Dmares
06-22-2006, 10:25 PM
Hi All,
I was 14 days on the road in Florida and hat time to test the camera thoroughly. You will find the pictures and videos here: http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php
Conclusion:
The TZ1 is a easy to use camera, with lots of possibilities to shoot photos under dificult situations if you know how to use the functions offered. I didn´t need the flash in 99% of the shots.
Cons:
No optical viewfinder
Battery does not have enough capacity
AF in movie mode has sometimes problems on focusing
Casing is not to heavy and camera can easily be used only with one hand. You get very fast used to removing lens cap before taking the photo. Advantage is, the camera is switched on and ready but the lens is still protected, also if you just want to have a look at the shots. Only the mode dial nobe should have more resistance by turning .
Battery:
The battery does not last a whole day of intensive photographing and taking films. I was the whole day at seaworld and did not have enough power anymore to film the fireworks. I bought a second battery at the next day ( USD 50)
SD Card:
I bought two 2GB SD cards (Ultrafast 22mbit/s) and that was the right decision. Especially when using the burst mode or the video mode. I had space for about 500 photos and 20 min of video. The storing of photo (burst) and video went without any problem.
Zoom:
The 10x optical zoom is excellent and even if you use the digital zoom the results are (Tx to O.I.S.) very good. Here are three examples:
0 x Zoom :http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000796
10 x Zoom : http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000797
Max digital Zoom:http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000798
Modes:
Underwatermode: Is good to use if you are taking photos in a aquarium. Problem is that shutter speed is quite low. So I often switched to high sensitivity mode:http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000712
High Sensitivity: Excellent Mode. I used it in very dark places.Noising is not as bad as often described:http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000631
Beach Mode: See for yorself. Photos of the Art Deco Beach in Miami at 100 Fahrenheit and sun fully shining
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010040
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010041
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010046
Burst Mode: Just perfect if you set the camera to infinite and flash off. We did a lot of pictures with fast moving animals, and got always the action we wanted to catch. Nerving you cant switch off that the display shows the first shot:
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000859 - and click on "SlideShow"
Flight Mode:Works great. See examples taken out of the aircraft window
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000036
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000038
Firework Mode: Seems to come out quite fine
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010017
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010023
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010025
O.I.S.
best at "2" and really manages to make sharp picture especially if you are using zoom up to max or high sensitivity mode.
Video:
Setting on 640/30fps. The result is great, even the sound is acceptable. Only problem that occured is that from time to time during taking the video the camera suddenly jumps out of focus and has a hard time getting back into it.
Show Inside: http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000693
Show outside:http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000772 (problem with focus)
Firework: http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010026
Microphone:
I was astounded over the quality of the sound recorded. Sure its no "HiFi" but if you consider the tiny hole the sound is really good. Also playback is well hearable.
Hope that answered some questions. Overall a "good" camera and better than I anticipated
Cheers
Dennis
I was 14 days on the road in Florida and hat time to test the camera thoroughly. You will find the pictures and videos here: http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php
Conclusion:
The TZ1 is a easy to use camera, with lots of possibilities to shoot photos under dificult situations if you know how to use the functions offered. I didn´t need the flash in 99% of the shots.
Cons:
No optical viewfinder
Battery does not have enough capacity
AF in movie mode has sometimes problems on focusing
Casing is not to heavy and camera can easily be used only with one hand. You get very fast used to removing lens cap before taking the photo. Advantage is, the camera is switched on and ready but the lens is still protected, also if you just want to have a look at the shots. Only the mode dial nobe should have more resistance by turning .
Battery:
The battery does not last a whole day of intensive photographing and taking films. I was the whole day at seaworld and did not have enough power anymore to film the fireworks. I bought a second battery at the next day ( USD 50)
SD Card:
I bought two 2GB SD cards (Ultrafast 22mbit/s) and that was the right decision. Especially when using the burst mode or the video mode. I had space for about 500 photos and 20 min of video. The storing of photo (burst) and video went without any problem.
Zoom:
The 10x optical zoom is excellent and even if you use the digital zoom the results are (Tx to O.I.S.) very good. Here are three examples:
0 x Zoom :http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000796
10 x Zoom : http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000797
Max digital Zoom:http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000798
Modes:
Underwatermode: Is good to use if you are taking photos in a aquarium. Problem is that shutter speed is quite low. So I often switched to high sensitivity mode:http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000712
High Sensitivity: Excellent Mode. I used it in very dark places.Noising is not as bad as often described:http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000631
Beach Mode: See for yorself. Photos of the Art Deco Beach in Miami at 100 Fahrenheit and sun fully shining
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010040
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010041
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010046
Burst Mode: Just perfect if you set the camera to infinite and flash off. We did a lot of pictures with fast moving animals, and got always the action we wanted to catch. Nerving you cant switch off that the display shows the first shot:
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000859 - and click on "SlideShow"
Flight Mode:Works great. See examples taken out of the aircraft window
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000036
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000038
Firework Mode: Seems to come out quite fine
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010017
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010023
http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010025
O.I.S.
best at "2" and really manages to make sharp picture especially if you are using zoom up to max or high sensitivity mode.
Video:
Setting on 640/30fps. The result is great, even the sound is acceptable. Only problem that occured is that from time to time during taking the video the camera suddenly jumps out of focus and has a hard time getting back into it.
Show Inside: http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000693
Show outside:http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1000772 (problem with focus)
Firework: http://dmares.myphotoalbum.com/view_...19&id=P1010026
Microphone:
I was astounded over the quality of the sound recorded. Sure its no "HiFi" but if you consider the tiny hole the sound is really good. Also playback is well hearable.
Hope that answered some questions. Overall a "good" camera and better than I anticipated
Cheers
Dennis