Panasonic Lumix ZS100 / TZ100

AS THE 1"-TYPE ENTHUSIAST COMPACT MARKET HAS GROWN OVER THE LAST 2 YEARS, THERE HAS BEEN A NOTICEABLE GAP IN THE MARKET. THERE WERE SMALL, STANDARD ZOOM (24-70MM) MODELS AND LONG ZOOMS (24-600MM), BUT NOTHING IN-BETWEEN FOR THOSE WHO WANT A LONGER LENS WITHOUT SACRIFICING BODY SIZE.

ENTER PANASONIC, A COMPANY WITH A LONG HISTORY OF MAKING TRAVEL ZOOM CAMERAS. IN FACT, THE COMPANY MADE WHAT MANY WOULD CONSIDER THE FIRST ONE: THE DMC-TZ1, WAY BACK IN 2006. PANASONIC ENTERED THE 1"-TYPE MARKET IN 2014 WITH ITS DMC-FZ1000, A CAMERA WE LIKED ENOUGH TO GIVE IT A GOLD AWARD.

AT THIS YEAR'S CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW IN LAS VEGAS, THE COMPANY ANNOUNCED THE DMC-ZS100 (TZ100 OUTSIDE OF NORTH AMERICA), WHICH TOOK THE GUTS OF THE FZ1000 AND SHRANK THE BODY DOWN TO THE ROUGHLY THE SIZE OF A SONY RX100 IV. NATURALLY, YOU CAN'T STUFF A FAST 25-400MM LENS INTO A COMPACT BODY, BUT THE ZS100'S 25-250MM EQUIV. F2.8-5.9 LENS IS NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT, EITHER. THE CAMERA USES THE SAME 20.1MP SENSOR AS THE FZ1000 WHICH IS MORE THAN LIKELY THE SAME AS THE ONE IN THE SONY RX100 II AND III.

THE ZS100 IS CHOCK FULL OF FEATURES, MOST NOTABLY ITS DEPTH FROM DEFOCUS AUTOFOCUS SYSTEM, 4K VIDEO CAPTURE AND ELECTRONIC VIEWFINDER. IT ALSO HAS A 3", TOUCH-SENSITIVE LCD, WI-FI (BUT, UNLIKE MOST PANASONIC PRODUCTS, NO NFC) AND USEFUL 4K PHOTO AND POST FOCUS FEATURES.

WHY PAY MORE?

IMAGINE YOU'RE SHOPPING FOR A COMPACT TRAVEL ZOOM CAMERA, AND YOU'RE VIEWING THE SELECTION AT A BIG BOX RETAILER. YOU REACH THE PANASONIC SECTION AND SEE THE DMC-ZS60, WHICH OFFERS A 30X ZOOM AND COSTS $450, NEXT TO THE ZS100 WHICH 'ONLY' HAS A 10X ZOOM BUT COSTS $250 MORE. IT'S NOT A STRETCH TO IMAGINE A CAMERA BUYER ASKING THEMSELVES WHY THEY SHOULD PAY MORE FOR WHAT SEEMS LIKE LESS.

WHILE THE ZS60 DOES INDEED HAVE A LONGER LENS THAN THE ZS100, THERE IS A TRADE-OFF:

IN THIS GROUP, WHICH INCLUDES CAMERAS FROM SONY, CANON AND PANASONIC, YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THE BENEFIT OF SHORTER, FASTER LENSES: THEIR EQUIVALENT APERTURES START LOW, AND STAY LOW. FOR EXAMPLE, CANON'S G7 X I AND II, WHICH HAVE FOCAL RANGES OF 24-100MM EQUIV., ARE 2 STOPS FASTER THAN THE ZS100.

