Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 16x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and Built-In GPS Function (Blue)

by Panasonic

• Powerful 16x Optical Zoom: The DMC-ZS10 features a powerful 16x optical zoom lens (35mm camera equivalent: 24-384mm).
• Touch Zoom Function: The touch-screen operation on the DMC-ZS10 makes zooming even easier.
• High-speed Consecutive Shooting: The high speed digital signal output technology integrated in the cameras of LUMIX G Micro
• Burst Shooting Mode in Category Playback: While conventional models play consecutively shot images one by one
• Sonic Speed AF: The Sonic Speed AF system includes numerous re-engineering enhancements

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.3 x 4.1 x 2.3 inches ; 7.7 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 7 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: B004KKZ0IS
• Item model number: DMC-ZS10A
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (238 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #826 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 25, 2011

Product Description

Color: Blue

From the Manufacturer

The LUMIX ZS10 features a versatile 24mm ultra-wide-angle and powerful 16x optical zoom LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR lens. Its MOS sensor enables full-High Definition 1920x1080 video recording capability. And high speed burst shooting up to 10 frames per second at full resolution. A new, large, 3.0-inch, 460,000-dot Smart Touch Intelligent LCD which allows for Touch Zoom, Touch Auto Focus (AF), Touch Shutter, and Touch Playback. The LUMIX ZS10 also features a built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) function allowing geotagged images to be pinpointed via online maps and easily shared with friends and families.

24mm Ultra Wide-angle 16x Optical Zoom LEICA DC Lens
The compact, versatile lens system is the hallmark of LUMIX ZS series and now this lens system is totally redeveloped for the DMC-ZS10 in both optical and mechanical design. The new high-quality LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR lens system is even more versatile with 24mm ultra wide-angle* to powerful 16x optical zoom (35mm camera equivalent: 24-384mm). Comprising 12 elements in 10 groups, including an ED lens and 3 aspherical lenses with 6 aspherical surfaces, this advanced lens unit suppresses chromatic aberration which tends to occur in telephoto shooting. It also boasts a short total length of lens unit despite its higher versatility with longer zoom range, which is made possible by development of a new mechanism for the structure of lens barrel. The lens system is also compatible with high shutter speed of min.1/4,000 sec.

* Converted to standard 35mm camera equivalent, at the maximum wide position.

Venus Engine FHD
For the image processor, the Venus Engine FHD is incorporated that features exceptionally advanced signal processing capabilities. By separating chromatic noise from luminance noise and applying the optimal noise reduction to each, you can capture clear and beautiful images even when shooting at high ISO sensitivity levels. The Venus Engine FHD also provides precisely selective noise reduction to the chromatic noise without affecting the border of colors which is judged from the brightness level of a pixel. Linking smoothly with the MOS sensor, the Venus Engine FHD processes a large amount of signals at high speed, making it possible to record high resolution consecutive shots and full HD movie recording.

Large, 3.0-inch, 460,000-dot High-resolution Smart Touch LCD
The DMC-ZS10 large 3.0-inch Smart Touch LCD features a high 460,000-dot resolution, and a wide-viewing angle allows you to zoom, Auto Focus, release shutte and playback with the touch of a finger. The big screen reflects fine details, making it easy to check the focus before shooting. It also serves as a small photo and video viewer, allowing you and friends to enjoy viewing the still and motion images together.

3D Photo Mode
The newly added 3D Photo Mode* produces a 3D image in the camera. The image-processing method used by LUMIX records beautiful images with less distortion or visible image links. The camera takes 20 panning shots and automatically selects the two most suitable images, one for the right eye and one for the left eye, to synthesize a 3D composite. The 3D image can be viewed on a VIERA 3D HDTV. The 3D image format is compatible with MPO, so it can be played back on other MPO-compatible equipment such as TVs and digital photo frames, or printed.
 

Touch AF Tracking Subject Detection
Once the AF subject is selected by touch control, it continues to track the subject even if it moves until you press the shutter. When you're taking images of active children, pets, sports scenes or subjects in a moving object, this function eliminates the need to press the shutter button halfway down repeatedly to readjust the focus. The Touch AF Tracking makes sure you don't miss those once-in-a-lifetime shooting opportunities.

POWER O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) Shake Detection
Everyone has had an experience of taking a photo at night and hoping to capture all the memories and beauty, only to be disappointed at the poor result. Panasonic has worked on the low-frequency vibration hand-shake component, which is physically generated when pressing the shutter button or when shooting at night with a slow shutter speed. The POWER O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer)* nearly doubles the hand-shake correction power of conventional MEGA O.I.S. You get bright photos without blurring even from handheld shooting at slow shutter speeds.

* The POWER O.I.S. is automatically turned on in the iA Mode and can be turned on or off in the P/A/S/M Mode or some Scene Modes.

