro like it's a P2 card, but is otherwise kind of a pain to deal with. The Panasonic software blows.
- Expensive battery, but definitely get a spare.
- Took some figuring to get the settings right for shooting with (min. shutter speed, mainly. I'd rather a photo or video be dark than blurry).
- No intervalometer (sp?). That would have been cool.
- Speaker/head phones jack - as a filmmaker, to put videos on this to play back to show people would be cool, but the speaker isn't great.

Overall:
Great camera. The next version will hopefully have a few more improvements.

I went going on a Carribean cruise which was going to include snorkling and scuba in addition to lots of beach time. I wasn't planning to get a new camera but I saw that some new underwater cameras were coming out and thought I would check it out. Now, first of all, I am a huge Canon fan and probably would have bought their underwater camera (DC10 I believe), if it didn't look like a toy.

I didn't test the 3m theory by taking it scube but I did use it extensively on the beach and snorkling. It took some great pics and I had a lot of fun just bringing it in the water and watching people get paranoid for me. One great moment was when we got caught in a torrential rainstorm and I was happily taking pictures while everyone else was trying very hard to protect their cameras.

Couple of notes:
Get a foam floating strap. Keeps the camera relatively close to the surface so it won't sink to the bottom.
Olympus Foam Float Strap, 202212, Red

If you want to take widescreen pics, these won't come in at the full 12M. It gets downsized to 9M.

Outdoor pics were fantastic - much better quality then I thought

Plenty of features to play with including beach mode, food mode, burst mode (easier then I remember my Canon).

For some reason, power on takes a couple of seconds, tough to get used to after my instant on Canon

Battery life good for one day, my Canon would go for a couple days.

HD video came out great although make sure you have a procedure to convert them to friendlier video files.

All in all though, very happy with my purchase!

I was very excited to learn of this camera. It promised to be everything I wanted in a camera of this style, and it has delivered.

For specific image quality information, I suggest you look to the professional review sites. This is the best image quality on the market at this time for a waterproof and shockproof camera ... good enough to say you aren't making an image quality sacrifice by choosing this over less rugged pocket cameras of this size and style. I chose this camera with the belief that the pictures taken from this will be much, much better than the pictures from the camera that is left in its pouch for fear of damage and better than the ones taken by a non-functional camera damaged by sand, dirt, and water. With most cameras you get zero chances to drop it. I hope never to test the feature, but this camera is designed to survive a drop from normal holding height.

I chose "Sea Green" color. It is a pleasant, muted color. No reason to fear this color.

No lens cap or cover! I think this is great because the built in ones seem as delicate as the lens. Here there is no slot for crud to get into. However, your lens is exposed at all times. Even though Panasonic claims to have a tough, strong lens, I would take extra care to protect it during storage. Since it is waterproof, there is no excuse for not have grit rinsed or blown away before gently cleaning. My bigger concern from no lens cap is in the choice of case, which I will describe later.

Interface and display. There is no optical viewfinder and that is fine with me. The LCD is useable outdoors. If necessary in direct sun, both the lens and LCD can be shielded by your other hand when taking a picture since the camera is thin and doesn't have a protruding lens. The user interface on screen is good. The Intelligent Auto setting gives just the necessary options and is good for people who don't want to mess with many options. This is true for both movie mode and picture mode. There is a Quick Menu button which lets you quickly change most shooting related options without going into a setup mode. With a dedicated movie button, there are no dials or menus needed to switch between movies and still shots. This is good because the dial is not easy to turn. You also don't need to turn the dial to playback. The movie button location is a little awkward, but at least there is not confusion. The power button, picture button, and movie button are all separate in position and feel so I won't push the wrong one like I have on other cameras. The zoom switch, just in front of the shutter button, gets the job done but does not have great control. It might just take some getting used to. For those who will try to use this camera with an insulated glove ... forget it. Once you get it on, you will be able to push shutter with a gloved hand, but that is about it. I did not find much need to turn the dial in normal usage, which is great. I do like that it has settings for sports, beach, and snow, plus a user defined scene, which is a great way to get to these commonly used presets.

