Doug's TZ1 Samples

[Doug Lerner]

Since the "where is the TZ1" thread seems to have reverted to its original purpose (talking about actually acquiring the TZ1) I've started a new thread to post my TZ1 samples and consolidate my other favorite sample links!

Here is a walk I took late yesterday afternoon along the Kanda River:

http://lerner.net/doug/KandaRiver20060408/

Please be sure to check out the "afternoon moon" shot (the last photo) taken at 12.5x optical zoom. That surely demonstrates the power of the stabilizer!

doug

[mbbin2]

Very beautiful pics. Mary

[lostbutok]

Doug,

I know you can't post them at full resolution, but in your opinion, are the images sharp or are they on the soft side at full resolution? Thanks for posting!

[Doug Lerner]

Doug,

I know you can't post them at full resolution, but in your opinion, are the images sharp or are they on the soft side at full resolution? Thanks for posting!

I am using "vivid" mode here, which is on the sharp side.

doug

[Doug Lerner]

I posted this the other day. It is an album of shots taken at night along the Kanda River. Some use flash, but most are non-flash, taken using "night scenery mode".

For the night scenery mode photos I rested the camera on a convenient wall and used the self-timer at 2 seconds to prevent any camera shaking during the long exposure.

http://lerner.net/doug/NightViews/

doug

[Doug Lerner]

Rings on a friend's finger, taken with macro setting. No flash. The lighting was a desk lamp.

http://lerner.net/doug/Rings/

doug

[cuznvin]

LOVE your new pics Doug! Moon shot is awesome

[Doug Lerner]

LOVE your new pics Doug! Moon shot is awesome

I was pleased with how that came out too. The optical stabilizer seems to work well when the subject is not moving.

doug

[Phill D]

Doug you are way beyond the testing & trials stage you should start posting some in the photo gallery. Just curious as to what your shot to posting ratio was. All your shots seem to be pretty good to me & I just wondered how many you discarded with this camera. Overall what you have done testing out this camera has been brilliant Panasonic should be giving you commission.

[Doug Lerner]

Doug you are way beyond the testing & trials stage you should start posting some in the photo gallery. Just curious as to what your shot to posting ratio was. All your shots seem to be pretty good to me & I just wondered how many you discarded with this camera. Overall what you have done testing out this camera has been brilliant Panasonic should be giving you commission.

The first bunch of samples I uploaded almost every one I took.

For the more recent albums I eliminated duplicates and ones that didn't come out well. I would say I uploaded about half.

Of the half I didn't upload I would say almost all were for artistic/duplication reasons and very few were because they photographically did not come out of the camera well. I don't have any exact numbers though.

doug

[rayon]

Hi Doug,
Thanks so much for all of your posts on your experiences with the TZ1. Your genorosity with your thoughts and publishing photos were instrumental in my decision to purchase it (bought from Buydig this weekend).

While I have read all of your posts, I don't remember you discussing your impressions of the TZ1's AF capabilities. I tried out a friend's FZ5 and I thought that the low light AF was terrible, and that is also my impression of a lot of Canons. Do you feel the AF works pretty well in the TZ1? Does it hunt and peck in low light situations? Do you mostly get accurate focusing (it sure appears that way by the plethora of well focused shots you've published, but just wanted to ask directly)?

[Doug Lerner]

Hi Doug,
Thanks so much for all of your posts on your experiences with the TZ1. Your genorosity with your thoughts and publishing photos were instrumental in my decision to purchase it (bought from Buydig this weekend).

While I have read all of your posts, I don't remember you discussing your impressions of the TZ1's AF capabilities. I tried out a friend's FZ5 and I thought that the low light AF was terrible, and that is also my impression of a lot of Canons. Do you feel the AF works pretty well in the TZ1? Does it hunt and peck in low light situations? Do you mostly get accurate focusing (it sure appears that way by the plethora of well focused shots you've published, but just wanted to ask directly)?

I think it does fine in most cases. There are a few times I wished I had used the "multiple spot metering". Anyway, I haven't noticed any focusing problems to speak of. It has that "low light focusing light" feature which is on by default.

doug

[Doug Lerner]

Taken yesterday...

http://lerner.net/doug/MoonAndTrees/

doug@getting artistic :)

[rayon]

I think it does fine in most cases. There are a few times I wished I had used the "multiple spot metering". Anyway, I haven't noticed any focusing problems to speak of. It has that "low light focusing light" feature which is on by default.

doug

Great to hear that you are not having problems with the AF. In fact, your new shots seem to prove this point. If I had composed similar shots with my Canon in AF, the moon would have been in focus but the trees blurred. (I could have corrected it through menu controls, but not in pure AF mode). The TZI AF would have had to be very accurate to pinpoint the tiny branch points as opposed to the bigger brighter moon in the background in some of your photos.

