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  • Introduction

  • Design & Appearance

  • Tour

  • Ease of Use

  • Size & Handling

  • Auto Mode

  • Movie Mode

  • Playback Mode

  • Custom Image Presets

  • Drive/Burst Mode

  • Other Modes

  • Manual Controls

  • Focus

  • ISO

  • Aperture & Shutter Speed

  • White Balance

  • Exposure & Metering

  • Image Stabilization

  • Picture Quality & Size Options

  • Other Controls

  • LCD

  • Flash

  • Lens & Sensor

  • Jacks, Ports & Plugs

  • Battery

  • Memory

  • Conclusion

  • Sample Photos

  • Specs

  • Introduction
  • Design & Appearance
  • Tour
  • Ease of Use
  • Size & Handling
  • Auto Mode
  • Movie Mode
  • Playback Mode
  • Custom Image Presets
  • Drive/Burst Mode
  • Other Modes
  • Manual Controls
  • Focus
  • ISO
  • Aperture & Shutter Speed
  • White Balance
  • Exposure & Metering
  • Image Stabilization
  • Picture Quality & Size Options
  • Other Controls
  • LCD
  • Flash
  • Lens & Sensor
  • Jacks, Ports & Plugs
  • Battery
  • Memory
  • Conclusion
  • Sample Photos
  • Specs

Introduction

Design & Appearance

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 is a pretty standard looking camera. It's neither particularly ugly, nor attractive. It's certainly not in the same design league as the Olympus PEN series or the Fuji X100, for example. It is available in multiple colors: silver, black, brown, and red. You'll see various versions of these colors throughout this review.

Tour

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Ease of Use

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 certainly makes it easy for beginners, with a clearly labeled "iA" option in red text on the mode dial. As long as users can remember that the little red thing is easy mode, they'll be okay.

For users that are a little more comfortable diving in to the menu, but don't necessarily want to much about in aperture and shutter settings, there are plenty of scene modes to choose from. Simply pick your shooting situation – Portrait, Sport, Food, etc. – and the camera will choose the best settings for that situation. If you have scene modes that you use frequently, there are two dedicated settings on the dial that you can assign them to.

The menu interface on these Panasonics takes a little while to get used to because it's split into several different segments, and certain functions can be controlled by both physical buttons and touch screen operation, and other functions can only be controlled by one or the other. If you're an absolute beginner with no aspirations, you could probably get by without ever using any part of the menu, but chances are you'll have some sort of interaction. If that's the case, you'll want to take about 5-10 minutes to familiarize yourself with the menu and its operation before an important event.

Size & Handling

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 is pocket size, technically, though maybe not for the smallest of pockets. Measuring 4.13" x 2.27" x 1.31" (104.9 x 57.6 x 33.4mm) and weighing 0.482 lbs (219g) with battery and memory card, it won't weigh you down.

The camera handles quite comfortably, once you accustom yourself to the menu design. We were able to pick it up and start using it immediately – and be aware that the model here had a Japanese language menu only, and we are not Japanese speakers or readers in the slightest. That speaks to the power of well-chosen icons and sensible button placement. We like the dedicated Exposure button, which can be used in certain modes for faster access to aperture settings.

There's no grip-friendly texture on the camera, which would probably make this tough to hold onto if you're sweaty.

Auto Mode

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 has a dedicated auto mode, labeled "iA," short for Intelligent Auto. Put it in this mode, and all your shooting needs are tended to. When you're in iA mode, the controls are severely limited. You can turn GPS on and off, use some picture effects (i.e., Black and White, Sepia, etc.), change the picture resolution and compression quality, and turn the flash on and off.

Movie Mode

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 records video in a maximum resolution of 1080i (1920 x 1080 at 60 interlaced fps), with options for lower resolution and lower compression qualities. You can also change the recording format between AVCHD and Motion JPEG (720p only). When shooting in Movie mode, the camera is capable of auto focusing, but the show floor was too noisy to determine if the microphone is going to pick up all those motor noises.

Playback Mode

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Switching to playback mode is as simple is flipping a switch on the back of the camera. There are a bunch of sorting features to help you group your images into categories, or by date range, or by location – using that handy GPS function.

Custom Image Presets

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 has more Scene modes that you could possibly use, but who knows? Maybe you will. They include: Portrait, Soft Skin, Transform, Self-Portrait, Scenery, Panorama Assist, Sports, Night Portrait, Night Scenery, Handheld Night Shot, Food, Party, Candle Light, Baby1, Baby2, Pet, Sunset, High sensitivity, Flash Burst, Starry Sky, Fireworks, Beach, Snow, Aerial, Pinhole, Film Grain, High Dynamic (standard/ art/ B&W), Photoframe, Under Water, and High Speed Movie.

There are two settings on the mode dial – MS1 and MS2 – that store your two favorite scene modes so you have them quick at hand.

There are also color modes for Standard, Natural, Vivid, Black & White, Sepia, Cool, Warm, and Happy.

Drive/Burst Mode

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 has a burst mode, shooting 10 frames per second with a maximum of 15 pictures.

Other Modes

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 is capable of taking 3D images, a feature it shares with the new FX77/78 model. It's a standalone mode, so there's no way to accidentally shoot in 3D, or to convert pictures you've already taken in 2D. When you put the camera in 3D mode, a prompter screen indicates that you should push the shutter button, then move the camera left to right about 10cm. Once the shutter button is pushed, the camera records 20 still photos. It then picks the two best pictures and creates a composite 3D image in the MPO format. Because the LCD screen on the camera is plain ol' 2D, there's no way to tell if the 3D effect was any good. You have to view it on a 3D TV. Say, did you know that Panasonic also happens to make 3D TVs? Boy, that's a funny coincidence, isn't it? They had some of these TVs handy on the CP+ show floor, and we were definitely not impressed with the picture quality.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 also has a Custom Mode on the mode dial. Here, you can create up to three completely custom camera settings: custom picture quality, aperture and shutter, metering method, etc. Everything.

