Friday, June 19, 2009

Lumix DMC-TZ50 First Impressions

I'm quite psyched about our newest gadget: the Lumix DMC-TZ50 Digital Camera. I very much love my Canon SD630, but a blemish on the lens has been screwing up my photos lately, so it was time to get a new camera.

At first, I intended to go with the same small form factor as the SD630. But, the TZ5 lured me away. It's got a 28mm to 280mm zoom, a Leica lens, enough modes to let me get creative, a star mode for long exposure shots and a glowing review from CoolTools. It was all too much to pass up.

To further sweeten the deal, the cost of the regular TZ5 model was the same as the TZ50 which has WiFi built in. I'm not sure what I'll be able to do with the WiFi (post to blog right from the camera, hopefully!), but the geek in me couldn't resist.

So far, all I've done is take the camera out of the packaging. I had my expectations set to assume that the camera was going to be large, but it turns out to still be quite compact. It's not SD630 small, but it's hardly bulky.

I can also attest to the fact that the charger seems pretty solid. I've liked how our Canon SD630 charger is small and easy to take along with me (the prongs fold up), and the Lumix's does the same trick. I was also able to buy 2 extra batteries for $10, so I should be all set in the power department.

This weekend I'll start reading the manual, and then maybe I'll even take some photos with the camera. That of course, will be the true test to see if the device lives up to the hype.

Stay tuned, more to come...

2 comments:

  1. that is an excellent camera, it is actually the one I wanted to get Lauren for graduation, but she said it was to big, chose the Nikon Coolpix S560 instead (which is also a great camera, but only 5optical zoom as compared to the 10). A classmate of hers has the TZ40 and took it with him to Vietnam, the pictures he took were great and compared to my large Kodak there was little if no difference in the pictures. Since my camera took a nose dive on this current trip, my choices are 1. fix the Kodak or 2. buy a new camera. Currently I'm thinking that if I can't get a nice Nikon SLR at a good price or on eBay, I'll probably be grabbing the TZ50 too.

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  2. Nick -

    So far, I can recommend the TZ50. And heck, the one with WiFi is only $219 - when you consider how strong the recommendations are, this is an amazing price tag.

    I thought I was going to be disappointed with the size - but I'm really not. It still goes in my shorts pocket just fine.

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