I take it you used the default settings for these really good shots, no? any hunt and pecking by the camera for AF in these, or was it a quick and shoot job?

[Doug Lerner]

Great to hear that you are not having problems with the AF. In fact, your new shots seem to prove this point. If I had composed similar shots with my Canon in AF, the moon would have been in focus but the trees blurred. (I could have corrected it through menu controls, but not in pure AF mode). The TZI AF would have had to be very accurate to pinpoint the tiny branch points as opposed to the bigger brighter moon in the background in some of your photos.

I take it you used the default settings for these really good shots, no? any hunt and pecking by the camera for AF in these, or was it a quick and shoot job?

The "Moon and Tree" shots were all default AF and white balance modes using the "standard" photo shooting dial with flash turned off.

I did, however, intentionally cause the AF to focus on the tiny branch points by half-pressing the shutter down, locking the focus and then framing as I liked it.

doug

[cuznvin]

Taken yesterday...

http://lerner.net/doug/MoonAndTrees/

doug@getting artistic :)

Nice Doug. Are you still using vivid?

[Doug Lerner]

Nice Doug. Are you still using vivid?

Yes, I've left it on vivid mode for the time being.

doug

[adamsfamily]

Firstly Doug, well done for having the forethought to start this new thread... sometimes best to do so rather than get bogged down in the mire of "where can I buy mine from"... and secondly a big thanks to you again for following this through... the thread that Civicisso and myself were bantering has become really blogged now, and to look back through to find your shots was taking an age!!

Anyway, to the point:
Everytime I think of a question, you seem to have answered it and the below shows me that the Out of Focus background (depth of field) works well on this camera which is what i want for portraits... something the Fuji S9500/9000 failed miserably on!!

The "Moon and Tree" shots were all default AF and white balance modes using the "standard" photo shooting dial with flash turned off.

I did, however, intentionally cause the AF to focus on the tiny branch points by half-pressing the shutter down, locking the focus and then framing as I liked it.

doug
So I now know it will do every thing that I want a camera to do, but there is one thing, which I know you have semi answered.... indoor shots with the AF illuminator!?

Obviously, in low light you can capture virtually any shot using the flash, and most cameras will hunt a little, although you said it was minimal I believe...??
How about low light shots, moving subject and no flash? Have you tried anything like this yet??
It'sa just that at parties, i like to keep the ambience of the picture as near to real as possible, and that means no flash, but obviously the subjects are moving around (kids party for example).

Thanks in advance

[rayon]

I did, however, intentionally cause the AF to focus on the tiny branch points by half-pressing the shutter down, locking the focus and then framing as I liked it.

doug
My canon is in no way that precise. I was in Paris with my nephew last year and fun-tortured him on his birthday by making him eat escargot. Half-pressed the canon and it refused to focus on the snail on his fork and instead focused on the scene outside. Tried it half a dozen times, making everyone in the restaurant wait, even a very lengthy pause while i fumbled through the menus for 1-point spot metering, with even this failing (camera would return with an unable to lock focus response). All of his virgin snail-eating adventure came out blurry and a great loss for world history. If the tz1 can pick out a tree bud at quite a distance despite the much larger and brighter moon behind it, there's hope for my family adventure photos.

[cuznvin]

I took these today. Why the jagged lines on the cats whiskers? I took these on vivid mode.http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/cuznvin/april102006007.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/cuznvin/april102006005.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/cuznvin/april102006004.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/cuznvin/april102006003.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/cuznvin/april102006002.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/cuznvin/april102006001.jpg

I used the cutting function on the bird pictures

[Phill D]

Doug thanks for the reply. Sounds like a pretty good ratio to me especially with a new camera.

[adamsfamily]

Not sure about anyone else Cuznvin, but those pics look great to me.... well done!

[rayon]

Cuznvin, those shots are great! They truly are vivid! I think you are being too hard about the lightning bolt whiskers. Maybe it wasn't the camera, but just the cat who permed his whiskers so he could be ready for his close up.