Battery. If you are going to take a lot of video, then a second battery will be necessary. I think this is true of all small cameras. The battery is model number: DMW-BCF10. It has a separate wall charger with flip out AC prongs. You have to remove the battery to charge. Some people don't like this, but the charger is small and convenient to travel with, and it is more convenient to charge outside the camera when you have a second battery.

Low Light. Not going to win any awards here ... but not horrible. My other pocket HD video capable camera is a Kodak V1073 which has a large image sensor and does really well in low light for a pocket camera. But, it isn't waterproof, the screen is unreadable outside, and has less zoom so I would happily used the TS1 instead in almost all cases.

Video. AVCHD Lite is a key feature here. AVCHD is compatible with Blu-ray players so this is the way to go for the future. You can always choose MJPEG if you want, but I see little reason to. I was able to play and edit without any trouble using Nero 9 on a several year old laptop. Still not a good distribution format as friends and family may not have the technology to view it, but you can always author and burn a DVD with your favorite video editing tool. Inside video with good (but nothing done special)light was very watchable, but I could find some noise if I looked for it. Outside in daylight is great.

Software. Does it come with any? I didn't bother looking or even reading the manual.

Waterproof and Shockproof. Test on your own camera. I will trust Panasonic on this for now.

Cases. Since the camera has an exposed lens, I am more concerned about the case than with others. I worry about a soft floppy case constantly rubbing against the lens as the camera is carried, wearing off any optical coatings and/or scratching. My thought is that a case with a stiff backing should be less likely to do this if facing the lens towards the stiff backing when placing into the case. The Rezo models have a stiff backing, the Tasca don't.

Here is the list of what I looked at or tried.
All Lowepro models:
Tasca 20: Tried it. Too small even if forcing it.
Tasca 30: Should fit, but probably will be a little big around.
Rezo 15: Fits pretty good. Sticks out of top about 3/8" (1cm) but flap still fold over and can velcro (about 3/4 of velcro contacts). Will hold extra battery and still close. (Many complain that the battery can slip out when getting the camera. Get a small rubber band and put around the battery and it won't slip out). Has a stiff backing.
Rezo 20: Slightly different design than the Rezo 15. I haven't tried it, but it should fit. Will be a little thicker than the Rezo 15. The main case is zippered, and extra area has a flap. Has a stiff backing. This will close much safer than the Rezo 15. Update: Bought one from Amazon. Exactly as I described. Same outline as the Rezo 15 but slightly thicker ... but plenty of room in the outer pouch for battery and memory. Since that pouch can stay closed when pulling out camera, and since camera is completely zipped (no velcro) everything is much more secure than the Rezo 15, but generally seems very bulky after putting the nicely sized camera in it, even though the camera fits as perfect as you could expect. This is the case I will use for now and recommend to those who want something that will really protect and encase the camera.

Overall, after owning for just one weekend, this camera is exactly what I expected and what I was looking for ... a camera I don't have to worry about. Update: After much more usage I am still very happy with the performance of this camera. I am getting great video from such a small camera and pictures have been better than I expected from a camera of this style.

I bought this camera when there were no review on the internet, so I actually had a hard time to pick out what I wanted. I was comparing to Pentax / Fujifilm / Olympus models. First thing I've noticed, the LCD in the TS-1 isn't 3", but it's the most responsive in the dark, less lagging, and sharper than others. TS-1 is also the one that has 720p HD recording compare to others.

The camera dimension is probably the biggest one among all the models i've been looking around, and it's surely one of the most expensive one as well. However, the face recognition, 720p video, 12 megapixels, the feature list is going on and on, and TS-1 seem to be the best choice.

i am not going to be in detail about image quality or lens quality as a pro review like [...] or some other pro websites, because I don't have those pro equipment to justify enough and accurately reviewing in scientific manner. However, I can review as an user, my words and perspectives.

