Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1K 5MP Compact Digital Camera with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)

by Panasonic

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000EITTLE
• Item model number: DMC-TZ1K
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (164 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,479 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 15, 2006

Product Description

Color: Black

From the Manufacturer

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1K 5MP Compact Digital Camera with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom features a refractive prism lens unit that allows zooming to occur horizontally within the camera. This makes it possible to pack a powerful 10x optical zoom -- equivalent to a big 35 to 350 millimeter lens on a 35mm camera -- into a compact camera. The Extended Optical Zoom function, which magnifies the image with minimal deterioration by using the center part of the high-resolution CCD, boosts the zoom power of up to 12.5x.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1K produces crisp, clear shots of moving subjects with the ISO 800 setting and high sensitivity mode, thanks to the camera's Venus Engine III. The higher ISO setting lets you use higher shutter speeds to minimize the motion blur that can occur when you're shooting a moving subject, particularly in dim lighting. Even indoors, you can get crisp, clear, beautiful shots of children, pets and other subjects that won't hold still. You can also help avoid motion blur automatically by using high sensitivity mode.

Choose from several auto focus modes -- spot, 1-point (normal or high-speed), 3-point high-speed, and 9-point -- to suit the scene you're shooting. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1K also introduces a unique linear AF system. Using a linear motor to drive the zooming, this system makes it possible to shift the 10x optical zoom from wide angle to full telephoto in a few seconds. You get the kind of quick zooming and fast focusing that lets you catch every shooting opportunity. Plus, the AF Assist Lamp helps when focusing in dimly lit places.

Thanks to the Venus Engine III, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1K takes just 0.5 second to start up after the power is switched on and has a release time lag as low as 0.006 seconds. The camera can also fire off consecutive shots at a swift three frames per second and offers unlimited consecutive shooting, so you can keep shooting until the SD memory card or built-in memory is full.

With its 2.5-inch diagonal size and 207,000 pixels, the high-resolution LCD monitor makes it easy to see text and small thumbnail images. Even bright sunlight isn't a problem. If it's difficult to see the display on a sunny day, simply press the power LCD button and the display becomes about 40 percent brighter. The world's first developed high-angle LCD mode also provides easier viewing when you're holding the camera high to shoot over the heads of people in front of you.

With a convenient built-in 14 megabytes of memory, you can take photos even when you don't have an SD memory card on hand. A travel date stamp function lets you input the time and date of your departure before you leave home, then you can use the camera to capture all the best moments of your trip. When you view the photos later, the camera will display them according to the day of the trip each photo was taken. You can even set the date and time for both your present location and your destination, choosing from 162 cities around the world in 32 time zones. A calendar view lets you arrange images you've shot by the day on which you shot them. This can be a big help when you have a large number of images to organize.

What's in the Box
DMC-TZ1K digital camera, battery charger, battery pack, lens cap, AV cable, USB cable, and strap.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

265 of 270 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new revolution in camera design from Panasonic, May 19, 2006

By 

Ryan Brancel (Madison, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1K 5MP Compact Digital Camera with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black) (Electronics)

PLUS - Attractive design, clean layout. Conforms to hand well. Blk/Blue/Silver colors. Easy menu system. Crisp 2.5" LCD. Compact 10x zoom with IS. Fast operation! Excellent value!

MINUS - Weak audio recording (8 bit, 8 Khz, Mono). Limited manual controls. Only F4.2 Aperture at full zoom. Warranty - 90 days labor. Has to boost ISO in low light to compensate for flash.

SUMMARY - While it seemed innovation in digital cameras was slowing down, Panasonic keeps driving forward. With a volume of 16 cu. inches, it surpasses the Coolpix S4 (16.6) as the smallest ultra zoom camera. Held before by the Olympus C-770 (26.6) which I also own. Even at full zoom the lens extends out only 0.55" (14 mm). I'd recommend visiting the Panasonic product website as they have good details on the features of the camera. Such as, quick startup (less than a second to power on), quick focusing, long battery life (despite a small 3.7V 1000 mAh battery), and high sensitivity modes, mostly all improved with new Venus III engine. The battery charges up in only ~2 hours with a very small charger that has a fold down AC plug.

Very nice LCD display: 2.5" with 207K pixels. Wide horizontal viewing angle. Has a High Angle mode which works well to see the display above your head. Easy to access boost mode which helps outdoors and it does "gain" up for low-light. No reflective coating, however this does not cause a problem since the display is viewed straight on. May want to invest in a clear protective sheet to limit scratches.

A few gripes: Given the fact it records good video, why do they have it record sound in low quality? The built-in microphone does pick up sounds okay, however you do notice a difference compared to cameras such as the Canon S2 and Olympus C-770, which record in 16 bit, 44.1 Khz, stereo. With a 2 GB card you can record only ~20 minutes of high quality video. It would have been nice if Panasonic had built-in a better video codec, like MPEG4 to keep the file size down. If you're inclined, save the video to your computer and run it through an encoder such as Windows Media Encoder or QuickTime 7. You can shrink down the 20 minute video to ~150 MB without much loss in video quality. Granted this does require a CPU with some horsepower.

