Advanced

Offering 12.1-megapixel resolution plus a 12x optical zoom lens that covers the equivalent of 25-300mm focal length range, Panasonic's Lumix DMC-TZ10 extends the appealing features of previous ‘Travellers' Zoom' models with a built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver and P, A, S and M shooting modes. Its image stabiliser has been upgraded to a new POWER O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabiliser) with twice the steadiness of previous systems.

Panasonic has long been a leader in the slimline/long zoom camera category, launching the first TZ model in February 2006. Since then, nine models have been released, usually in pairs, with a premium model and a slightly down-featured model, often with the same sensor resolution. (The second TZ camera announced this year, the DMC-TZ8, has the same sensor and lens as the TZ10 but lacks the GPS receiver and some movie functions. It also has a smaller, lower-resolution monitor.) 

Other companies have followed Panasonic's lead; Canon with its PowerShot SX series, Fujifilm with the FinePix F series, Nikon's Coolpix S8000, Olympus's Mju 9010, Ricoh with the CX series, Samsung with its H series and  Sony with the recently-announced H55 Cyber-shot. As you can see, the marketplace is pretty crowded. The table below compares key features of the TZ10 with those of some recently-released competitors

Despite its higher price tag, the TZ10 has some significant advantages over its competitors. Its lens covers a wider angle of view; it supports a wider ISO range, slower shutter speeds and supports the new SDXC memory cards. Its monitor has higher resolution than the Canon and Olympus rivals and it offer faster continuous shooting speeds.

Design and Ergonomics
The TZ10 retains the essential features of its heritage - a well-built metal body, retractable lens and large LCD screen - but is slightly slimmer and lighter than its predecessor, the TZ7. As in earlier models, the Leica-branded lens dominates the front panel, which is otherwise almost identical to the TZ7's, save for placing greater emphasis on the HD movie capabilities than the zoom range in the front panel labelling. When the camera is powered-up the lens extends roughly 20 mm, stretching out to 32 mm when fully zoomed out.


Front view of the DMC-TZ10 showing the lens and flash. (Source: Panasonic)

The Leica DC Vario Elmar Lens is made by Panasonic to Leica specifications. It's one of the slower designs; hence the Elmar nametag. Consisting of 10 elements in eight groups, it contains two ED elements and two aspherical elements with three aspherical surfaces. ‘New lens materials' have been included to provide high image quality in such a compact, retractable lens. Although Panasonic doesn't specify what they are, it's safe to assume they're some kind of plastic.

The lens housing protrudes approximately 10mm in front of the camera body when the camera is switched off. Inside it is a double barrel (one inside the other) that extends roughly 20 mm when power is switched on. Zooming in lengthens the barrel a further 15mm at full tele zoom.

The top panel design has changed radically. The mode dial has been relocated to the left of the shutter button, shifting the on/off switch to the right. A new square bump, left of the mode dial houses the GPS receiver. The left and right stereo microphone grilles lie between the GPS receiver and the mode dial, while the four speaker holes sit on the far left of the top panel.

The top panel of the TZ10. (Source: Panasonic)

The mode dial carries settings for the various shooting modes, which include  iAuto, P, A, S, M, Custom, two My Scene modes, Scene and Movie. As in previous models, the zoom lever surrounds the shutter button. Changes to the rear panel design are minimal and centre on a new Exposure button that lets you preview the current camera settings when you're shooting in A, S and M modes.

Rear view of the TZ10 showing the large LCD screen and main button controls. (Source: Panasonic)

No viewfinder is provided - and none can be fitted. Nor can you fit an external flash unit. Aside from the new Exposure button, the controls on the rear panel are identical to those on the TZ7 - right down to the Movie button (introduced on the TZ7), which toggles movie recording on and off. It works in all shooting modes except the Clipboard mode.

Located on the camera's base plate are the combined battery/card compartment and a standard, metal-lined tripod socket. The battery/card compartment has a hinged plastic cover that's a bit flimsy but closes securely enough. A DC coupler socket, hidden beneath a lift-up lid on this cover, allows the camera to be mains powered via an optional AC adaptor/DC coupler kit.

The supplied lithium-ion battery is charged outside the camera. It comes in its own carrying case and is CIPA rated for approximately 300 shots/charge. The TZ10 is one of the few cameras to support the latest SDXC memory cards - in addition to the standard SD and SDHC media.