= Image quality =
Image turns out to be sharp! colors aren't too shabby, but can be washed out if you have high contract scene. Both skin tone and natural shots looks very clean and nice. It's 100 out of 100 score at outdoor especially at day light.

High ISO can be a little noisy, even in the day light you might experiences a little noise. It's not a CANON, but colors are more vivid, things look more lively compare to canon point n' shoots. Over all experiences, I like Panasonic's color system better.

Night shots it uses black fame technique, which means if you take 30 seconds to take the shoot, it will take another 30 seconds to re-process to black out the noises. It works fairly well! Night shots are pretty clean.

As we always wanted from point n' shoots, is to be able to compare to our DSLR from the image quality perspectives. The truth is, due to the limitation size of CCD, you just can't get that kind of image quality no matter how advance image chip is. However, comparing to other digital cameras at it's price, TS-1 image stands out! (compared to canon 780IS, canon's image just can't compare!)

Ai modes are somewhat usable but not ideal. They are often pretty dumb. Preset modes aren't necessary smart about when to flashing the flash, or subject is behind or in front of the scene. Shutter speed isn't ideal either! Auto (semi-manual mode) allows you to change settings, but shutter only go as far as 1 second. If you want to do long time exposure like 30s, 60s, you really need to turn into "night landscape mode" and there aren't that many options to choose from these preset modes. In the other word, the manual controls are very limited.

There is a LED autofocus assistance lamp. It's annoying that it will pops up as bright as the flash itself, and there is almost no way to turn it off. Even you turn the lamp off from menus, it will still pop up when it needs to focus in the dark. I wish they've used infrared ray!!!!!!

= Video quality =
720p is sharp! Video recording on TS-1 is a bless! It auto focus on subjects! you can auto-tracking the moving subject. Zoom in and zoom out is quiet fast and quiet. video quality is a little softer than actual video recorder, but it beats VGA! It's probably one of the sharpest video recording I've seen in this price range (on a compact digital camera, not DSLR or delicate video recorder).

microphone on top of the camera isn't perfect, but at least i do love the idea to include noise reduction software in camera. I was on the ferry filming, the noise reduction does take away lots of background noises! This is pretty awesome design!

= Flash =
Flash obviously has issues! It fires inaccurately because it falls to know how far your subject is. It's always full amount blast! If you are too close, things tend to be too bright (especially on macro mode), if you are too far, flash still fires anyway (even flash light doesn't travel that far).

Flash option is hiding under "left" button, is not as easy as other camera where there is a delicate "flash" button to press.

Flash is located nearby the lens. Unlike some other models or DSLR where Flash is above the lens, it tend to create more "red eye" effects. Not only that! Flash also cause reflection on your dirty lens. Due to this camera has no lens cap, when lens is a bit dusty, flash reflects and picks up those dust spots. You will see "SNOW" effect in your image. This is a very annoying issue!! It makes flash almost unusable! However, this issues happens to many compact camera, especially waterproof cameras because you have extra piece of glass in front of your lens for protection, and it often picks up dust.

= camera body =
Solid, heavy, but well built. Since it's waterproofed, I often wash with soap after coming back from the beach. It's very handy and nicely sealed! When I open up the battery compartment, I often hear the air pressure sound! This is not just some silicon rubber cap! The design is very well done compare to many.

Camera body is brush metal look, but scratch easy! Sometimes I almost think, this is suppose to be outdoor camera, why do I need a camera bag?.... After a few weeks of usage, it shows hair thin scratches on the surface, so I guess it's not as tough as I think :(

This is an internal lens focus design! Although lens isn't as big as LX-3, so the image quality might be a little worse. However, because your lens is no longer "sticks" out, it's less mechanical failure, and more comfortable in your jean pocket.