Seriously, I had to magnify your photo 200% to see what you were talking about. It is not noticable at the size you published them on this site. Anyway, great shots. Now, I really can't wait to get my tz1.

[cuznvin]

THANKS! I am loving this camera!

[Doug Lerner]

THANKS! I am loving this camera!

I was gonna say... I thought the photos looked great too!

doug

[mystro544]

Request to owners:

Has anyone tested the 5 sec Audio attached to a picture? I'm curious how large the the finished photo/audio file will actually be,so I can approximate how large a SD card to order using HQ and SHQ.

[rayon]

Hi Cuznvin,

I am sure you have read most of Doug's great posts. What's your assessment so far about what you like about the Tz1 and what you dislike or believe needs improvement? Just wondering where your experience with the camera might differ from Doug's.

[Noodlez]

While I have not had a real chance to test out my TZ1 (got it yesterday) I have found one thing that does anoy me just a tad. The time is setup in a 24 hour format with no 12 hour option. Stupid complaint but hey :)

[Doug Lerner]

Request to owners:

Has anyone tested the 5 sec Audio attached to a picture? I'm curious how large the the finished photo/audio file will actually be,so I can approximate how large a SD card to order using HQ and SHQ.

I did exactly 1 test of this (because it doesn't seem like a feature I would really use). It didn't seem to noticeably increase the size of the file.

doug

[jwmraz]

I am very interested in this camera--took my SD card into a Circuit City to test the display model of the TZ1. However, I am very disappointed at the grainy photos I have taken with that display model: From what I recall, the camera was set to simple mode (the first two items like sensitivity was set to "auto" from what I recall) and the camera was set to take the 5M pictures (I made sure of this), so they should have been very detailed.

When I zoom into 100% on my PC to view the pictures, though, they don't look crisp--really fuzzy and not a lot of sharp detail--and it wasn't a focusing issue from what I can see... just sort of pixelated. I took a few shots in Normal mode, too, but the photos look the same. I thought about a possible cause after I left: I don't recall the camera being in "High Sensitivity" mode... maybe that caused this, but again, I really don't think it was set like that.

I don't see this problem on some photos I've seen on Japanese websites, but I'm wondering if someone has some **full resolution** "real-world" photos and they wouldn't mind posting a URL to for a website so that I could see the quality? Or if someone could PM me, I'll give you my email address and you could send some.

I really want to buy this camera, but if the image quality is what I've seen from the demo, I'll have to pass... I don't want to pay a restocking fee if the camera I buy is doing the same thing!

Can someone else act like a Panasonic salesman for this camera? :)

[mystro544]

I did exactly 1 test of this (because it doesn't seem like a feature I would really use). It didn't seem to noticeably increase the size of the file.
doug

Thanks again Doug,this is good news and for our uses, I'm fairly sure it'll be especially handy after several hundred pictures..a few audio discriptions will sure help with my memory. :)

[Doug Lerner]

I am very interested in this camera--took my SD card into a Circuit City to test the display model of the TZ1. However, I am very disappointed at the grainy photos I have taken with that display model: From what I recall, the camera was set to simple mode (the first two items like sensitivity was set to "auto" from what I recall) and the camera was set to take the 5M pictures (I made sure of this), so they should have been very detailed.

When I zoom into 100% on my PC to view the pictures, though, they don't look crisp--really fuzzy and not a lot of sharp detail--and it wasn't a focusing issue from what I can see... just sort of pixelated. I took a few shots in Normal mode, too, but the photos look the same. I thought about a possible cause after I left: I don't recall the camera being in "High Sensitivity" mode... maybe that caused this, but again, I really don't think it was set like that.

I don't see this problem on some photos I've seen on Japanese websites, but I'm wondering if someone has some **full resolution** "real-world" photos and they wouldn't mind posting a URL to for a website so that I could see the quality? Or if someone could PM me, I'll give you my email address and you could send some.

I really want to buy this camera, but if the image quality is what I've seen from the demo, I'll have to pass... I don't want to pay a restocking fee if the camera I buy is doing the same thing!

Can someone else act like a Panasonic salesman for this camera? :)

In my own comments I did mention that high sensitivity mode is quite noisy. In fact the owner's manual itself says it is only suitable if the end-use picture is going to be small (i.e. shrunk down to hide the noise).

