Introduction

Ease of Use

With a sleek and slim body, you’ll have no trouble slipping the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 into your jeans pocket. It’s also covered in a pleasant matt finish which makes it feel pretty secure in the hand, despite the lack of a dedicated grip on the front of the camera.

On the top of the camera, you’ll find a shutter release button, which is surrounded by the zoom switch which operates the 12x optical zoom. The zoom is reasonably quick, allowing you to reach the telephoto end of the lens with ease. Before it enters the digital zoom (if you have it activated - something which you can do via the Main Menu), the zoom will pause before reaching it, which is handy if you want to keep an eye on only using the optical zoom.

The other buttons you’ll find on the top of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 are an on/off switch, along with a dedicated video record button. This latter button is recessed into the body of the camera, which helps to prevent accidental video recording.

Front of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10

Moving to the back of the camera, and there’s quite a few buttons here. As the screen is not touch sensitive, you’ll need to use the buttons to make changes - and it is also perhaps for this reason that the screen is a little on the small side.

In order to change the exposure mode of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10, there’s a dedicated Mode button. From here you can choose between Intelligent Auto, Normal Picture, Creative Control (digital filters), Panorama Shot and Scene Mode.

There’s also a dedicated button for accessing the Wi-Fi functionality of the camera. If you press this button, you can set up a new connection to your phone (or tablet or PC). You will have three options to choose from, which allow you to choose between remote shooting, sending images while recording, and sending images that you have already taken. Sending images across allows you to share an image quickly via social networks or email.

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10

When you first set up the Wi-Fi, if you have the free Panasonic app installed on your phone, you can simply scan a QR code which appears on the back of the screen. This will then setup the phone with all the relevant settings you need. Alternatively, you can just use the password which is displayed on screen instead.

After you’re connected, you can zoom the lens in and out and fire off the shutter release from the app, making it useful for group shots, or perhaps the odd shot from an awkward angle too. You can also set the autofocus point.

Going back to the buttons on the back of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10. There’s a standard four-way navigational pad, with each of the directional keys allowing you to access a different function. Up accesses exposure compensation, while left controls the timer function, right the flash mode, and down the different display modes which are on offer. In the middle of the navi-pad is a Menu button which accesses the camera’s main menu.

Selfie Mode

The final two buttons on the back of the camera are a playback button, and a quick menu button. Pressing the quick menu button brings up a number of different options which allow you to speedily reach some of the most commonly used settings you might want to change, such as ISO when shooting in Normal Picture Mode. When you’re in the Intelligent Auto mode, there are fewer options for you to choose from.

If you flip the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10’s rear LCD screen forward to face the front, then by default you will enter into self-portrait mode. This means, when you press the shutter release, there will be a countdown of three seconds before shutter is tripped. It will also take a further three more shots, each with a three second count

As you might expect from an entry-level compact camera, there’s not a great deal of changes you can make to settings, but you get the most flexibility when you’re shooting in “Normal Picture” mode. When in this mode, you’ll be able to change the picture size, sensitivity, white balance and AF mode.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 In-hand

Unfortunately there’s no way to set a single autofocus point, other than the central one, so if you want to focus on something specific, you’ll need to employ the focus and recompose technique. Alternatively, you can use Face Detection or 9-Area mode.

The main menu is split up into four different categories, allowing you to only look at the specific type of settings you’ll need to change, rather than having to scroll through pages of menus. Under the record menu, you’ll find a number of different things to change, and it’s reasonably sensibly arranged, not taking too long to get to grips with. Other things, such as the date and time can be altered via the Setup menu, while there’s also a section for Motion Picture and Wi-Fi settings.

Starting up the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 is relatively quick, taking roughly 1.5 seconds to go from completely off to ready to shoot. Autofocusing in good light is pretty quick, but that drops noticeably in low light where it can sometimes struggle to acquire focus at all - the SZ10 is really not a camera which is designed to be used in poor light, as you’ll see in the Image Quality section of the review.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

If you’re only going to be using the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 in good light, then you should be pretty pleased with what it can produce. If you’re somebody who doesn’t have a smartphone - or doesn’t want to use it take pictures for whatever reason (perhaps the battery life isn’t great for instance), then the SZ10 is also a good shout for you.

In bright light, colours are nice and punchy with a good level of vibrance, while skin tones are also quite nicely represented.

The overall impression of detail is fairly good when looking at an image at normal printing or web sizes, but if you zoom in at 100%, it’s possible to see some degree of image smoothing, even at those images which have been taken at low sensitivities.

As you move through the sensitivity range, less detail is resolved, and if you’re shooting in dark conditions, become almost unusable at the higher end of the scale. It’s not so bad if you’re shooting something fairly close - such as a person - where you can use the flash, but for night scenes, you might be left less than impressed.

There’s a decent range of creative options available here, and it’s worth using all of them to find out if any particularly jump out at you. There’s also a panoramic mode, which is fun to use so long as you don’t examine the final image too closely.

Generally speaking, exposures are well balanced, with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10’s all-purpose metering working well in most conditions. Similarly, automatic white balance does a reasonable job, erring only ever so slightly towards warm tones under artificial lighting.

Noise

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 has five sensitivity settings available at full resolution, ranging between ISO100 and ISO1600.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10's 12x zoom lens provides a versatile focal length of 24-288mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

24mm	288mm

Chromatic Aberrations

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 handled chromatic aberrations fairly well during the review, with some purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)	Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 3cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro	Macro (100% Crop)

Flash

The flash settings on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ70 are Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction, Forced Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Forced Off - Wide Angle (24mm)	Forced On - Wide Angle (24mm)
Forced Off - Telephoto (288mm)	Forced On - Telephoto (288mm)

And here are some portrait shots with the flash off and on.

Flash Off	Flash On

Panorama

In the dedicated Panorama shooting mode, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 can automatically create a panorame by simply pressing the shutter button and panning the camera from left to right.

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10

Front of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 / Lens Extended

Side of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10

Side of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 / Image Displayed

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 /Main Menu

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 / Shooting Mode Menu

Front of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 / Tilting LCD Screen

Top of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10

Bottom of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10

Side of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10

Side of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10

Front of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10

Front of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 is a very simple camera which is aimed at those who probably intend to use it as their holiday or family camera. If you have a smartphone with a half decent camera, then you might find that you already have something which is just as capable as the SZ10 - but of course you have to rely on battery life lasting you throughout the day.

Otherwise, image quality is decent in good light. So, if you’re planning to take the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 on your holiday, it should see you in good stead. However, it’s worth noting that low light performance for landscapes is less than desirable. Flash performance is not so bad for close-ish subjects though, so it could also be a good camera for nights out and parties.

Using the camera is very easy, and with no manual modes, much of the decision making is left to the camera. It’s nice to be able to change a couple of key settings when using Normal mode though - such as sensitivity and white balance.

It’s also nice to see a good range of creative modes - it seems like something that the average user of this kind of camera will enjoy and appreciate, and Panasonic has some of the best available currently on the market.

Inbuilt Wi-Fi is useful for grabbing those group shots and shooting from awkward angles, plus it’s also handy for sharing your images quickly when you’re out and about. It’s not a huge surprise to see the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10 including a “selfie screen” and the addition of a dedicated selfie mode also makes this element of using the camera quite fun.

Overall, the image quality of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10isn’t going to set the world alight, but it’s a pocket friendly all-rounder if you want something simple and easy to use.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	3
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	3
Value for money	2.5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10.

Specifications

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