= battery life =
Is not bad, but not great. It will last a day, but not several days. Extra battery would be recommend if you have a long trip. It's sucks you can't charge battery while it's in the camera. Battery is like canon and others, you need to use "THEIR" battery, not just any AA or AAA.

You can't charge through USB when connected, this is kinda stupid too!

= connections / software =
It also sucks that you have to use their "USB" cable, not just any micro-usb port. Their software is just like any canon/nikon/pentax software.. the driver sucks, bundle software sucks, they are pretty useless if you already have picassa, aperture, iphoto, photoshop....

On windows, life sucks a little. You need to install your own driver, and use their own "SOFTWARE" because it's a AVCHD "LITE" codec, not AVCHD spec, so many video editors won't pick up correctly or you will have sync issues on recording time. This camera doesn't come with RAW image format, so no advance editing for photo either.

On the mac, everything is just works. When you turn on the camera while hooking up to USB, it can be a card reader (you can import photos if you want). Better yet! if you run iphoto09, it automatically picks up the camera. You can import images right into your iphoto without extra driver or anything. Video is the same too! imovie09 will automatically picks up TS-1, and ask to import! Import AVCHD Lite is painless in mac, you can basically click on import.. no need to install drivers or anything.

= Operations =
Start up is pretty fast compare to many. Focus is fast and accurate. Face recognition doesn't always work, but it will fall back to other focus mode, so it's always right on the spot.

No manual focus is one let down, but it wasn't too bad. I am mainly using it as a point n' shoot candid camera anyway. However, if there is a manual focus, that would be nice!

= Over all =
It's an excellent outdoor camera. Waterproof works well, image quality is pretty nice, colors are pretty natural (not as washed out as Canon), well body building quality, starts up fairly fast, autofocus is fast and accurate.

=== PRO ===
- fast start up
- fast autofocus
- nice face recognition (need to add more profiles though)
- well balanced color setting
- nice waterproof feature
- solid camera body
- internal focus, it's often better idea than "sticks out" lens design
- pretty nice 720p video recording
- very bright, responsive LCD at back (but why not 3"?)
- just works perfectly without additional software or anything on a mac
- video recording has very accurate auto-focus, you can zoom in / out and still remain focus (lacking this option from many compact cameras)
- Just about right size and right weight (could be even better if they trim some fat though)

=== CON ===
- flash has issues
- noisy on high ISO (expected from small CCD)
- no lens cap, lens can be expose to danger
- brush metal design is awesome but easy to scratch
- wish to have microUSB connection
- hope that USB can charge the battery or in camera battery charge option
- preset modes aren't that easy to access, and often they are more than confusing. Wish for more manual operation options

I high recommend this camera to outdoor lovers, it's a very good all around camera! However, do not recommend if people are looking for DSLR like performance, manual control freaks, or looking for something super cute and compact.

Until this month there were only 2 or three viable options in Waterproof cameras. All were limited, and one, the Ricoh was priced WAY too high.

This Lumix, my father-in-law just bought last month in Japan, same exact camera, different model number. I played with it several days. The images are very nice from what I can see. They are just as good as most other point and shoot digital cameras out. Probably not the best of the best, but definitely good. We shot outdoors and inside in restaurants without flash. We got decent shots. Basically put it up to most digital cameras and it fares fine. But with the water and shock resistance and HD video capabilities, you have a a huge win with this camera.

In my opinion, this Lumix beats out Olympus, Canon, FinePix, Pentax and Ricoh for the all around status. Why? This Lumix is Water and Shockproof. Has a 10 ft water proof (which is enough for most people) Does HD video 1280x720 with Audio. Takes SD cards including the 32GB SDHC High Capacity cards. This and the video is huge for me. The Olympus does not take SD, and is limited. You can put 4 hours of HD video on a 32GB HCSD card on this Lumix. Awesome. Get a couple 32Gig cards and you are more than covered for an entire vacation with a lot of filming. Great pics, great video, all weather with just this slim camera. That's why I love it.
The design is slim (the new Canon waterproof blue camera is awesome, don't get me wrong, but it's kinda big and round (and video isn't as good).
This Lumix doesn't have as good a zoom as the Canon, but it's decent, and sure, it can't go as deep as the Canon, however it's small enough for the pocket, durable, takes great shots, goes deep enough in the water for most, takes the best video as all.