In general, the pictures at low ISO are very clean and at high ISO tend to be grainer/noiser.

Of course I always found that true when I used film cameras too. I tried some film experiments for a while at ISO 400 but always found the quality quite noise and grainy. So after that I never bought any film with an ISO higher than 100.

With the TZ1 you can set the ISO on "automatic", which lets it wander in the range 80-200, which is a good range for most results to avoid noise.

In high sensitivity mode the ISO ranges from 800 to 1600. I find that noise is visible to me, at least, when ISO is 400 or greater, so find the high sensitivity mode quite noise.

The manual also recommends trying "natural mode" (the least sharp mode) to help avoid noise, but I haven't tried much testing with that mode yet.

I am not sure how the ISO ranges when in Simple mode.

Basically you will see noise when the ISO is high and you look at the original pictures down at the pixel level.

You have to consider the actual "end use" size of the pictures you will be showing and base it on that I think.

In the night scenery mode, for example, there is almost no noise. That is because the ISO is forced to 80. The exposure time is thus longer, so you can't hold the camera in your hand then. But you get very clean pictures that way in dark conditions!

doug

[John_Reed]

I am very interested in this camera--took my SD card into a Circuit City to test the display model of the TZ1. However, I am very disappointed at the grainy photos I have taken with that display model: From what I recall, the camera was set to simple mode (the first two items like sensitivity was set to "auto" from what I recall) and the camera was set to take the 5M pictures (I made sure of this), so they should have been very detailed.

When I zoom into 100% on my PC to view the pictures, though, they don't look crisp--really fuzzy and not a lot of sharp detail--and it wasn't a focusing issue from what I can see... just sort of pixelated. I took a few shots in Normal mode, too, but the photos look the same. I thought about a possible cause after I left: I don't recall the camera being in "High Sensitivity" mode... maybe that caused this, but again, I really don't think it was set like that.

I don't see this problem on some photos I've seen on Japanese websites, but I'm wondering if someone has some **full resolution** "real-world" photos and they wouldn't mind posting a URL to for a website so that I could see the quality? Or if someone could PM me, I'll give you my email address and you could send some.

I really want to buy this camera, but if the image quality is what I've seen from the demo, I'll have to pass... I don't want to pay a restocking fee if the camera I buy is doing the same thing!

Can someone else act like a Panasonic salesman for this camera? :)
Here's one URL, an outdoor shot (ISO 100, 65mm equiv. FL, 1/80 sec exposure):
http://john-reed.smugmug.com/photos/64185380-O.jpg
Here's an indoor available light shot (ISO 800, 177mm equivalent focal length, 1/6 sec exposure), with added Neat Image NR post-processing:
http://John-Reed.smugmug.com/photos/64121095-O.jpg

[jwmraz]

John,
Yes, I saw your images referenced within the dpreview forum the other day. I have no doubt that your outdoor photos look great--the one of the cat in the garden is truly excellent. Trouble is, my indoor photos have that razor-sharp quality to them now--I'm using an older Canon Powershot S30. I'm just surprised that the DMC-TZ1's indoor photos with the flash taken from the Circuit City store look so grainy and noisy. The EXIF data from those in-store photos ranged from 100-320 ISO; it didn't get as high as 800 ISO on your indoor photo. And the zoomed photos were really grainy. If you have any more indoor photos taken with flash with a lower ISO rating, I'd love to see their quality!

Or Doug, if you have any full-resolution indoor photos that you can post on your website, I'd be much obliged!

Once I'm comfortable that this camera can produce some nice, quality indoor photos, I'm sure I'll be buying it because of its high zoom capability alone.

Thanks again.

[John_Reed]

http://John-Reed.smugmug.com/photos/64321179-O.jpg
You might declare that the image is "noisy," although I think the noise I saw in the image could be easily corrected with NI or the like. I didn't see this "grainy" stuff you described, but take a look and see what you think. I did nothing more than snap the shot, download it to my office computer, and upload it. So have at it.

[John_Reed]

John,
Yes, I saw your images referenced within the dpreview forum the other day. I have no doubt that your outdoor photos look great--the one of the cat in the garden is truly excellent. Trouble is, my indoor photos have that razor-sharp quality to them now--I'm using an older Canon Powershot S30. I'm just surprised that the DMC-TZ1's indoor photos with the flash taken from the Circuit City store look so grainy and noisy. The EXIF data from those in-store photos ranged from 100-320 ISO; it didn't get as high as 800 ISO on your indoor photo. And the zoomed photos were really grainy. If you have any more indoor photos taken with flash with a lower ISO rating, I'd love to see their quality!