The packaging of the camera is exemplary. It comes in a cardboard box just large enough to contain the contents and interior dividers are made from recyclable cardboard.  The supplied 28-page ‘Basic Operating Instructions' booklet is accompanied by a 12-page booklet explaining the supplied software plus warranty and registration sheets. A complete user manual is provided in PDF format on the software disk.

Shooting Controls
The starting place for most photographers is the mode dial and it's here the TZ10 will separate the point-and-shooters from the serious photographers. For the former, there's a choice between the iA (Intelligent Auto) mode, which  lets you select the image size and aspect ratio, switch the burst capture on and off, select one of four ‘Colour Effect' modes (Standard, Happy, B/W and Sepia) and operate the Face Recognition functions.

Face detection operates by default whenever the camera identifies human faces in a scene. If you switch on the Face Recognition setting in the main menu, you can ‘register' up to six faces and input details like their name and birth date. The camera will subsequently recognise registered faces and adjust focus and exposure accordingly and the person's name and other registered details will be displayed when the shot is played back.


Tagging a face in the Face Recognition section of the menu.

Swapping to the Scene mode (SCN) calls up two pages of scene pre-sets (29 in all). You can open three pages of recording adjustments in these modes, covering additional adjustments like white balance, AF and image stabiliser settings, digital zoom, audio recording, AF-assist lamp, red-eye removal and settings for the date and time.

The Clipboard mode is used for photographing timetables, maps and other printed information while you're travelling. Shots are saved in the built-in memory to keep them separate from normal shots. Only two picture sizes are supported: 2M and 1M but you can zoom in and ‘register' the position and magnification ratio for quick access at a later time.

Serious photographers will be most interested in the P, A, S and M shooting modes, which provide full control over aperture and shutter speed settings. Although the range of apertures isn't great - and the small sensor makes it difficult to shoot with a shallow depth-of-field at wider angles of view, the A mode gives you more control over what is (and isn't) sharply focused than you could get with previous TZ models.

Pressing the Exposure button in the A shooting mode provides a depth-of-field preview and allows you to adjust aperture and shutter speed settings with the horizontal arrows on the arrow pad. Aperture settings range from f/3.3 to f/6.3 at the widest angle of view to f/4 to f/6.3 at full tele zoom. It's a slightly truncated range compared with most advanced digicams, which usually start with f/2.8 and end at f/8. Pressing the Menu/Set button locks in the aperture setting and frees the arrow pad for other adjustments.

Pressing the Exposure button in the S mode shows how subject motion will be rendered and lets you adjust shutter speed settings by toggling the vertical arrows on the arrow pad. In manual exposure mode both functions are combined. After pressing the Exposure button you can adjust apertures with the horizontal arrows and shutter speeds with the vertical ones.

Aperture and shutter speed values are highlighted in red to make adjustments easy.
Long exposure times are only supported in the M shooting mode, where exposures of up to 60 seconds are available. In the S and A modes, the longest exposure time is eight seconds, while in iA mode, the slowest shutter speed appears to be 1/15 second. The Custom mode setting lets you register a suite of camera settings for quick recall whenever this mode is selected.

A new feature included in the TZ10 is GPS data tagging, which can be used when shooting both still pictures and video clips. Adjustments for this function are provided in the Travel Mode sub-menu, which is indicated by a ‘suitcase' icon. In this sub-menu you can switch the GPS recording on and off, set the camera to display the location and configure the camera to use the GPS signal to set the time and date information while you're travelling, thereby eliminating the need to re-set the camera's clock when you change time zones.

A sensor in the top panel receives signals from multiple satellites and uses the information to calculate the current location. This data is stored in the image metadata and can be viewed in applications like IrfanView, which can link to Google Earth.


GPS data stored with tagged images can be viewed in applications like IrfanView.

Links to Google Earth provide a useful way to track shots taken when you're travelling.

The GPS function must be switched on in the camera's menu. Once this is done, the camera will automatically capture and store positional information and add it to the Exif metadata in pictures as they are taken.

An icon indicating positioning status is displayed on the LCD monitor when the function is operating. The name of the location is displayed when shots are reviewed on the camera's monitor.


Obtaining a GPS reading.

