New Toy - Panasonic TZ27

[Glen Roberts]

Not in the same league as Darrens new Xpro-1 but a new toy none the less and after only using a Dslr and Bridge camera in the past it feels like a toy too!!!.

Anyway I wanted a pocket camera for next week to save lugging around anything bigger. After reading a load of reviews I got down to two, the Panasonic Lumix TZ30 and the Canon powershot SX240 HS.

I popped into the local Currys to see how much they had them for, and an assistant was straight over asking if I could see what I wanted. I told him the two choices in mind and he said they had the canon sx260 HS but not the sx240 HS. I told him I was looking at the sx240 because the only difference between the two was GPS, which I wasn't bothered about. He then told me if I wasn't bothered about the GPS they had the Panasonix Lumix TZ27, which was the same camera as the TZ30 but without the GPS, it was also £30 cheaper too.

So I'm now the proud owner of a new Lumix TZ27.


Front Turned Off.

Front Turned On.

Front Fully Zoomed out to 480mm (35mm equiv').

Back.

Top.

I'm now waiting for the battery to charge[doh] and looking forward to trying it out for both snapshots and HD Video.

 

[Larry Bolch]

I would kill to have a GPS in the Fujifilm X100 and X-Pro1. I have the Nikon GP-1 for the D700 and it is wonderful. Doing a shoot on one of the most remote parts of the Alberta Prairies, I can see precisely where I was standing for each shot.

I carried a pocket GPS for the Fuji cameras, and for some unknown reason, the only tracks I can find were from a trip three years ago. Geotagging after the fact is non-trivial at best. The Nikon GP-1 was $200, and worth every cent. I would gladly pay that or more to have a GPS built into the Fuji cameras.

 

[Hamish Gill]

They were always a great range of cameras the tz series ...
When they first came out there was very little if anything that could compete with them and we didn't sell them ... It hit us hard at the time, every other customer was after one.
Of course they all do compact super zooms now ... But I'd guess the panny is still a great camera!

Be interested to hear how you get on with it!

 

[Paul Lange]

I liked to know what you think of the optical quality, I believe the Leica lenses are made under licence but I suspect they wouldn't want to put their name on anything that wasn't decent.

 

[Glen Roberts]

I would kill to have a GPS in the Fujifilm X100 and X-Pro1. Doing a shoot on one of the most remote parts of the Alberta Prairies, I can see precisely where I was standing for each shot.

I think if I was traveling to remote parts of the world I would have used it myself, but it will mostly be family get togethers and walking around local areas that so I'll be able to tell where I shot them anyway.

Be interested to hear how you get on with it!

I'll see how I get on with it I'm away and let you know.

I liked to know what you think of the optical quality,

When I get back next week I'll post a couple of examples for you to look at, straight from the camera without any changes apart from re-size.

 

[Larry Bolch]

I had the once in a lifetime trip to do a California coast to my home in Alberta with little pressure of time. This was during the era of film. Upon arriving home, the film was immediately processed. I still have not figured out where most of the shots were taken.

True, if you never leave your village, it is of little use. However, Paint Shop Pro has a "Share your trip" feature that generates a web-site with a map and identifies each of your shots with their locations. Click on the location and the shots are displayed. Click on the thumbnail and both the location and image are displayed. Brilliant feature, worth the price of the program, and takes no more skill than pointing at the folder.

No trying to extract tracks from a user hostile device. The location is embedded in each image EXIF automatically. Now supported by a wide variety of applications. Even within my city—which is huge—geotagging is well worthwhile. If you never leave home—not. Other for than the few people who are total recluses, geotagging is truly a major feature.

The Province of Alberta is larger than any country in Europe, so it does not take world travel to be useful. My prairie images were shot on two expeditions in search of ammonite fossils. The only way to get to the location where the fossils have been discovered, is by hiring native guides, since it is on native lands. Well off highways and roads. None the less, I know where ever photograph shot, and was totally amazed how far from any town or village I was. Distances here are vast, and geotagging is an incredible luxury.

Viewing the UK on Google Earth, it is a dense web of tiny villages. While useful in our wide open spaces, it would be an absolute necessity in the UK.

 

[Darren Turner]

defo a nice looker glen, i look forward to hearing how you get on with it & see what the photos & quality are like

Daz

 

[Glen Roberts]

First shots.

Well I used the TZ27 away at Weymouth the other week. When I'm away I don't take that many photo's, which is why I wanted a compact in my pocket rather than take a DSLR.

It has Aperture Pirority, shutter speed and fully manual settings but I didn't have the chance to read the manual for changing exposure compensation and what have you before I went (the manual is on disk rather than a book I could take with me).
It also has an "Intellegent Auto" setting which looks at what you're photographing and picks what it thinks the best settings are, so I just left it on and let it get on with it.
Personally I'm quite happy with the results with "I-auto" so most of the time it'll be left on that for the odd snap shot.


Here's a few shots straight out of the camera for to have a look at, just resized them in photoshop no other adjustments at all.
Feel free to comment on the quality (or lack of) of the shots.

Outside the RNLI Headquarters at Poole.

Bournemouth Lower Gardens.

Looking back from Bournemouth Pier towards the Balloon.

Surfer taken from Bournemouth Pier.

Handheld Night shot of the King George Statue in Weymouth.