Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 14 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5.5Mb.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 produced images of very good quality during the review period. The 1/2.33 inch, 14 megapixel MOS sensor used in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 produces noise-free images at ISO 100-400, with limited noise and colour desaturation starting to appear at ISO 800. ISO 1600 exhibits quite visible noise, smearing of fine detail and colour desaturation, and the fastest setting of ISO 3200 is noisy but still usable if there's no other option.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 dealt very well with chromatic aberrations, with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate exposure. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 15 seconds allowing you to capture plenty of light. Anti-shake is a feature that works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range.

Macro performance is very good, allowing you to focus as close as 3cms away from the subject. The images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting and ideally require further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting if you don't like the default results. The Intelligent Resolution feature either makes a standard image look sharper, albeit with some unwanted artefacts appearing, or it digitally increases the 20x optical zoom to 40x, again with a slight loss in quality. The various Creative Effects allow you to easily add a twist to your images.

Noise

There are 6 ISO settings available on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (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. You can change the in-camera sharpening level via the Picture Adjust menu option.

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

Focal Range

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30's 20x zoom lens provides a very versatile focal length of 24-480mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

24mm	480mm

File Quality

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 has 2 different image quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

14M Fine (5.37Mb) (100% Crop)	14M Normal (3.04Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 handled chromatic aberrations excellently during the review, with very limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)	Example 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 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 Shot	100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 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 (480mm)	Forced On - Telephoto (480mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On or the Auto/Red-eye Reduction settings caused any red-eye.

Forced On	Forced On (100% Crop)
Auto/Red-eye Reduction	Auto/Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30's maximum shutter speed is 15 seconds, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 15 seconds at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like. The camera takes the same amount of time again to apply noise reduction, so for example at the 15 second setting the actual exposure takes 30 seconds.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)	Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/15th sec / 24mm
1/6th sec / 480mm

Intelligent Resolution

The Intelligent Resolution feature either makes a standard image look like a higher resolution one by processing the contour areas, texture areas and smooth areas individually, or it digitally boosts the zoom magnification from 20x to 40x.

Resolution - Off	Resolution - On
i.Zoom Off	i.Zoom On

HDR

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30's HDR mode combines three pictures taken at different exposures to create one image with greater dynamic range than a single shot.

HDR Off	HDR On

Panorama

The Panoramic Shot mode allows you to take horizontal or vertical panoramic pictures simply by swivelling the TZ30, joining consecutively shot images together to produce a single panoramic picture.

Creative Controls

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 has 10 different creative control options to help spice up your images.

Off	Expressive
Retro	High Key
Low Key	Sepia
Dynamic Monochrome	High Dynamic
Toy Effect	Miniature Effect
Soft Focus

Color Modes

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 has 4 different color mode options.

Standard	Vivid
B&W	Sepia

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 camera, which were all taken using the 14 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 Camera

Front of the Camera / Lens Extended

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / Quick Menu

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

Panasonic's new travel-zoom compact camera is now stepping on the toes of more modest ultra-zoom bridge models, cramming a 20x zoom lens into a relatively tiny body. In many ways the DMC-TZ30 is also a big improvement on last year's TZ20 model, with a better image sensor, full 1080p HD movies, faster auto-focus system, more refined design and of course that even longer zoom. With the same price tag of £349 / $349, the DMC-TZ30 is both a definite upgrade to the TZ20 and a pocketable camera that can deal with most things that you throw at it.

In addition to its new and improved features, it's easy to forget that the TZ30 retains the same 10fps continuous shooting speed, creative A, S and M shooting modes, hand-holding Intelligent Auto mode, GPS tracking, effective anti-shake system, 3D Photo Mode, high-resolution touch-screen and proven handling of its predecessor. All of this together with the new headline features adds up to a very full-featured camera that's importantly intuitive to use for both beginners and more experienced photographers alike, a particularly difficult trick to pull off.

There is one key area where the Panasonic DMC-TZ30 thankfully improves on its predecessor, namely the image quality at higher ISO speeds. Noise doesn't become apparent on the TZ30 until ISO 800, a 1-stop improvement on the TZ20, and even the fastest setting of ISO 3200 is still worth using in a pinch. The TZ30's new 14.1 megapixel high sensitivity MOS sensor really has made a big difference to the TZ30's low-light performance. Only the ongoing lack of a RAW file format will prove disappointing for more experienced photographers.

You might have guessed by now that we really like the new Lumix DMC-TZ30. It puts Panasonic back at the top of the travel-zoom tree, and with its 20x, 24-480mm lens it should also justifiably attract people who are considering a much bigger ultra-zoom camera. The combination of a long zoom, quality image sensor, full 1080p HD movies and a range of modes for every user level in a pocket camera is a compelling one. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 is therefore a very deserving winner of our highest Essential award.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	5
Features	5
Ease-of-use	5
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	4.5

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 from around the web.

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