THE SONY RX10 I/II REACHES OUT TO 200MM (NOT FAR FROM THE 250MM ON THE ZS100), BUT SINCE IT HAS A FIXED F2.8 LENS, ITS EQUIVALENT APERTURE IS OVER 2 STOP FASTER THAN THE ZS100 AT FULL ZOOM. THAT SAID, THE RX10 I AND II ARE ALSO MUCH LARGER AND HEAVIER CAMERAS. THE FZ1000 ISN'T QUITE AS LARGE AS THE RX10S AND EVEN WITH ITS F2.8-4 APERTURE RANGE, IT STILL HAS A 1+ STOP ADVANTAGE OVER THE ZS100 FOR MUCH OF ITS ZOOM RANGE.

PRICE
MSRP	$699 / £549
BODY TYPE
BODY TYPE	LARGE SENSOR COMPACT
BODY MATERIAL	METAL, COMPOSITE
SENSOR
MAX RESOLUTION	5472 X 3648
IMAGE RATIO W:H	1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9
EFFECTIVE PIXELS	20 MEGAPIXELS
SENSOR PHOTO DETECTORS	21 MEGAPIXELS
SENSOR SIZE	1″ (13.2 X 8.8 MM)
SENSOR TYPE	CMOS
PROCESSOR	VENUS ENGINE
COLOR SPACE	SRGB
COLOR FILTER ARRAY	PRIMARY COLOR FILTER
IMAGE
ISO	AUTO, 125-12800 (EXPANDS TO 80-25600)
BOOSTED ISO (MINIMUM)	80
BOOSTED ISO (MAXIMUM)	25600
WHITE BALANCE PRESETS	5
CUSTOM WHITE BALANCE	YES (4 SLOTS)
IMAGE STABILIZATION	OPTICAL
IMAGE STABILIZATION NOTES	HYBRID 5-AXIS AVAILABLE IN MOVIE MODE
UNCOMPRESSED FORMAT	RAW
JPEG QUALITY LEVELS	FINE, STANDARD
FILE FORMAT	·         JPEG (EXIF V2.3) ·         RAW (PANASONIC RW2 FORMAT)
OPTICS & FOCUS
FOCAL LENGTH (EQUIV.)	25–250 MM
OPTICAL ZOOM	10×
MAXIMUM APERTURE	F2.8–5.9
AUTOFOCUS	·         CONTRAST DETECT (SENSOR) ·         MULTI-AREA ·         CENTER ·         SELECTIVE SINGLE-POINT ·         TRACKING ·         SINGLE ·         CONTINUOUS ·         TOUCH ·         FACE DETECTION ·         LIVE VIEW
AUTOFOCUS ASSIST LAMP	YES
DIGITAL ZOOM	YES (4X)
MANUAL FOCUS	YES
NORMAL FOCUS RANGE	50 CM (19.69″)
MACRO FOCUS RANGE	5 CM (1.97″)
NUMBER OF FOCUS POINTS	49
SCREEN / VIEWFINDER
ARTICULATED LCD	FIXED
SCREEN SIZE	3″
SCREEN DOTS	1,040,000
TOUCH SCREEN	YES
SCREEN TYPE	TFT LCD
LIVE VIEW	YES
VIEWFINDER TYPE	ELECTRONIC
VIEWFINDER COVERAGE	100%
VIEWFINDER MAGNIFICATION	0.46×
VIEWFINDER RESOLUTION	1,166,000
PHOTOGRAPHY FEATURES
MINIMUM SHUTTER SPEED	60 SEC