This is the reason I think it gets best all around. If you only care about super small size, get the finepix. If you want the best underwater performance photos, get the Canon. I wouldn't recommend getting the Olympus unless they change to SD cards. Olympus' MicroSD and XD are both lame limited formats. With this Lumix you are ready for all kinds of things and it's easy to put in the pocket. Because the video is so good, I think it makes it the great all around rugged vacation camera. And I'd even consider shooting fun movies with it where perfect audio isn't required, as the quality is much better than some video cameras out now. (I haven't figured out how good the sound is yet on the HD video, so I can't speak to that, but they say it's decent quality.)

Some youtube videos were posted where people with this camera were using it effectively as a helmet cam and they even hooked it to their motorcycle and did driving videos. Stuff like that is why I'm so excited to buy my own. (helicopter / RC airplane / balloon camera shots this would be great being light and video is good)

Lastly, the Macro is very nice too. I'm sure there's better macro elsewhere if you compare, but this does very well and has an LED light for it too. If you have kids and you'd like for them to learn cameras and play and experiment, I think though this is not a cheap camera, it's durable, can do all kinds of nature shots and video of bugs, leaves, snow, rain, tadpoles, and is going to perform well under some stress. I feel like with a water and shockproof camera, you're getting components that are going to last for a while and you'll hopefully only need to replace the camera when a better one comes out (or you lose it.)

Hope this was helpful!

I wanted to replace my point & shoot (Canon SD7000is) before my summer vacation as the zoom is starting to stick. I did research and got excited about this new Panasonic DMC-TS1 because the reviews said it had decent image quality, great features and was waterproof / shock-proof to boot. Unfortunately after a week of testing I am returning it because the image quality (using the intelligent automatic settings) is just not good enough and very disappointing compared to my 3 three-year-old 6 megapixel camera.

I ran a series of tests using my old Canon and the new Panny to take equivalent pics at the same time in various settings - indoor day, indoor night, outdoor (sunny and overcast), low light, kids in motion, macro close-up, etc. Unfortunately the Panny was substantially worse in almost every category. Specifically the color was consistently less natural and often washed out, it handled simple motion terribly compared to the Canon and it relied on the Flash in two many situations. The most disappointing was daylight pics. Introduce any natural brightness at all and the pics all end up with a slightly washed out look. The old Canon by comparison handled these situations beautifully. They both are almost useless in low light. The only category where the Panny wasn't substantially inferior to the Canon was macro - it took beautiful macro shots.

I never tested underwater because the store had fine print on the return policy that invalidated it if submerged, even though it was designed for that. However, if you read the user manual on the waterproof features there are several major caveats. First, even though it is also "shockproof" up to five feet, if you ever do drop it the company will no longer warranty its waterproof features. Even if you don't drop it, the manual says you need to have the Panasonic Service Center replace the seal every year. So I called Panasonic to find out what that costs. Unfortunately, they threat the seal replacement like a repair and they charge a flat rate of $140 plus parts. In other words, to maintain the waterproof feature of your waterproof camera, you have to pay almost 50% of its original cost every year to maintain it. If you pay for an extended warranty, be careful to make sure it isn't voided by underwater use - some are - and even if you have one that isn't, they will void it if you don't do as Panasonic species and replace the seal annually. Either way, that makes the waterproof feature very expensive.

I did not do much testing of the manual controls or changing the default automatic settings. This will be a family camera and I need it to be truly point-and-shoot for the other users. So while it may perform better for those willing to play with the settings, I can't recommend it as even a decent point-and-shoot.