The tradeoff with the lens design is that it does not have a wide range of aperture settings (F2.8 - F4.2), thereby causing some limitation in light gathering ability and depth of field ability. Other long zooms can open up to F3.7 at full tele. It only adjusts to it's minimum setting of F7.1 in very bright scenes. Although when you compare to other cameras in this size, the apertures are not bad. In regards to noise, there is minimal occurence at ISO 80/100. It increases as you move up, however it never seems to balloon out of control, even at ISO 800 or 1600. Granted it's noisy, but you can clean it up with a program like NeatImage. Also, you can open up the shutter for night shots to 1, 8, 15, 30, or even 60 seconds.

The flash is physically small and adequate in output. Seems to have decent coverage (not quite as good as the Oly C-770 which had a dual range pop-flash). However to compensate for the limited output it will boost the ISO to 200 or 400 which makes for a more grainy picture (a well-lit room may keep it at ~125). There also could be red-eye problems here (if you don't use the red-eye reducing flash mode). With Image Stabilization, you can utilize more natural light shots w/o having to resort to the flash as often.

A few tweaks: I'd recommend adjusting the picture quality from "Fine" (default) to "Normal". This will compress the image down to around 1.1 MB, however there is minimal loss in quality. There are three picture modes to use: Natural, Standard, & Vivid. Each mode progressively increases the sharpness and contrast of the image at the expense of noise. Natural will display a smooth image with more neutral colors; Vivid will make the image sharper and colors will stand out, at the expense of some additional noise. I was using Vivid, however it may saturate colors more than I like. Also, there is an economy mode that will turn off the display after 15 seconds of inactivity and during flash recharge. This seems to work well since the display instantly powers on with a touch of any button.

Accessories are hard to find right now, however the only one I'd get is the spare battery. A 512 MB SD card is very inexpensive now and even the supported maximum 2 GB card is a drop in the hat (limited to 2 GB due to FAT16 file system).

With a current street price of $300, Panasonic expects to sell a lot of these. In fact, given the features and performance, it will likely take sales away from it's other models. I'd highly recommend this to both beginner and expert users!

RECOMMENDED BAG - Search for the "LowePro Rezo 50". It's a great fit for this camera.

130 of 133 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best big little camera, but downfalls are major, July 29, 2006

By 

cogitation (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1K 5MP Compact Digital Camera with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black) (Electronics)

We had a Lumix FZ20 with a 12x zoom, which we loved to death except for three major downfalls -- it was big and clunky, it was slow to focus and wouldn't focus at all sometimes, and it had a major noise problem in lighting that never bothered our previous cameras. When we heard that the TZ1 would give us a 10X zoom at 1/3 the size and without focusing problems, we obsessed for months waiting for it to hit the market. We've now had our TZ1 for a few months and have taken 2 long vacations and about 2,500 photos with it. Here's our expansive list of thoughts...

Incredible: Having a 10x zoom that can go in a standard small case from Target and can be tossed in a daybag or purse.

Great: Panasonic has improved their focus system and added a focus assist light, and the old focus struggles are gone. The time needed to lock in a shot and capture it is now fast and accurate, and capturing subjects in low light isn't a problem any longer. What a relief.

Life Saver: How did we ever live without image stabilization? Panasonic started this movement, and now many other brands are using it. When utilizing the full 10X zoom, this feature is just plain necessary without a tripod.

Amazing: The macro/close-up mode allows you to get close enough to a bee that a 4X6 photo is all bee and the veins in its wings are crisp and clear. Our photos show things on raspberries that we couldn't even see with our naked eye. This feature, more than any other, makes people say, "What kind of camera do you have?!"

Major Downfall: Our greatest joy in this camera is the 10X zoom. But it has also proven to be our greatest disappointment because it is unusable over large distances. We didn't have this problem with our larger FZ20, and we can only assume that it's because the TZ1 lens is about 1/3 the size. If you want to zoom in on your child 25 feet from the water's edge, or a bird 15 feet up in a tree, you're in business. But if you want to zoom in on a mountain top, or crop a scenic vista, you'll be greeted with print quality that rivals the old 110 film format of 1980. Everything gets fuzzy and washed out, as if the photo was taken through a window with the sun bouncing off it.

Marjor Downfall 2: For some reason, Panasonic can't seem to get past their problems with noise in less-than-optimal lighting conditions. We've owned Pentax, Olympus, and Minolta cameras and never had this problem with them. Outdoor photos at dusk, night photos with a subject more than 6 or so feet away, and indoor photos in a room larger than about 10X10 all turn into a grainy, spotted mess. The "starry night" setting helps in specific circumstances, like shooting a city skyline at night, but there's still some noise to spare. And if there's anything red in the shot, forget it. You can manually lock in a lower ISO to counteract this effect, but then you get a photo that's too dark to use anyway -- not to mention that the whole purpose of a point-and-shoot camera is to eliminate manually setting things.

