Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 12MP Digital Camera with 4.6x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD
January 22, 2010 by admin
Filed under Digital Point And Shoot
- 12.1-megapixel resolution captures enough detail for poster-size prints
- Waterproof to a depth of 10 feet, shockproof from falls up to 5 feet, and dustproof
- Records AVCHD Lite HD video
- 4.6x MEGA image-stabilized optical zoom; 28mm wide-angle Leica DC Vario-Elmar lens
- Capture images to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)
Product Description
The camera body is waterproof to 3m. It’s dustproof too, so you don’t have to worry about dust or sand getting inside. And it has passed drop tests at a height of about 1.5m. This is one tough little camera that you can take wherever action takes you.The TS1 records HD motion images with 1280 x 720-pixel resolution. It uses the AVCHD (MPEG-4/H.264) format, via AVCHD Lite which stores less data than other formats and thus lets you shoot more minutes of HD motion imag… More >>
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 12MP Digital Camera with 4.6x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD
I recently purchased this camera and tested it and ended up sending it back mainly because of picture quality.
Here are the pros and cons…
Pros :
* Very light and small.
* Decent video quality.
* Good battery Life.
* Ok pictures with flash on and very sunny days
* 4.6x zoom
Cons:
* I was very disappointed with “cloudy day” image quality. In other words, day time pictures when you are not using a flash . I took many picture most of which came out fuzzy and had great loss of detail and color aberration. I also felt that most pictures were underexposed dark looking . My Samsung i85 which is 2 years old does a much better job at this.
* I am not impressed by the Macro mode.
* The zoom is fairly slow and the zoom button is not very conveniently placed
* Small delay in turning on the camera .
* The Digital zoom is disappointing. Things start looking grainy very quickly!
My bottom line conclusion:
Unless you are a swimmer in a sunny area that needs a waterproof camera I’d stay away from this thing
I believe that all the water proof sealants and possibly a thicker lens makes it harder for light to get in and therefore image quality suffers…
Rating: 2 / 5
I recently bought the new Lumix TS1 for a snorkeling trip to Hawaii. I carefully read the underwater directions to make sure I was using it properly. After 20 minutes in the water the camera shut off. The battery terminal was soaked, camera broke and my brand new memory card was ruined as well.
I have no idea if my camera was defective or if they simply are not as “waterproof” as Panasonic stated.
Other things I did not like about the camera include…
-the zoom slide is awkward to move
-the video button is poorly placed on the back side of the camera
-4.6x zoom is weak
Rating: 1 / 5
This camera was advertised as “water resistant up to 10 meters” but they failed to mention that you need an “optional” underwater housing. The battery life was 3-4 hours, my Samsung went three days. Really hard to use, manual was confusing. I sent it back and got a Canon Powershot and I love it.
Rating: 1 / 5
It’s been over 4 months since i received this camera and use it just about every day working at stables or hiking in the woods. It’s been swimming a few times and up and running in temperatures of over 106F and down to 15F with a cruel wind. I like it well enough and am still impressed with the sharp HD video capabilities in good light and the many still and video specialty functions most of which are useful and work good. The highest quality video this camera offers is not bad when zoomed to 4.6 optical, if it’s not imported using the included software or over processed during editing.
The video is an overall winner except for the purple vertical line when shooting into sun, halogen or fluorescent light dim or bright and it struggles to focus in low light. The AVCHD lite settings are much more efficient than Motion JPEG which only delivers about 8 minutes and 22 seconds of recording time on the highest setting regardless of card capacity. Panasonic also recommends a class “6″ SDHC for quicker writing speed. What a RIP OFF! They are very expensive and only write a little quicker than a class “2″ card and have absolutely no effect on image quality
Noticeable yet is the slow start up time and cramped control buttons. My fingers fumble without visual assistance and are often in the way of either the mic or lens. Also the battery life does not seem up to snuff. The zoom slide button is way to close and similar to the shutter button. Many gadgets these days turn on directly when told to do so, this one you have to hold down for a second or more. My Garmin/Oregon GPS unit has a similar slow start up feature and i could do without that.
This camera needs a lens cover! One must be constantly aware of touching the lens because it is NOT smudge proof at all and it will get scratched, protective coating or not. Perhaps its the coating itself that’s picking up micro scratches and not the glass but so what, scratches are scratches.
Considering The TS1′s intended design as a “tough camera”…. not including a lens cover was a huge freakin blunder??
If my camera were suddenly disabled… i would not buy another DMC-TS1. I would wait until a Panasonic “tough” upgrade with a lens cover! The rest of the cons i can deal with, but no lens cover? Well, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice….
Rating: 3 / 5
I really should have read the reviews more carefully before buying this expensive camera.
The point is that some TS1s seem to be waterproof, some not. Mine was of the latter type. Sea water killed it, even though I followed the instructions manual to the letter.
I am very unhappy about this purchase, will most definitely NOT buy Panasonic ever again.
Rating: 1 / 5