Or Doug, if you have any full-resolution indoor photos that you can post on your website, I'd be much obliged!

Once I'm comfortable that this camera can produce some nice, quality indoor photos, I'm sure I'll be buying it because of its high zoom capability alone.

Thanks again.Left to its own devices, I think the TZ1, like other Panasonic cameras, limits ISO to 400 when using "Auto ISO" with the internal flash. My ISO 800 shot was just an ISO 800 experiment, set by me to see how well it would do at that ISO level.

[blackbird]

http://John-Reed.smugmug.com/photos/64321179-O.jpg
You might declare that the image is "noisy," although I think the noise I saw in the image could be easily corrected with NI or the like. I didn't see this "grainy" stuff you described, but take a look and see what you think. I did nothing more than snap the shot, download it to my office computer, and upload it. So have at it.


Not bad for ISO400 shot. Still usable. Any ISO800 shots to share?:)

[John_Reed]

Not bad for ISO400 shot. Still usable. Any ISO800 shots to share?:)Here's the link:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1033&message=18003277
If you follow down the thread, I also show some comparisons there between the normal ISO 800 and the "High Sensitivity" ISO 800 shots.

[bobm59]

Here's one URL, an outdoor shot (ISO 100, 65mm equiv. FL, 1/80 sec exposure):
http://john-reed.smugmug.com/photos/64185380-O.jpg
Here's an indoor available light shot (ISO 800, 177mm equivalent focal length, 1/6 sec exposure), with added Neat Image NR post-processing:
http://John-Reed.smugmug.com/photos/64121095-O.jpg

John:

The cat pic is amazing. Makes me want to go out and buy another TZ1!

[John_Reed]

John:

The cat pic is amazing. Makes me want to go out and buy another TZ1!What the heck would you do with TWO cameras? ;)

[bobm59]

What the heck would you do with TWO cameras? ;)

OK, maybe an FZ30 then, or perhaps its successor. The TZ1 kind of sells itself really. I have at least one colleague ready to purchase one. (Again, your cat picture is tremendous!)

[Doug Lerner]

What the heck would you do with TWO cameras? ;)

Stereoscopy!

doug

[Anodyne]

Doug, can you give me an idea how you feel the flash on this camera performs? It is on my short list currently but being able to take decent indoor shots (in a moderately sized room; I'm not talking about gymnasiums!) is an important factor. Thanks!

[Doug Lerner]

Doug, can you give me an idea how you feel the flash on this camera performs? It is on my short list currently but being able to take decent indoor shots (in a moderately sized room; I'm not talking about gymnasiums!) is an important factor. Thanks!

I haven't done a great deal of indoor flash shooting. And being in Tokyo my rooms are rather small.

But my impression is that as long as you are not too CLOSE to the subject the flash is strong and fine. But if you get too close the subject can wash out a bit.

The manual also warns about use flash when the subject is too close up.

doug

[adamsfamily]

Hi Doug,
I've just missed out on getting one!!! :mad:
I saw Panasonic UK advertising them as in stock, so went hunting in the shops to have a look and feel before I buy! Could I find one? 20 shops later, nothing!!!
So I went back on-line to bite the bullet nad now they're out of stock again!!!

I was in Salisbury on Monday and had a nose at the Sony DSC H2, and I was fairly impressed, then the guy showed me the multi shot which is important to me... It was great.... so you know what, I bought one!!!

BIG MISTAKE

Got it home, most of the indoor pictures were grainy even on Auto Mode... and the super fast multi shot is a con, it's basically a movie shot at about 15 FPS, then shown on the PC as 16 steps in one image, so unless you want to mess about trying to extract one of these and resizing it, then it's a waste of time!

The Standard Multi Burst was about 1 frame every 0.9 seconds.
Whereas I beleive the TZ1 is 3 frames per second? And the continous shooting file you showed with 9 pictures of the lady on her bike was far superior...

I also checked out it's REAL speed whilst I had it. Shutter lag, from pressing the button, focusing and taking the shot. I wasn't impressed.

So guess what - it's going back!!!

I was wondering, if you have time, could you run some tests for me...