When the camera is switched on, location data is collected every minute. When the camera is switched off, data is collected once in each 15 minute period - as long as there's sufficient power in the battery. This stops if the camera hasn't been switched in for nine hours.


The World Time setting interface.

Another useful function for travellers is World Time, which lets you input the starting date, destination and duration of a trip. The camera will then update the date/time information recorded in the image metadata accordingly.


The Colour Effects sub-menu.

Like most recently-released digital cameras, the TZ10 comes pre-loaded with several special effects. In this case, the options are Standard, B&W, Sepia, Cool and Warm. The cool and warm colour biases are relatively gentle, while the sepia setting produces an attractive 'old style' brown monochrome tint.

Sensor and Image Processing
The image sensor in the TZ10 is a standard 6.23 x 4.64 mm (1/2.33-inch type) Panasonic CCD with 14.5 million photosites, of which 12.1 million are used for producing digital photos. Resolution is higher than the previous TZ7 model, which offered 10.1 megapixels effective.

Coupled to the sensor is a new image processor, the Venus Engine HD II for TZ10 which features the latest ‘Intelligent Resolution' processing technology. According to Panasonic, this technology can scan images and determine whether they contain smooth gradations or textural details. The image processor will give ‘appropriate enhancement' (read ‘sharpening') selectively on the basis of the detected textures. 

Like the TZ7, the TZ10 supports three aspect ratio settings for recording still images (see Sample Images section for examples), all of them in JPEG format. The sensor area of 4230 x 3000 pixels is cropped in different ways to provide each aspect ratio. This is shown in the diagram below.

The diagram above shows how the imaging area on the TZ10's sensor is cropped to provide the three aspect ratios. The 4:3 format is outlined in red; the 3:2 format is outlined in green and the 16:9 aspect ratio is outlined in orange.

Two quality settings are available: Fine and Standard. Compression levels for the Fine setting are slightly higher than those provided in the TZ7, except for the 16:9 aspect ratio, where files are generally larger. Typical file sizes are shown in the table below.

Like the TZ7, the TZ10 can record high-definition video clips for up to 15 minutes per clip. Details of the video function, which is the same in both cameras, can be found in our review of the TZ7.


The first page of the Movie recording menu.

AVCHD Lite video clips are always recorded with a 16:9 aspect ratio, while Motion JPEG clips can be recorded in 16:9 or 4:3 format. Two picture sizes are provided for HD video clips and four for Motion JPEG video clips, all with frame rates of 30 frames/second. Typical recording times are shown in the table below.

n.a. - no bit rate provided for Motion JPEG recordings

HD movie clips captured in AVCHD Lite format can be recorded with embedded GPS data. This doesn't change the size of the movie clip file, as can be seen in the table above, where GSH, GH and GL indicate movies with embedded GPS data. The same conditions apply for adding positional data to movies as to still image files.

Playback and Software
These features are essentially unchanged from the TZ7. Details can be found in our review of the TZ7.

Performance
The autofocusing system was as fast and accurate under most lighting conditions as we found in our tests on the TZ7. Hunting was only noticeable in very low light levels. Increasing the megapixel count in the new model appeared to have little effect on dynamic range or overall resolution.

Exposure metering was generally accurate, particularly when the iExposure setting was switched on. This function, which controls image contrast, ensured most shots taken in bright sunlight contained a good balance between highlight and shadow details. Blown-out highlights were comparatively rare.
Subjective assessments of test shots from the review camera showed them to be quite similar to those from the TZ7 we reviewed last year. This isn't surprising as both cameras have the same lens. In good lighting, the review camera produced sharp, colourful still images with few visible artefacts.

Imatest showed saturation to be slightly lower than in the TZ7, which was evident in better colour accuracy in test shots. However, Caucasian skin hues were slightly more orange than those from the previous model, giving subjects a distinct tan. The review camera also did a slightly better job of reproducing the purplish blues of some flowers.

Imatest showed resolution to be marginally below expectations and revealed some edge softening across the focal length range we tested. Best results were obtained at mid-range and longer focal length settings and wider lens apertures. The graph below shows the results of our tests.

Image noise was negligible at ISO settings between 80 and 200 but started to become visible at ISO 400, regardless of the exposure time. By ISO 800 noise was quite visible and obvious with very little magnification.  Images were also slightly soft as a result of high-ISO noise-reduction processing, which is applied by default.