I've been using my DMC-TS1 for over a month now and am quite satisfied with its performance. Those who are real sticklers for image quality in this size-range should really be looking into either the LX3 or the G10, but those aren't waterproof, weatherproof, and shock resistant (which should make up a large part of the reason why you're considering this camera). I looked at sample shots from the other waterproof cameras from Pentax, Olympus, Fuji, and Canon. The only one that proves competitive is the Canon D10. In the center of the frame of wide-angle shots, the image quality of the D10 is clearly better than that of the TS1, but as you move out to the edges (especially toward the right, upper corner of horizontal shots) there is excessive softness in the D10 images and they become worse than the TS1. The TS1 displays some minor softness throughout the image, and is not as sharp as the D10 at the center of the frame, but is consistent in detail and sharpness levels throughout the entire frame.

Here are some TS1 pros and cons based on my experience:

Pros:

* Feel confident using the camera in any weather conditions.
* 28mm at the wide end with only minor barrel distortion.
* Zoom range is suitable for most types of picture taking.
* Some fun and usable settings, like starry night (for time exposures), pinhole, and macro zoom.
* Has an auto bracket feature for bracketing exposures.
* Color reproduction seems natural for the most part (see below), though perhaps not as vivid as the default setting on Canons.
* Can shoot in two types of HD video, as well as regular video if I want that. The HD video looks great and sounds fine. Some complain that AVCHD Lite is not usable with current software on the market, but I've been using Handbrake to convert my AVCHD Lite videos without much difficulty.
* Image quality is about as good as or better than what I'd get in most any other general consumer point & shoot.
* Start up time is fast and shutter lag isn't really noticeable.
* I should list sturdy and waterproof here, but I'm not going to intentionally test the former and haven't yet tested the latter.

Cons:

* Some mild softness in images generally, especially in lower light environments, but nothing really noticeable unless you're looking for it; however . . .
* Noticeable softness at the telephoto end of the lens, though that's not too surprising given the lens design. This mostly occurs in low contrast scenes, so don't go taking any telephoto shots of fir trees off in the distance.
* The color range that is perhaps less faithfully reproduced than others seems to be reds. They're a little washed out.
* The regular Macro setting gets only as close as 5cm (I've been spoiled by the 2cm of my old and reliable Canon SD700).
* AWB has trouble with indoor lighting, but I've never come across a point & shoot that didn't have that problem.
* Sometimes the focusing could be more discerning--which I suspect is not a problem with the Canon D10 (I've owned many Canons in the point and shoot range).

Finally, I did knock one star off of my review for image quality, but that's in comparison to what I think the ideal should be, and currently nothing on the market matches that ideal. So, compared to what's on the market in waterproof cameras, I'd give this a 5-star review.

I purchased this camera for a snorkeling trip to Australia's Great Barrier Reef. To make a long story short, we were not disappointed. As somewhat of a film/slr/dslr junkie, I have quite an arsenal of equipment (Nikon D70, D90, D700, FM2). Besides this camera, I brought a point and shoot Canon SD1200, and a D70 on the trip.

- It's really nice that the strap cinches and locks around your wrist. Waterproof cameras usually do not float and the TS1 is no exception. If you let go of the camera over a stretch of deep reef, it is gone. Cameras are lost in the reef all the time. The cinching, locking strap prevents this from happening.

- The camera body does an extremely good job of resisting salt build up. We had the camera in the water for a good two hours in heavy 30 knot winds and stronger than usual current. The salt build up cleared up after soaking in fresh water for 30 minutes (I wish I could say the same for my hair).

- Water/salt does not stick to the hardened lens which is very important because water droplets usually cause focusing difficulty. Furthermore, as most peope know, when you have a snorkel mask on and are in ocean water, it's impossible to see any LCD on any camera under water. Regardless of the camera, I often find myself shooting video underwater blind at the widest angle. The same is true for the TS1. However, the difference is that the TS1 is reliable enough in terms of color, exposure, and focus that I don't need to see the LCD underwater.