I need speed, and this looks like the one for me.
In daylight all cameras are good, although your shots prove this ones great... but indoors is where my last two cameras have failed, and as I said, I have just tested a Sony DSC H2, this too is not great!

Indoor shots are my issue, and I'm after some times from pushing the shutter (without pre focusing) to shot taken for the following:

Indoors, wide angle, no flash (Sony took 2.23 secs)
Indoors , wide angle,with flash (Sony took 1.10 secs)
Indoors, tele full zoom, no flash (Sony took 4.36 secs)
Indoors, tele full zoom, with flash (Sony took 2.46 secs)

If you can, can you also tell me how long it took on the continous mode as well to take those 9 shots... I reckon looking at the picture, 3-4 seconds tops!!!

Appreciate your help if you are able, if not, don't worry.

[Doug Lerner]

Hi, Steve,

Well, I'm not a real "speed demon" so I haven't been testing to see how fast the shots were. But those 9 shots of the lady getting on and leaving with her bicycle was taken with the burst mode that takes about 2 pictures/second and lets you keep shooting until your memory is full. There is also a faster 3 picture/second mode, but I think it is limited to 3 or 5 pictures or something like that total.

As far as indoor photography goes, as I reported earlier, the "high sensitivty" mode, which shoots at between 800 and 1600 ISO is noticeably grainy. I would only use that mode if you intended your final picture to be on the small side. For large pictures the graininess is not usable - and the manual even warns you about that. Of course that is true with ordinary film as well. I've never seen a nice looking large 800-1600 ISO picture, have you?

As far as comparing speeds - how on earth did you measure shutter-pushing-to-shot time to hundredths of a second?

The best I can report from doing similar tests now is:

Indoors, wide angle, no flash - less than 1 second
Indoors , wide angle,with flash - about 1 second
Indoors, tele full zoom, no flash - about 1.5 seconds
Indoors, tele full zoom, with flash - about 2.5 seconds

doug

[adamsfamily]

Hi Doug, thanks for the reply....

You're absolutely right, nothing will stop the graininess of an 800/1600 ISO no matter what you use.
Your indoor shots posted using the lesser ISO's are fine, no, good, and will allow me to print my 7x5's without any problem, and I guess even A4 size!!

So your lady on the bike was probably about 4-5 seconds max then if its 2fps mode... which is still better than the Sony's 5 pictures in 5.2 seconds.

How did I measure the speed so accurately?? With the stopwatch on my watch!!

Just held the watch in one hand, had the camera sat on the side facing the sofa with one of the kids sat on it (patience was wearing thin by the end)
and pressed both shutter and start button on the watch together, and then stopped the watch when it took the shot! Ok, not very scientific, but it seemed to work!!

Indoors, wide angle, no flash (Sony 2.23 secs vs TZ1 less than 1 second)
Indoors , wide angle,with flash (Sony 1.10 secs vs TZ1 about 1 second)
Indoors, tele full zoom, no flash (Sony 4.36 secs vs TZ1 about 1.5 seconds)
Indoors, tele full zoom, with flash (Sony 2.46 secs vs TZ1 about 2.5 seconds)

So from my "technical" test, and your approximation, it would appear that the TZ1 is far better at indoor shot focusing with no flash than the Sony, but about the same with flash!

So if you, or anyone else with a TZ1 wants to get technical, give it a go and lets see the results!

Thanks for your help Doug!

[Doug Lerner]

After thinking about it some more, I decided to go back to "standard" mode. I know that in "vivid" mode the colors stand out more. But I've been feeling a bit uncomfortable about the results - like the pictures sometimes look more garish than beautiful.

Look at this "roll" I just took all in Standard mode. I didn't bother with a side-by-side comparison with vivid mode this time, but I feel really good about the results for almost all the pictures and think the colors are vivid and saturated enough, while keep a more natural tone and quality to them:

http://lerner.net/doug/AfternoonWalk20060422/

Don't forget to check out the "koi nobori" and the shots of the stork in the river at 12.5x zoom!

doug

[Doug Lerner]

I was doing some experiments with indoor non-flash shooting to see how clean I could get things.

See

http://lerner.net/doug/Indoor1/

for a short three frame test.

In this web album I made it so you can click on the image to get the original.

I found out that instead of ISO being set on AUTO, if you leave it set on the slowest (most quality) setting of ISO 80, even though the shutter speed is longer, because of the stabilizer the photos come out very clean.

