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Introduction
Panasonic has felt the need to update my much loved Panasonic Lumix TZ5 with an all new lightly retouched Lumix TZ7. I really love my TZ5, as you can tell from the review I posted a few months back, so is the TZ7 worth considering as an upgrade? Or even at all?
The following text is based on a short hands on session and distilation of news and reviews on other web sites (Linked at the end). As always I highly recommend the Digital Photography Review --um-- review of the camera for a full in depth hands on test. They currently have only owner reviews available here.
So far so similar
Visually the difference between the TZ5 and TZ7 cameras is minimal. The very slight redesign on the body and button layout should mean any TZ5 owner is well at home. The biggest missing feature is the e-zoom button which, while not a key feature I do find useful.
At first glance there don't seem to be a huge number of significant differences between the TZ5 and TZ7. The following table compares the main features of the TZ5 and TZ7/ZS3 side by side.
DMC-TZ5 |
DMC-TZ7/ZS3 |
|
| Price | ||
| Sensor | 10.7MP total / 9.1MP Image | 12.7MP total / 10.1MP Image |
| Lens | Leica 10x (28-280 equivalent) | Leica 12x (25-300 equivalent) |
| Video Recording |
640x480 @ 30fps 1280x720 @ 30fps |
640x480 @ 30fps 1280x720 @ 30fps |
| Processor | Panasonic Venus IV | Panasonic Venus HD |
Some technical data in this table has been taken from the TZ5 and TZ7/ZS3 pages at www.dpreview.com.
The Lens
The new Leica 12x lens doesn't sound like a significant addition. With slightly more length at the long end (300mm as opposed to 280mm) you're not going to feel the power there. But at the wide end you get a full 3mm extra (25mm compared to 28mm). While this doesn't sound like much each mm at the wide angle is worth far more then at the telephoto length so you will really notice the difference.
Much like sensors there are some significant compromises which need to be made to get the sort of features which look good on the box. In this case a 12x optical zoom in such a small form factor leads to some geometric distortion at the extremes of the lens.
AVCHD HD Video
Since writing this Windows 7 has been 'released' which fully supports AVCHD, as are many more pieces of software and playback devices. This paragraph is therefore no longer very relevant.
I have real trouble with this. Much like the the mega pixel count, this is touted as a great feature which adds value to the camera. For me, this is not the case.
AVCHD lite codec is an advanced HD codec which delivers better video quality then the Motion JPEG codec used by the Venus IV engine in the TZ5. So this is good right? Well not exactly. The main limiting factor of image quality on any compact digital camera these days is the sensor. Specifically squeezing so many pixels onto such a small surface (1/2.33 inch with 12.7 million pixels). This leads to a significant amount of noise. I won't go into detail here, other web sites explain it well enough. But the noise issue is a simple law of physics which means it can not be fixed. Even by a fancy new codec.
So why is the codec the problem then? I hear you ask. The codec is an advanced and not widely used or supported format just yet. AVCHD codec is supported by Panasonic and Sony, but it is currently unclear how much further support will extend. Videos produced by the TZ7 can only be played back with an AVCHD compatible piece of hardware or software. To help with this the HD AV port on the camera has been replaced by a mini HDMI connector which is becoming more and more popular amongst hardware manufacturers.
In contrast Motion JPEG is widely used and compatible with a large array of software and hardware vendor products. And the quality is NOT BAD! This means that you are not stuck editing and re-encoding (which also compromises quality) your videos when you get home.
Disclaimer
I have not had the opportunity to check the quality or the video editing of AVCHD videos myself. So it may all be much easier then I am thinking.
Image quality
I'm not going to spend long on this. Squeezing more mega pixels onto a sensor reduces the image quality by increasing the noise of the photo. There is no way around this. Thanks to the impressive Venus HD processor Panasonic is still able to produce good images, just like the TZ5, but far more noisy then anything coming from a DSLR, even at the lowest iso settings.
The Venus HD engine is an update to the Venus IV which powers the TZ5. Apart from a claimed power efficiency gain and AVCHD video you get the same selection of face recognition, scene presets and control functions. You also get the ability to take photos in a variety of aspect ratios.
So much like the TZ5.
Conclusion
Hopefully you are one of two people:
- TZ5 owner thinking of an upgrade
- Looking to get a new compact digital camera
Lets tackle each in turn.
TZ5 upgrade
Bottom line is, no. In my view there is nothing in this package which should prompt you to get all excited. The pixel increase is marginal and the quality improvement of the AVCHD codec is still to be proved for something in this form factor.
But if you are looking at upgrading a camera less then 12 months old, logic and reasoning (I'm sorry to say) will probably not work, and the appeal of the camera is the shiny new gadget-ness of it rather then the real improved benefit. You probably also have other AVCHD capable hardware/software at home which makes the video less of an issue.
New camera
If you are looking for a new camera things are a little more tricky. The camera is very good, and for the money, features and form factor there is little else out there to compare. The Canon SX200 IS offers a similar set of controls but with a less attractive and sleek form factor, and it has a 28mm wide angle lens.
At the time of writing the price difference between the TZ5 and TZ7 is about £100. And for that you get the extra range at the wide angle, AVCHD video coding and a few tweaks to the camera firmware.
For landscape and architecture photographers (or estate agents) the extra wide angle performance is a compelling feature which can not be overlooked, but purely based on that the £100 pound price difference looks steep.
Personally I would opt for the TZ5, the performance, ergonomics and construction of the two cameras is almost identical (they both have the pathetic door covering the connector terminals). Both have friendly and intuitive menu systems and both perform well, for their target market, when it comes to image and video quality.