Interestingly, high ISO performance was better than we measured with the TZ7, particularly at ISO 800 and ISO 1600. But resolution at ISO 200 and ISO 400 was also significantly better with the TZ10 than the TZ7, showing the power of the new Venus Engine HD II for TZ10 image processor. The graph below shows the results of our Imatest tests at different ISO settings.

Using long exposures at night was easier than with the TZ7 because shutter speeds are adjustable in the S shooting mode. However, the longest exposure in this mode is eight seconds so we had to use the Starry Sky scene mode to record a 60-second shot at ISO 80. This exposure was noise-free but had a slightly purple colour balance, particularly in the sky. In contrast, an eight-second exposure at ISO 1600 was colour accurate but soft and visibly artefact-affected. Shots taken with the High Sensitivity mode (ISO 6400 equivalent) were very much worse, despite shorter exposure times.

With flash, noise levels were much lower with high sensitivity settings. The flash required an ISO setting of 200 before it could illuminate an average-sized room. However, exposures were even from ISO 400 to ISO 1600. Image noise was relatively low in flash shots at ISO 1600 although they were generally visibly softer than shots taken with lower ISO settings.

Auto white balance performance was similar to the TZ7. The review camera failed to totally remove the colour casts of either incandescent or fluorescent lighting. There's no pre-set for fluorescent lighting and only a halogen setting for incandescent and neither provided full colour correction in our tests. However, manual measurement corrected both colour casts completely and delivered natural colours under both types of lights.

Lateral chromatic aberration remained almost entirely within the ‘negligible' band and we found little evidence of coloured fringing in test shots taken in bright, contrasty lighting. The graph below shows the results of our Imatest tests.



Close-up capabilities were generally good and rectilinear distortion was only visible in shots taken with the 4.1mm focal length setting - and even then it was relatively slight. Digital zoom shots were sharper and less artefact-affected than average and usable at small output sizes. Lens distortion was minimal, with only slight barrel distortion visible at the 4.1mm focal length setting.

Video quality was very similar to the quality we obtained with the TZ7. HD clips shot in good lighting were sharp and detailed, although quality was reduced in low light levels. SD clips recorded at WVGA and VGA resolution looked good on appropriately-sized monitors. However, we noticed no improvements in AF and zoom speeds, which were just as slow as on the TZ7. Audio quality was acceptable in the HD mode but the stereo microphones failed to provide good separation of the sound channels. Sound quality was adequate with SD clips.

Our timing tests were carried out with a 4GB Verbatim Premium Class 6 SDHC card to assess typical performance levels. The test camera took approximately 1.6 seconds to power up and extend its lens. Capture lag times depended on the AF mode selected, with the High-speed AF setting producing average lag times of 0.3 seconds and the other modes averaging 0.5 second delays.

Pre-focusing reduced lag times to less than 0.1 seconds. For single-frame capture of Large/Fine JPEG images, it took 3.1 seconds, on average, to process each image file. Shot-to-shot delays averaged 1.6 seconds without flash and 2.3 seconds with.

Burst mode performance depended on the setting used, although processing times for bursts averaged 3.2 seconds, regardless of the capture mode. When the review camera was set on iAuto or P mode, it recorded three Large/Fine JPEGs at intervals of just over 0.8 seconds.

Swapping to ‘Free' burst mode, reduced the capture rate to approximately 1.8 frames/second but allowed us to keep recording until the memory was full. Processing was completed approximately two seconds after the last shot.

Selecting the High-speed burst mode in the Scene menu reduced the highest capture size to 3-megapixels but provided much faster capture rates. When Speed priority was set, we recorded 10 frames averaging 528 KB in size in 1.1 seconds while in Image priority mode,  image sizes were approximately 650KB and it took 1.7 seconds to record 10 frames.  

Buy this camera if:
- You're looking for a pocketable superzoom digicam with PASM shooting modes.
- You would like to record HD video clips with stereo sound.
- You want good wide-angle coverage and competent image stabilisation for shooting both video and still pictures.
- GPS tagging could be useful.

Don't buy this camera if:
- You want to shoot raw files (the TZ10 can't).
- You want high burst capacity at high resolution (bursts are limited to three frames at 12MP).
- You require colour accuracy with auto white balance.

IMATEST GRAPHS

SAMPLE IMAGES

Auto white balance with incandescent lighting.