- When you bring the camera out of the water, the TS1 has reed-thin drainage lines that move water away from openings. I found that it is best not to open the camera until the pooled water near the buttons has drained to the bottom of the camera and the exterior is completely dry.

- The still pictures underwater were sharp, in focus, and exposed properly. The AVCHD video underwater was stunning. When I look at the high definition videos, I am still in awe of what this camera is capable of. The video is extremely smooth. In fact, it's a lot less choppy than my high def Panasonic SD5 camcorder.

- In daily usage, the camera performs well. In fact, well enough, that for daylight photos, I left my DSLR in the hotel room and just kept this camera in my pocket. Of course, (as with any compact) I cannot say the same for night photos.

Having a tough, waterproof compact allows you to focus on enjoying your vacation instead of protecting your equipment. Also, as of this writing, this is the only compact that does AVCHD lite video that is also waterproof. This turned out to be one of the better camera purchases I have made.

The camera is an extremely good value, especially when you consider what it would cost to get an AVCHD camcorder and a waterproof housing (and the larger size).

First let me say I am not a professional and this Panasonic TS1 review is purely my use of the camera (thus far) in comparison to others I tried and returned while looking for the "right" camera. We have a Fuji s700 for our day to day use and wanted a "pocket" size camera for trips and use around water. Like most people, image quality in all sorts of settings is important.

We originally purchased and tried the Olympus Stylus Tough 8000. The 8000 has a slightly better build quality than the TS1. Both cameras are suspiciously identical in size and layout, right down to the actual battery and compartments. The 8000 is all metal, while the TS1 is mostly metal and some plastic. The layout of the 8000 is excellent, a bit heavy in the hand, but solid (a tank). The layout of the TS1, while not exactly terrible, is not quite as user friendly and feels significantly lighter than the 8000. I give the edge to Olympus for button layout and overall feel. Some differences for reference are that the Olympus started quickly, while you have to hold the on button for the TS1 a few seconds. The placement of the zoom on the top of the TS1 and the stiff feel was also a negative in my opinion.

Some professional reviews complained about the Olympus camera menus. I happened to find the 8000 menu very user friendly for a novice (difference between a general consumer and a pro). It was hard to look at other cameras that did not have such a clear menu that was easy and fast to manually switch different modes, settings and speeds etc. The Panasonic menu is somewhat less intuitive and just not as "clean" looking from a graphic/icon perspective. If you are familiar with smart phones, it's like going from an iPhone to an old Palm menu. But, the Panasonic has a lot more manual user options, which beyond its lesser appealing graphical look, puts more control in the users hands. Similar to the 8000, there is a quick menu, which is quick to reference, while also having the standard menu of all options. Also, Panasonic's face detection is much more responsive on the TS1.

The "auto" mode of the 8000 was terrible. The majority of pictures taken in auto mode were not up to our standards. It wasn't until I used the manual features and bumped down the pixels as well as the ISO that the pictures started to look better. As with many camera's, dark lighting and indoor use resulted in average to poor image quality. Pictures in good lighting were good. Regardless, the 8000 always produced soft images, which was its only downside in my opinion. Which brings me to the TS1. Much like the 8000, it took some fiddling with the ISO speeds and lighting choices to achieve good to excellent pictures. However, even in "auto" mode the camera takes good pictures even at higher ISO speeds. The details are crisp and clear in good lighting or while using the flash. The color can even be changed between vivid, standard, natural etc. These are subtle differences that consumers like myself appreciate and actually can see in the pictures.

CONS:

Zoom button placement
Slow zoom
Stiff buttons
Battery must be recharged separately
Clumsy access to side compartments

PROS:

Good to excellent image quality (auto or manual)
Good indoor image quality with flash and low lighting
Produces some crisp images
Higher optical zoom than similar cameras
Excellent face detection
Several manual user options