MAXIMUM SHUTTER SPEED	1/2000 SEC
MAXIMUM SHUTTER SPEED (ELECTRONIC)	1/16000 SEC
EXPOSURE MODES	·         PROGRAM ·         APERTURE PRIORITY ·         SHUTTER PRIORITY ·         MANUAL
SCENE MODES	·         CLEAR PORTRAIT ·         SILKY SKIN ·         BACKLIT SOFTNESS ·         CLEAR IN BACKLIGHT ·         RELAXING TONE ·         SWEET CHILD'S FACE ·         DISTINCT SCENERY ·         BRIGHT BLUE SKY ·         ROMANTIC SUNSET GLOW ·         VIVID SUNSET GLOW ·         GLISTENING WATER ·         CLEAR NIGHTSCAPE ·         COOL NIGHT SKY ·         WARM GLOWING NIGHTSCAPE ·         ARTISTIC NIGHTSCAPE ·         GLITTERING ILLUMINATIONS ·         HANDHELD NIGHT SHOT ·         CLEAR NIGHT PORTRAIT ·         SOFT IMAGE OF A FLOWER ·         APPETIZING FOOD ·         CUTE DESSERT ·         FREEZE ANIMAL MOTION ·         CLEAR SPORTS SHOT ·         MONOCHROME
BUILT-IN FLASH	YES
FLASH RANGE	8.00 M (AT AUTO ISO)
FLASH MODES	AUTO, AUTO/RED-EYE REDUCTION, FORCED ON, FORCED ON/RED-EYE REDUCTION, SLOW SYNC., SLOW SYNC./RED-EYE REDUCTION, FORCED OFF
CONTINUOUS DRIVE	10.0 FPS
SELF-TIMER	YES (2 OR 10 SECS, 3 SHOTS @ 10 SEC)
METERING MODES	·         MULTI ·         CENTER-WEIGHTED ·         SPOT
EXPOSURE COMPENSATION	±5 (AT 1/3 EV STEPS)
AE BRACKETING	±3 (3, 5, 7 FRAMES AT 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 1 EV STEPS)
VIDEOGRAPHY FEATURES
RESOLUTIONS	4K/UHD (3840 X 2160 @ 30P/24P), 1920 X 1080 @ 60P/60I/30P/24P, 640 X 480 (30P)
FORMAT	MPEG-4, AVCHD
MICROPHONE	STEREO
SPEAKER	MONO
STORAGE
STORAGE TYPES	SD/SDHC/SDXC CARD
CONNECTIVITY
USB	USB 2.0 (480 MBIT/SEC)
HDMI	YES (MICROHDMI)
MICROPHONE PORT	NO
HEADPHONE PORT	NO
WIRELESS	BUILT-IN
WIRELESS NOTES	802.11B/G/N
REMOTE CONTROL	YES (VIA SMARTPHONE)
PHYSICAL
ENVIRONMENTALLY SEALED	NO
BATTERY	BATTERY PACK
BATTERY DESCRIPTION	LITHIUM-ION BATTERY & CHARGER
BATTERY LIFE (CIPA)	300
WEIGHT (INC. BATTERIES)	312 G (0.69 LB / 11.01 OZ)
DIMENSIONS	111 X 65 X 44 MM (4.37 X 2.56 X 1.73″)
OTHER FEATURES
ORIENTATION SENSOR	YES
GPS	NONE