Auto white balance with fluorescent lighting.

Close-up in A mode; 4.1mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/250 second at f/4.

Wide-angle in A mode; 4.1mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/160 second at f/6.3.

Telephoto in A mode; 49.2mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/125 second at f/4.9.

Digital zoom; 49.2mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/120 second at f/4.9.

4:3 aspect ratio; 27.8mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/400 second at f/5.6.


3:2 aspect ratio; 27.8mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/400 second at f/5.6.


16:9 aspect ratio; 27.8mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/400 second at f/5.6.


Long exposure using the Starry Sky scene mode; 13.3mm focal length, ISO 80, 60 seconds at f/4.

Night shot at ISO 400 using S mode, 13.3mm focal length, 8 seconds at f/4.

Night shot at ISO 1600 using S mode, 13.3mm focal length, 6 seconds at f/5.6.

Flash exposure at ISO 200 in P mode, 18.2mm focal length, 1/40 second at f/4.4.

Flash exposure at ISO 1600 in P mode, 18.2mm focal length, 1/40 second at f/4.4.

Skin tones; P mode, 25.9mm focal length, ISO 160, 1/60 second at f/4.5.  

iAuto shooting mode with the iExposure setting on; 4.1mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/200 second at f/4.5

100% crop from the above image showing coloured fringing and edge softening.

100% crop from the above image showing the recorded dynamic range.

P mode; 49.2mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/320 second at f/4.9.

Burst mode; 49.2mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/500 second at f/5.6.

Image sensor: 6.23 x 4.64 mm (1/2.33-inch type) CCD with 14.5 million photosites (12.1 megapixels effective)
Lens: Leica DC Vario Elmar 4.1-49.2mm f/3.3-4.9  zoom lens (25-300mm in 35mm format)
Zoom ratio: 12x optical, up to 4x digital
Image formats: Stills -JPEG; Movies - AVCHD Lite/QuickTime Motion JPEG
Image Sizes: Stills - 4:3 aspect ratio: 4000 x 3000, 3264 x 2448, 2560 x 1920, 2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480; 3:2 aspect ratio: 4176 x 2784, 3392 x 2264, 2656 x 1768, 2048 x 1360, 640 x 42; 16:9 aspect ratio: 4320 x 2432, 3552 x 2000, 2784 x 1568 , 1920 x 1080, 640 x 360; Movies - 1280x720 pixels at 30fps; 848 x480 at 30 fps, VGA/QVGA at 30 fps
Shutter speed range: Normal - 8 to 1/2000 second (in Starry Sky mode: 15/30/60 sec.)
Self-timer: 2 or 10 seconds delay
Image Stabilisation: Power O.I.S (Auto / Mode 1 / Mode 2)
Exposure Compensation: +/- 2EV in 1/3EV steps
AE bracketing: 3 frames, +/-1/3EV to 1Ev steps
Focus system/range: Contrast-based TTL AF; range 50 cm to infinity; macro to 3 cm
AF modes: Normal/Macro, Continuous AF On/Off, Quick AF On/Off (on in Intelligent Auto)/Continuous AF On/Off, AF Tracking, Zoom Macro; Face Detection is available
Exposure metering/control: Intelligent Multiple, Centre-Weighted, Spot (Spot Mode) metering
Shooting modes: iAuto, P, A, S, M, Scene, My Scene (x2), Custom, Movie
ISO range: Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, (In High Sensitivity mode: 1600-6400)
White balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Halogen, White Set
Flash modes/range (ISO auto): Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction, Forced On/Off; range - 60 cm to 5.3 metres
Sequence shooting:  2.3 frames/second for up to 3 frames (Fine); Hi-speed Burst Mode: approx. 6.0 frames/sec (Image Priority), approx. 10 frames/sec (Speed Priority)
(recorded in 3M for 4:3, 2.5M for 3:2, 2M for 16:9)
Storage Media: 15MB internal memory plus SD/SDHC/SDXC expansion slot
Viewfinder: No
LCD monitor: 3-inch TFT LCD with 460,000 dots; 100% field of view
Power supply:  ID-Security Lithium-ion Battery Pack (3.6V, 950mAh); CIPA rated for Approx. 300 shots/charge)
Dimensions (wxhxd): 103.3 x 59.6 x 32.6 mm
Weight: 196 grams (without battery and card)