An admission: I'm not a professional photographer, or even a terribly good amateur. But I like taking pictures, I like producing reasonably good images, and I like occasionally experimenting with interesting camera settings. One digital camera that I'd strongly consider is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ50.
Here are the basic statistics: The TZ50 comes with a 9.1 megapixel sensor, 10x optical zoom, and 28mm wide-angle lens.
Here's my subjective take: After using the camera for a couple of weeks, I've got to say that this is one nice piece of equipment. The 3-inch LCD is easier to see in bright sunlight than any camera I've played with to date. The camera comes with a wide range of features, starting with the Intelligent Auto (iA) mode, which is a great asset for those of us who didn't pass Basic Photography 101.
I tried the iA mode in a variety of environments, including inside a dark tent in which most of the lighting was coming from various computer displays. It performed beautifully -- especially the automatic focus, which worked like a charm.
If you're more expert, or want to experiment a bit, you can use the dial on top of the camera to select Normal Picture mode (which lets you adjust your photos manually). You can also choose Scene mode (which sets the camera according to the type of environment you're shooting in), Motion Picture mode (video, of course), Clipboard mode (which lets you take a quick-and-dirty image for record-keeping purposes), and WiFi mode.
This last is one of the selling points of the TZ50: The ability to use WiFi (or a T-Mobile HotSpot account) to upload images from the camera directly to a Picasa Web album. The first time you use the feature, the camera creates five pre-named Picasa albums in your account; you can then upload your photos into any of the five directly from the camera.
It's an interesting feature, and works nicely, up to a point. I tried it on my home network and it took me about 10 minutes to set it up, after which I was able to upload several 5 megapixel images to my Picasa account with no problem (it takes the TZ50 about 20-30 seconds to upload each image). However, there are limits -- when I tried to upload 11 images, I got a message on the camera insisting that "No Additional Selections Can Be Made." When I tried to upload 10 images, I was unable to do it in three tries; the network connection timed out after about 6 or 7.
Another problem with the WiFi feature has to do with the way WiFi connections are implemented in public spaces and semi-private ones (such as hotel rooms). The TZ50 will pick up hotspots and let you know if they're available, but if the WiFi service has any type of agreement or other Web-based form that you have to work with in order to use it, you're out of luck.
Besides the WiFi mode, there are a several subtle differences between the $450 TZ50 and its predecessor, the $350 TZ5 -- for example, the latter has a 9.0 megapixel sensor, rather than 9.1. If I were given a choice between the two, I would probably go for the less expensive camera -- at least, until the WiFi mode becomes a real advantage rather than just a fun (but not all that practical) feature.
But with that in mind, I do have to say that the Panasonic Lumix TZ50 is a really fine camera.
Here are the basic statistics: The TZ50 comes with a 9.1 megapixel sensor, 10x optical zoom, and 28mm wide-angle lens.
Here's my subjective take: After using the camera for a couple of weeks, I've got to say that this is one nice piece of equipment. The 3-inch LCD is easier to see in bright sunlight than any camera I've played with to date. The camera comes with a wide range of features, starting with the Intelligent Auto (iA) mode, which is a great asset for those of us who didn't pass Basic Photography 101.
I tried the iA mode in a variety of environments, including inside a dark tent in which most of the lighting was coming from various computer displays. It performed beautifully -- especially the automatic focus, which worked like a charm. If you're more expert, or want to experiment a bit, you can use the dial on top of the camera to select Normal Picture mode (which lets you adjust your photos manually). You can also choose Scene mode (which sets the camera according to the type of environment you're shooting in), Motion Picture mode (video, of course), Clipboard mode (which lets you take a quick-and-dirty image for record-keeping purposes), and WiFi mode.
This last is one of the selling points of the TZ50: The ability to use WiFi (or a T-Mobile HotSpot account) to upload images from the camera directly to a Picasa Web album. The first time you use the feature, the camera creates five pre-named Picasa albums in your account; you can then upload your photos into any of the five directly from the camera.
It's an interesting feature, and works nicely, up to a point. I tried it on my home network and it took me about 10 minutes to set it up, after which I was able to upload several 5 megapixel images to my Picasa account with no problem (it takes the TZ50 about 20-30 seconds to upload each image). However, there are limits -- when I tried to upload 11 images, I got a message on the camera insisting that "No Additional Selections Can Be Made." When I tried to upload 10 images, I was unable to do it in three tries; the network connection timed out after about 6 or 7.
Another problem with the WiFi feature has to do with the way WiFi connections are implemented in public spaces and semi-private ones (such as hotel rooms). The TZ50 will pick up hotspots and let you know if they're available, but if the WiFi service has any type of agreement or other Web-based form that you have to work with in order to use it, you're out of luck.
Besides the WiFi mode, there are a several subtle differences between the $450 TZ50 and its predecessor, the $350 TZ5 -- for example, the latter has a 9.0 megapixel sensor, rather than 9.1. If I were given a choice between the two, I would probably go for the less expensive camera -- at least, until the WiFi mode becomes a real advantage rather than just a fun (but not all that practical) feature.
But with that in mind, I do have to say that the Panasonic Lumix TZ50 is a really fine camera.
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