Unnecessary Hassle: While the menu system is easy to navigate, we wish we had to use it much less. The scene mode wheel at the top includes only three of the usual suspects (auto, macro, and movie) and leaves out all other obvious modes that should be at your fingertips (portrait, scenery, sport, night portrait [flash] and night scenery [no flash]). Reaching any of these requires digging through the menu. There are two "open" settings on the wheel that you can pre-set to these choices, but two isn't enough and those "open" spots would be much better utilized with unusual/personalized settings like baby (records your child's age to the day), underwater, etc.

Hassle Saver: In contrast to the bizarre shortage of settings available on the mode wheel, there is an extremely handy dedicated button for adjusting the exposure value. Too much sun? Too much shadow? Without having to go into the menu, you can bump the exposure up or down, one to three increments at a time, to achieve the balance you want.

Worry Saver: There's a great review setting that not only plays back your shot for a couple seconds after recording it, but also zooms in on it for a couple seconds to show what your quality will be after printing at 4X6. We used to think things looked fine on the little screen, then realized they were blurry after reaching print size. Now we know right away if we need to retake the photo.

Good and Bad: The 2.5-inch screen is big and wonderful, and it does a better job of gaining up and down than our previous digitals have. However, it's still hard to see in bright sunlight and we often gamble on whether we framed a shot as we wanted. The biggest inconvenience is that we often don't find out until later that we took some blurry or overexposed photos.

Irritating: The detached lens cap drives us mad. If you have even one other thing in your hands (like the case you just pulled the camera from), removing the lens cap becomes an ordeal. And once it's hanging from the strap, even the slightest breeze will blow it in front of the lens. I understand the lack of an automatic "door" for the lens saves on battery useage, but it's so not worth it.

Appreciated: The battery charger is ultra-tiny and requires no cord. The prongs flip out from the back to plug into the wall directly. This is a huge plus for us because we hate that we have to pack a whole bag in our suitcase just for chargers -- the cell phone, iPod, shaver, back-up camera (made that mistake once and never will again), etc.

Bonus: Of all the batteries we've owned over the years, this one lasts the longest. We've had 200-photo travel days where we haven't even had to use the spare we always carry. Another bonus is that the batteries are affordable, relatively speaking.

Confounding: We'll never understand why every camera over $200 isn't weather resistant. For just a few bucks more, they could be manufactured for the real world where simple things like rain and snow happen, and where real people do things like drink something cold on a hot day and get condensation water on their hands. Olympus seems to understand this, but their photo quality isn't as high. Why should we have to choose?

Overall: Despite the number of negative comments above, we really do love our TZ1. If the two "Major Downfalls" above were remedied, we would even give the TZ1 5 stars. Our current 4 stars is based on "The Big Picture" (yes, bad pun intended). Considering the $300-ish price point, and the fact that a point-and-shoot does all the work for you, you can't expect the moon served to you on a platter. Given the size of the TZ1, we can hardly believe our good fortune in having a 10X zoom packed in. Given that it's an automatic point-and-shoot, we can hardly believe our good fortune when we see the gorgeous photos we turn out with little to no effort on our part. And we can hardly believe that we got all of this for just over $300. The pros far outweigh the cons, and when this camera is good, it's VERY GOOD.

124 of 128 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compact, 10x Zoom, Great Outdoor Images, April 24, 2006

By 

Robert Salita "Software Developer" (CHI PAR PHX SYD PDX CLD NKC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1S 5MP Compact Digital Camera with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver) (Electronics)

Looking for a compact long zoom camera with optical stabilization that takes great outdoor photos? Currently this is the only choice and a pretty good one at that. I'm very pleased with the image quality of outdoor photos. Colors compare well to the Canon SD600 that I also carry. The TZ1 takes sharp photos. A handy feature is that the zoom works even in movie mode. Indoor image quality seems ordinary. Movie mode is quite adequate so much so that I sold my video camera.

The camera has quickly won praise from professional reviewers. It also won a TIPA (Techincal Image Press Association) award for innovative design and image quality.

Update 4 May 2006: I don't think I've given enough credit to the TZ1. I'm astounded by the versatility of this camera. Photos are amazingly sharp.

Update 21 May 2006: Oy! Camera is totally dead. Some kind of power problem that requires warranty work to fix. The warranty is only 60 days from purchase! Awful.

Update 18 July 2006: Bigston (Chicago), the repair depot for Panasonic DMC-TZ1, deserves credit for getting me a loaner camera (albeit a lesser camera), making a quick repair (new electronics and lens), and shipping the repaired camera directly back to me in Paris. The whole process took 7 weeks with several major Bigston snafus.

Conclusion: This is an excellent zoom camera. I was unlucky that I got a lemon. There are no other reports of the same failure. Had I been in the US, I would have had an acceptable repair turnaround time. I was lucky to have the failure within the 60 day warranty period. THE WARRANTY IS OUTRAGEOUSLY SHORT. Had I bought the camera here in France, the warranty would have been 2+ years. I RECOMMEND BUYING ELECTRONICS ONLY IF YOU GET/PAY FOR A 1+ year warranty/exchange.

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