Manual Controls

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10, being a slightly more advanced point & shoot, offers the traditional PASM settings you're used on on a decent camera. The interface is certainly not equal to an SLR or really high-end point & shoot, as it lacks dedicated buttons for most functions. But they are there, should you need them.

Focus

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 has no manual focus control, but you can use the touch screen to shift focus between objects that are in the frame. There are also a number of auto focus methods: Normal / AF Macro, Zoom Macro, Quick AF, AF Tracking, and Touch AF/AE. In wide, the focus range is from 50mm to infinity, and in tele, it's 200 to infinity.

There are also options for the AF metering, which include Face / AF Tracking / 23pt / 1pt / Spot / Touch Area.

ISO

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 allows you to set the ISO to 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600. There's also a regular auto mode and High Sensitivity auto mode of 1600 to 6400.

Aperture & Shutter Speed

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 allows for aperture control when in Aperture Priority mode or full Manual mode. Settings range from f/3.3 to to 6.3 in wide, and f/5.9 to 6.3 in tele.

To set the shutter manually, you need to be in Shutter Priority or Manual mode. It ranges from 1/4000 all the way up to 8 seconds. In auto mode, it will range from 1/60 to 1/4000.

White Balance

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Options for white balance include Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Incandescent, and manual white balance set.

Exposure & Metering

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 offers metering options for Intelligent Multiple, center weighted, and spot. You can also perform an exposure compensation of +/-2 in 1/3EV increments.

Image Stabilization

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 has a Power O.I.S. (optical image stabilization), which seemed to work very well in our on-the-spot testing. We shook the heck out of this here camera, and the pictures still came out sharp as a tack.

Picture Quality & Size Options

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 shoots up to 14.1-megapixel images, with options for several smaller images and lower compression qualities. The native aspect ratio is 4:3, but you can also shoot 16:9, 3:2, and 1:1.

Other Controls

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10, along with the TS3 "Adventure Cam," includes a GPS function. It's a little more passive in the ZS10, merely capturing the GPS data into the EXIF data. You can use it to sort by geo-location. The Panasonic Adventure Cams include an altimeter and compass, as well.

LCD

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The Panasonic DMC-ZS10 has a 3-inch LCD with a resolution of 460,000 pixels, which is average for a camera in this range. It's a touch screen, but the overall handling makes ample use of external buttons rather than the touch screen. If you're looking for a camera that focuses on touch screen operation, check out the Panasonic DMC-FX77.

Flash

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The flash on the Panasonic DMC-ZS10 is built right into the front of the body. We found options in the camera's menu for turning the flash on and off, as well as red eye reduction and slow sync. In wide, the effective range is 0.6 to 5 m, and in tele it's 1.0 to 2.8 m.

Lens & Sensor

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The Panasonic DMC-ZS10 has an f/3.3 - 5.9, 16x zoom lens. For extended zooming, there's a 21x Intelligent zoom, as well as an additional 4x of digital zoom. Clearly, zoom is one of this camera's primary marketable features.

The camera has a 1/2.33-inch CMOS sensor with a primary color filter and a gross pixel count of 15.1 megapixels. That goes down to an effective max pixel count of 14.1MP.

Jacks, Ports & Plugs

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The Panasonic DMC-ZS10 has a mini USB port and mini HDMI located under a panel on the side. On the bottom is the battery and media card slot. Both of these were hermetically sealed with Scotch tape on the CP+ show floor, making it completely hacker-proof. We certainly tried our best.

Battery

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The Panasonic DMC-ZS10 uses an Li-ion battery with ID-security, preventing the use of knock-off batteries. It's rated for 260 pictures.

Memory

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The Panasonic DMC-ZS10 uses SD, SDHC, and SDXC media cards, up to 32GB in capacity. The camera also has about 18MB of internal memory, should you forget to bring a card.

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Conclusion

The Panasonic DMC-ZS10 (known as the TZ20 here in Japan's CP+ show) is a highly portable camera that manages to pack in a lot of zoom power, some decent specs, and enough features to make it at least slightly enticing. We liked the GPS functionality, which opens up some fun possibility for organizing photos at a later date. The 3D feature, however, left a lot be desired. It feels like a rushed afterthought that was forced onto the camera by the head honchos at Panasonic to support its 3D TV line.

Panasonic is marketing the ZS10 as a travel cam, and we agree that it would fit those qualifications nicely. The optical stabilization seems top notch, and the 1080i video capture means you can leave the camcorder at home. There are enough manual controls to satisfy users that have the occasional desire to play with aperture and shutter, but the interface is sluggish, so power users may need to increase their budget and set sights on something like the FZ or LX series that feature more external buttons.

Sample Photos

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Specs

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Meet the tester

David Kender

David Kender

Editor in Chief

@davekender

David Kender oversees content at Reviewed as the Editor in Chief. He served as managing editor and editor in chief of Reviewed's ancestor, CamcorderInfo.com, helping to grow the company from a tiny staff to one of the most influential online review resources. In his time at Reviewed, David has helped to launch over 100 product categories and written too many articles to count.

See all of David Kender's reviews

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