FEATURES

THE ZS100 IS A VERY VIDEO-CENTRIC CAMERA, AND NOT JUST FOR RECORDING. THE CAMERA USES ITS VIDEO FUNCTIONS FOR TWO UNIQUE (AND HELPFUL) FEATURES: 4K PHOTO AND POST FOCUS. BUT FIRST, VIDEO.

4K VIDEO

LIKE ITS BIG BROTHER, THE FZ1000, THE ZS100 HAS THE ABILITY TO CAPTURE 4K VIDEO AT 30P OR 24P, WITH A TOP BIT RATE OF 100 MBPS. AT FULL HD (1920 X 1080), 30P AND 60P FRAME RATES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE, WITH BIT RATES OF 20 AND 28 MBPS, RESPECTIVELY. A HIGH SPEED, 1080P/120 OPTION IS ALSO AVAILABLE. SWITCHING TO THE AVCHD CODEC GIVES YOU THE OPTION OF 1080/60P, 60I, 30P AND 24P.

DO NOTE THAT THE DIFFERENCE CROPS CHANGE THE EFFECTIVE FOCAL LENGTHS IN MOVIE MODE TO 37-370MM AT 4K AND 26-260MM AT 1080P, SO PLAN ACCORDINGLY.

WHILE YOU CAN SHOOT VIDEO IN ANY MODE, YOU'LL WANT TO SWITCH TO THE CAMERA'S DEDICATED MOVIE MODE TO GAIN FULL CONTROL. THE MAIN THING YOU'LL GAIN ACCESS TO IS THE ABILITY TO SELECT YOUR EXPOSURE MODE (P/A/S/M) BUT THERE ARE A FEW OTHER THINGS, TOO, INCLUDING THE HIGH SPEED VIDEO AND SNAP MOVIE FEATURES.

THE MAJORITY OF THE FEATURES IN STILL SHOOTING MODE CAN BE USED HERE AS WELL PLUS FOCUS PEAKING, ZEBRA PATTERN, A WIND FILTER AND A ZOOM MIC. THE ZS100 LACKS A MIC INPUT PORT - YOU'LL NEED TO GET THE FZ1000 IF YOU WANT THAT - AS WELL AS AUDIO LEVEL MONITORING.

IN ANY VIDEO MODE YOU CAN TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE CAMERA'S TOUCHSCREEN LCD, WHICH ALLOWS FOR EASY RACK FOCUSING AS WELL AS CHANGING SETTINGS, WITHOUT HAVING TO PRESS ANY PHYSICAL CONTROLS WHICH COULD BUMP THE CAMERA. OUR ZS100 WAS ABLE TO SWITCH FROM A NEAR TO DISTANT SUBJECT SMOOTHLY AND WITH VIRTUALLY NO 'WOBBLE' FROM ITS CDAF SYSTEM.

IF YOU'RE SHOOTING AT FULL HD (1920 X 1080) OR BELOW YOU CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CAMERA'S HYBRID 5-AXIS OIS SYSTEM, WHICH ADDS DIGITAL ROTATION SHAKE REDUCTION TO THE CAMERA'S EXISTING 3-AXIS IS SYSTEM. WHILE YOUR FIELD-OF-VIEW WILL BE CROPPED, THE VIDEO BELOW, TAKEN AT THE LONG END OF THE LENS, SHOWS THAT IT'S WORKS VERY WELL BUT, AS SHOWN ABOVE, IT STRUGGLES WHEN PANNING THE CAMERA.

SNAP MOVIE

THIS SOMEWHAT HIDDEN FEATURE LETS YOU CAPTURE SHORT 2-8 SECOND CLIPS WITH PULL FOCUS AND FADE IN/OUT EFFECTS WHICH CAN BE SLOTTED INTO LONGER VIDEOS, IF YOU WISH. THE PULL FOCUS FEATURE IS CLEVER: YOU SET THE BEGINNING AND THE END POINT WITH THE TOUCHSCREEN AND THE CAMERA WILL SLOWLY SHIFT FOCUS FROM ONE SUBJECT TO THE OTHER AS YOU RECORD. CLICK HERE TO SEE A VERY SHORT EXAMPLE THAT WE TOOK WITH THE DMC-GX8.

THE FADE FEATURE, WHICH CAN BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH FOCUS PULL, OFFERS WHITE-IN/WHITE-OUT, BLACK-IN/BLACK-OUT, AND COLOR-IN/COLOR-OUT (WHERE IT FADES TO OR FROM BLACK-AND-WHITE) OPTIONS. DO NOTE THAT SNAP MOVIES ARE RECORDED AT 1080/30P (OR 25P IN PAL COUNTRIES).

POST FOCUS

A VERY COOL FEATURE, WHICH EVEN HAS A DEDICATED BUTTON ON THE ZS100, IS POST FOCUS. WHILE NOT NEARLY AS HIGH-TECH AS WHAT LYTRO HAS DONE WITH ITS LIGHT FIELD CAMERA, THE RESULTS AREN'T THAT DIFFERENT. AFTER RECORDING A VERY SHORT VIDEO CLIP DURING WHICH THE CAMERA RACKS FOCUS ACROSS THE DEPTH OF THE SCENE, USERS CAN THEN TAP THE AREA ON WHICH THEY WISH TO FOCUS WITH THE REAR SCREEN, AND THEN SAVE THAT FRAME. IDEALLY YOU WANT TO KEEP AS STILL AS POSSIBLE DURING CAPTURE, WHICH TAKES A SECOND OR TWO, BUT EVEN WITH SLIGHT MOTION, POST FOCUS STILL WORKS VERY WELL.

