WHAT IS THE PANASONIC TZ100?
The Panasonic TZ100 is the very model of a modern advanced compact camera. It has a good-size 1-inch sensor, solid zoom range and enough manual controls to offer a complete photo experience. It may be a small camera, but it can outdo a smartphone unit by some distance.But, if having a 10x zoom rather than a 3x one will mean that you use a camera more often, then the smaller, wider-aperture competition might prove more compelling. This includes models such as the Sony RX100 III and Canon PowerShot G7 X. Now that it’s available for £500, the Panasonic Lumix LX100, too, will be a better match for image quality obsessives.
PANASONIC TZ100 – DESIGN AND HANDLING
The Panasonic TZ100 is a fairly small camera; you can grasp it easily in one hand.However, it can't quite boast being pocketable. By including a fairly chunky 10x zoom, the Panasonic TZ100 will fit comfortably only in your coat pocket; not in your jeans. I find the lens housing protrudes just that little too much, more so than on Panasonic TZ80 I reviewed recently.
The TZ100 is more visually appealing than that lower-end model, though. An all-black version of the camera is available, but the model I'm reviewing here sports a two-tone finish: a bit of silvery grey in the top-left corner, bordered by a red trim.
It reminds me a little of the Sony RX100 range with its smooth anodised metal curves; the Panasonic TZ100 is a little larger, however.
PANASONIC TZ100 – SCREEN AND EVF
A consummate box-ticker, the Panasonic TZ100 has an EVF. Its specs are identical to those of the cheaper TZ80. It’s a fixed, 1.16 million dot display with magnification of x0.46.Sharp enough, but a little small, I’ve been using it as a backup for the rear display rather than a replacement. It is handy, though. Unlike the Sony RX100 cameras, it just sits there rather than popping out of the camera body, and the Panasonic TZ100 automatically switches to the EVF when you put your face up to the camera's rear.
PANASONIC TZ100 – FEATURES
The Panasonic TZ100 has a little pop-up flash, but with no hotshoe you can’t add a more powerful unit. Opting to leave one out in a 1-inch sensor compact makes sense, but remember that this isn’t a super-small compact, only a "fairly" small one.GPS is missing too, so those wanting to geo-tag photos will have to use the Panasonic phone app.
At least Wi-Fi is included, enabling you to transfer images from the camera to a phone or tablet without too much fuss. The Panasonic TZ100 doesn’t have NFC, however, which is used to speed up the process of connecting phone to camera.
PANASONIC TZ100 – PERFORMANCE AND AF
Over the past couple of years, Panasonic has put plenty of effort into making its cameras fast in two areas: focusing and burst speed.The Panasonic TZ100 uses the same DFD (Depth from Defocus) technology as a number of mid-range Panasonic models. This is contrast detection at heart, but it uses special software smarts to speed it up, to bring it closer to the performance of a phase-detection hybrid system.
And it works. The Panasonic TZ100 feels pretty snappy to focus, although don’t read too much into the claims that it will focus in 0.1 seconds. That won’t pan out often in the real world.
In low light, when shooting wide open, the Panasonic TZ100 is still fairly fast. However, if you’re shooting at night with zoom then you’ll start to feel the AF slow down. It’s an unfortunate side-effect of a camera whose max aperture takes a dive as the zoom is extended.
PANASONIC TZ100 – LENS
The top reason to choose the Panasonic TZ100, but also the reason why you may opt for another model entirely, rests on the lens. This camera gets you much better zoom range than other 1-inch sensor compacts, but as a result its lens is slower. It’s a 10x lens with range of 25-250mm in the 35mm standard.
PANASONIC TZ100 – IMAGE QUALITY
The Panasonic TZ100 is a camera of compromises, but thankfully, they’re only slight. Where I find the lower-end Panasonic TZ80 to be an image quality compromise too far, this camera makes sense for the average camera buyer. The key to this is the decent 20.1-megapixel sensor and the long zoom.A 10x lens allows you to capture many more shots than would be possible with a prime lens camera or a 3x one. I like to think of this camera as a great tool for when photography is an incidental extra, not the primary reason for doing whatever you’re doing.
If you want a camera to complement a two-week holiday in Tuscany, the TZ100 will be superb, but if you’re going on a "photography" holiday, then I'd advise that you opt for a model with a smaller zoom and a wider aperture – if you must have a small camera. It will provide more scope for handheld shooting at night, and to isolate your subject using shallow depth-of-field shooting.
You can blur out the background with the Panasonic TZ100, but you need to be fairly close to your subject for the effect to be particularly pronounced.
PANASONIC TZ100 – VIDEO
4K video is another highlight of the Panasonic TZ100. Panasonic has been a bit of a trailblazer in this field, and the high resolution plus OIS makes this a good camera for holiday footage.I have doubts over its appeal to the more serious video fan, since it doesn’t have a mic input. You have to rely on the stereo mics on the Panasonic TZ100 itself.
4K capture is at 24 or 25 frames per second. Drop down to 1080p and the top frame rate is 50fps.