Intelligent Scene Selector - Scene Detection
With the camera in the iA Mode, the Intelligent Scene Selector automatically sets the Scene Mode Scenery, Portrait, Macro, Night Portrait*1, Night Scenery, Sunset or Intelligent Handheld Nightshot*2. The camera judges it from the various detection results such as focusing and brightness level of the circumstance*3. You are free from changing settings every time the scene changes when taking images with these Scene Modes to get beautiful results.

*1 In the iA Mode, the Night Portrait is not identified when the flash is turned off.
*2 The Intelligent Handheld Nightshot Mode must be turned ON in the menu prior to use.
*3 With some subject and shooting conditions, it is just not possible to judge the best shooting details. When this happens, it is recommended that you shoot with the Scene Mode that best suits your purpose.

iA (Intelligent Auto) Mode
When you don't know which mode will give you the best shooting results, or when a sudden photo opportunity pops up and you don't have time to change settings, simply choose the iA (Intelligent Auto) Mode and let the camera do it all for you. Just choose the iA Mode, aim at your subject, and shoot. Four detection and correction functions are simultaneously activated to optimize the settings, so you get stunning photos every time.

GPS with Place Name and Landmark Information
The LUMIX GPS displays not only latitudes and longitudes, but also the area information that covers 203 countries or regions and the landmark information of over 1,000,000 locations in 82 countries or regions. This function allows geotagged images to be pinpointed via online maps and easily shared with friends and family.

LUMIX Image Uploader
The DMC-ZS10 gives you a new form of communication by letting you share your photos and movies. All you have to do is checkmark the photos and movies you want to share and connect the camera or SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card to a computer. Uploading automatically starts by simply following the guidance.* Facebook can be used for photos and YouTube for movies. You can join these social networking services without having to install any special software. It's easy to share photos and movies on the spot, which means that your friends don't have to wait for you to come back home to see them.

* LUMIX Image Uploader starts up automatically on the computer the supplied software "PHOTOfunSTUDIO Ver. 6.0" or later is installed.
In other case, start up the menu by double-clicking the file "LUMIXUP.EXE" in the folder below:
[My Computer] > [Removable Disk] > DCIM > AD_LUMIX (Windows)
* YouTube is a trademark of Google Inc.
* Facebook and the Facebook logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Facebook, Inc.

3D Image Viewer / VIERA Link
Photos or movies recorded in AVCHD on the SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Cards are easy to view on a Panasonic VIERA TV. Simply insert the card into the VIERA Image Viewer (SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card slot) on VIERA TV or DIGA Blu-ray Disc Player to playback your content. Alternatively, you can use an optional HDMI mini cable to output the still and motion images you took from the DMC-ZS10 directly to the TV for VIERA Link. Most of the control is possible using only the TV's remote control. Especially, the pictures taken with the 3D Photo Mode via the 3D Image Viewer offering users a whole new exciting experience.

Product Description

24mm Ultra Wide-angle 16x Optical Zoom LEICA DC LensThe compact, versatile lens system is the hallmark of LUMIX ZS series and now this lens system is totally redeveloped for the DMC-ZS10 in both optical and mechanical design. The new high-quality LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR lens system is even more versatile with 24mm ultra wide-angle to powerful 16x optical zoom (35mm camera equivalent: 24-384mm). Comprising 12 elements in 10 groups, including an ED lens and 3 aspherical lenses with 6 aspherical surfaces, this advanced lens unit suppresses chromatic aberration which tends to occur in telephoto shooting effectively. It also boasts a short total length of lens unit despite its higher versatility with longer zoom range, which is made possible by a development of new mechanism for a structure of lens barrel. The lens system is also compatible with high shutter speed of 1/4,000 sec. Nano Surface Coating TechnologyThe newly applied Nano Surface Coating boasts an extremely low reflectance ratio compared with the conventional multi coating to suppress ghosting. With this Panasonic's black box technology, the image delivered through the lens of the DMC-ZS10 has exceptional optical performance with stunning clarity that passes Leica's stringent standards. Powerful 16x Optical ZoomThe DMC-ZS10 features a powerful 16x optical zoom lens (35mm camera equivalent: 24-384mm). This gives you highly natural expressions from people and animals that you can't get close to. It can also be used for shooting movies, and is designed to suppress noise while zooming. This slim, compact, pocket-sized camera can easily go wherever you do - for both everyday snapshots and traveling. 24mm Ultra Wide-angle LensThe 24mm ultra wide-angle lens - rare on a compact camera - gives you a wider range of composition possibilities with approx. 213% larger viewing space compared to that of 35mm camera. The super-high-quality LEICA DC lens minimizes distortion at the wide end. 21x Intelli...

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

511 of 533 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great camera for candid, event, and wildlife photography May 8, 2011

By Martin

Color Name:Black

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.

434 of 458 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars POOR low light pics, even after FW update (SEE PICS) August 29, 2011

By MariaSmiles TOP 500 REVIEWER

Color Name:Brown|Amazon Verified Purchase

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! :)

209 of 218 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Camera and Image Quality - April 27, 2011

By TheWindyCity

Color Name:Black

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.