The first shot in the sequence is the best I think - and I was just holding the camera in my hand and the shutter speed was just 1/5 second. (I also made sure the shutter slow end was changed from the default 1/8 second to the maximum 1 second).

Of course if the subject was moving this wouldn't work very well.

doug

[kuhlkmk]

Hi - I just took my own SD card to CC and took some pictures with the TZ1. I was a little disappointed in the results & was hoping for some encouragement that it was probably the horrible store lighting. Or maybe the store model had some settings on that I wasn't aware of.

-One picture was using self portrait mode & the skin color seemed way off.
-I also didn't find the pictures to be very sharp.
-And when I took video I found the zoom to be very slow & thought the camera took time to refocus everytime I panned the camera. The store clerk blamed it on my SD card. I don't know the speed, but it is a couple of years old & was pretty cheap.

Has anyone else found poor results in the store?

Thanks!

[Doug Lerner]

Hi - I just took my own SD card to CC and took some pictures with the TZ1. I was a little disappointed in the results & was hoping for some encouragement that it was probably the horrible store lighting. Or maybe the store model had some settings on that I wasn't aware of.

-One picture was using self portrait mode & the skin color seemed way off.
-I also didn't find the pictures to be very sharp.
-And when I took video I found the zoom to be very slow & thought the camera took time to refocus everytime I panned the camera. The store clerk blamed it on my SD card. I don't know the speed, but it is a couple of years old & was pretty cheap.

Has anyone else found poor results in the store?

Thanks!

If you are in unusual lighting you should definitely try one of the other white balance settings rather than using AUTO white balance.

You can control sharpness by switching between natural, standard and vivid modes.

Yes, the zoom is much slower when using video than when regular shooting. Also, if you are going to be zooming when using video the manual recommends using "continous focus" mode to avoid the problem you had with refocusing.

doug

[mystro544]

Hi - I just took my own SD card to CC and took some pictures with the TZ1. I was a little disappointed in the results & was hoping for some encouragement that it was probably the horrible store lighting. Or maybe the store model had some settings on that I wasn't aware of.

-One picture was using self portrait mode & the skin color seemed way off.
-I also didn't find the pictures to be very sharp.
-And when I took video I found the zoom to be very slow & thought the camera took time to refocus everytime I panned the camera. The store clerk blamed it on my SD card. I don't know the speed, but it is a couple of years old & was pretty cheap.

Has anyone else found poor results in the store?

Thanks!



This camera apparently demands a 10mbs Write speed SD card for Video.

Stores use Fluorescent lighting,without using a filter all cameras suffer under these conditions,test this by testing other cameras in the same conditions.

[Doug Lerner]

Here are some macro tests, and a couple with fiddling with the EV bias:

http://lerner.net/doug/MacroAndBias/

A couple of them look pretty dramatic I think!

What do you think of the two where I asked for a comparison of the different EV used?

doug

p.s. You can click on these and load the originals.

[kuhlkmk]

Hi there - I just got my TZ1. I can't figure out the Auto Bracket & Burst mode settings. They seem like they should be so easy. Any tips? I set Auto Bracket & I thought that, if I took one picture, the camera would take 3? And I'd be able to see all 3 when I review the pictures? And for Burst mode, I thought I would just hold down the shutter & the camera would continue to take pictures? For both Auto Bracket & Burst mode, when I push the shutter, I just get the image with a slash through it. I verified that they weren't both set at the same time so they wouldn't conflict with each other.
I have a full battery & have a clear 512 Mb card in. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

[John_Reed]

Hi there - I just got my TZ1. I can't figure out the Auto Bracket & Burst mode settings. They seem like they should be so easy. Any tips? I set Auto Bracket & I thought that, if I took one picture, the camera would take 3? And I'd be able to see all 3 when I review the pictures? And for Burst mode, I thought I would just hold down the shutter & the camera would continue to take pictures? For both Auto Bracket & Burst mode, when I push the shutter, I just get the image with a slash through it. I verified that they weren't both set at the same time so they wouldn't conflict with each other.
I have a full battery & have a clear 512 Mb card in. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - thanks!If you are, that would explain the slashed icon for Burst, which is prohibited in the "Simple" (heart) mode. Try "Normal" or "Macro" modes for these functions, not "Simple" or any "Scene" modes. About the "Auto Bracket" mode, I don't know; that isn't even allowed in "Simple" mode.