YOU CAN SEE ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THIS FEATURE IN OUR REVIEW OF THE PANASONIC GX8 MIRRORLESS CAMERA. AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT FROM A VIDEO-DERIVED FEATURE, RAW SHOOTING IS DISABLED AND OUTPUT IS LIMITED TO 8MP WHEN USING POST FOCUS.

AUTO ISO

THE ZS100 OFFERS TWO AUTO ISO MODES: AUTO AND INTELLIGENT. AUTO ISO IS A VERY SIMPLE IMPLEMENTATION: IT DOESN'T LET YOU SPECIFY A SHUTTER SPEED (OR RELATIONSHIP TO FOCAL LENGTH) AT WHICH THE CAMERA WILL INCREASE THE ISO SETTING BUT DOES LET YOU CHOOSE AN UPPER ISO LIMIT. INTELLIGENT ISO IS A LITTLE MORE CLEVER: IT DOESN'T ALLOW ANY USER INPUT BEYOND SETTING THE UPPER LIMIT, INSTEAD TRYING TO DETECT MOVEMENT IN THE SCENE AND INCREASES THE ISO TO ENSURE A SUITABLE SHUTTER SPEED IS USED.

AUTO ISO IS AVAILABLE IN MANUAL EXPOSURE MODE BUT THE CAMERA WON'T LET YOU USE EXPOSURE COMP TO SPECIFY HOW BRIGHT THE IMAGE SHOULD BE. AUTO ISO IS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR VIDEO WHEN SHOOTING IN P, A OR S MODES (SO THERE'S NO WAY OF SETTING YOUR SHUTTER SPEED AND APERTURE, THEN GETTING THE CAMERA TO MAINTAIN BRIGHTNESS).

WI-FI

THE ZS100'S WI-FI FEATURES AREN'T APPRECIABLY DIFFERENT THAN THOSE FROM OTHER RECENT LUMIX CAMERAS. SINCE THE CAMERA INEXPLICABLY LACKS NFC, YOU MUST PAIR THE CAMERA USING A QR CODE OR BY SELECTING ITS AD HOC NETWORK MANUALLY.

THE REMOTE CAPTURE PORTION OF THE APP IS QUITE ROBUST, GIVING YOU ACCESS TO ALL OF THE IMPORTANT CAMERA SETTINGS. YOU CAN RECORD STILLS AND VIDEOS WITH TAP-TO-FOCUS (AND SHOOT) AND CONTROL OVER WHITE BALANCE, ISO, DRIVE MODE AND AF MODE. ALL AF MODES ARE AVAILABLE, THOUGH IN MANY CASES (SUCH AS WITH TRACKING), YOU NEED TO WATCH THE CAMERA'S REAR SCREEN TO ACTUALLY SEE WHAT HAPPENS. SINCE YOU CANNOT SWITCH EXPOSURE MODE IN THE APP, YOU'LL NEED TO DO SO USING THE CAMERA'S MODE DIAL.

THE APP ALSO LETS YOU RECORD VIDEO AT RESOLUTIONS OF UP TO 4K AND YOU CAN EVEN WATCH IT ON YOUR PHONE AFTER IT'S BEEN RECORDED. YOU CANNOT, HOWEVER, TRANSFER VIDEOS TO YOUR MOBILE DEVICE. FINALLY, A 'JUMP SHOT' FEATURE LETS YOU STUFF YOUR PHONE IN A POCKET, PUT THE CAMERA ON A TRIPOD, AND HAVE IT TAKE A PHOTO WHEN YOU'RE AT THE TOP OF YOUR LEAP, BASED ON THE PHONE'S ACCELEROMETER.