Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS100 - Review 2022

The use of the 1-inch sensor size in compact cameras has gone a long way to ameliorate the paradigm quality you tin wait from a pocketable indicate-and-shoot. Merely typically these models, like our Editors' Pick Sony RX100 Iii, accept used very short zooms with wide aperture designs that excel in low lite and capture images with a pleasingly shallow depth of field. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS100 ($699.99) takes a different arroyo, squeezing a 10x zoom into a slim body. But its lens doesn't capture a lot of calorie-free and it loses sharpness as y'all zoom in, making its actress reach a questionable value.

Design

The ZS100 features a slim body with a lens that protrudes a bit, fifty-fifty in its complanate country. It measures two.5 past four.4 past ane.7 inches (HWD) and weighs just most eleven ounces. It's offered in two colors—an understated blackness edition, and the argent stop nosotros received for review. Looking at information technology, I wouldn't call it silvery, though—it's more than of a gunmetal gray, with a lighter gray corner, separated past a red accent line.

Information technology's an attractive look, with very clean lines. Those lines present an ergonomic result, however. In that location'due south a very modest handgrip, just it's then shine that I don't feel comfy simply holding the camera—it seems as if it's ready to sideslip out of my hands at any betoken. I would like to run across some texture around the grip. That said, there are strap lugs and a tripod socket, so information technology'southward easy plenty to secure it to your person using the included wrist strap, or add together a strap of your choosing.

The 10x lens extends from the barrel when you ability on the camera, and telescopes even further out as you zoom. It covers a 25-250mm range (total-frame equivalent), with an aperture that maxes out at f/two.8 at the widest angle and dwindles to f/5.9 when zoomed all the manner in. Compare this with a photographic camera similar the Catechism PowerShot G7 X Mark II, which features a more pocket-sized 24-100mm range, but does so with an aperture that starts at f/1.8 (capturing more than than twice the light as the ZS100 at its widest) and narrows to only f/2.8 at 100mm—a setting at which the ZS100 maxes out at f/five.ii, nearly 2 stops dimmer.

Only that's the price you pay for a longer zoom in a pocketable grade gene. Even cameras with smaller 1/2.3-inch sensors play by the aforementioned rules, although they typically take a much longer telephoto reach, often in the 750mm range.

The ZS100 is priced high, and equally such its entreatment is slanted toward those who are willing to spend. Demanding photographers tend to capeesh manual control, and the ZS100 does offer quite a bit between its physical buttons and on-screen interface. You lot'll detect a ring effectually the lens; its function is customizable, and I like to prepare information technology as a step zoom control that moves between mutual prime focal lengths—25, 28, 35, 50, lxx, 90, 135, 160, 200, and 250mm. But you can set it to perform other functions, the most useful of which are EV compensation, ISO control, and focus mode. If the ZS is set to manually focus, the ring will always act as a focus ring; the camera displays a magnified portion of the frame to assist y'all precisely set up focus manually.

There'southward a pop-up flash recessed into the top plate, directly in line with the middle of the lens. To its right you'll see the Mode dial, On/Off switch, shutter release and zoom rocker, Record button, and a control dial. Information technology'south a pretty robust layout for a meaty photographic camera; many pocketable long zooms omit a top control dial.

There are rear command buttons above the LCD and to its right. You'll discover the Fn4/LVF button above the display, just to the right of the viewfinder. It's a programmable command, but by default it moves between the viewfinder, LCD, and automated switching via an centre sensor. Next to it you'll find the mechanical flash release and the AF/AE Lock button.

Fn1 is placed toward the top correct corner. It'southward also programmable, only activates the ZS100's 4K Photo mode by default. Below it you'll find Fn2, which enables Mail Focus fashion by default, and Play. Next in line going down the body is a four-way command pad Menu/Fix at its center. Running clockwise from the top, the four directional buttons adjust EV compensation, White Balance, Bulldoze way, and Macro focusing. In that location are 2 more buttons beneath them, Fn3/Delete, which activates the on-screen Q Menu organisation by default, and Display.

The Q Card is similar to the overlay bill of fare systems you lot see on most cameras. A transparent menu arrangement appears on the LCD, only partially obscuring the feed from the lens. It provides access to functions that may not have a push button assigned—the metering pattern, for example. Panasonic's menu organisation is customizable, so you lot can add or delete the settings you use most.

A impact LCD dominates the rear. It's 3 inches, measured diagonally, and very precipitous at 1,040k dots. Images popular on the display, and the touch interface allows you to tap to gear up a focus point. The only real downside is that information technology doesn't tilt like the LCD canon uses in the G7 X Marker Two. A tilting design would take added a lilliputian bit of depth to the camera, but would also add some versatility for shooting from low or loftier angles.

There's also an EVF. It'south very small, and fairly well-baked. It sits in the top left corner and includes a diopter command which you tin adjust to lucifer your eyesight. It's certainly a plus to have an EVF option available, but exist prepared for its size. Information technology'south not as large to the centre as the popular-up EVF that Sony uses in its premium 1-inch RX100 series. The ZS100 does have one trick that the RX100 3 can't match, nonetheless—you tin can modify the active focus area by sliding your finger across the rear display when using the EVF. I shoot with my left eye and constitute it to be a rather uncomfortable fit to squeeze my finger between my face and the pocket-size ZS100, but right-eyed photographers will notice it more useful.

Connectivity and 4K Photo

Integrated Wi-Fi is available so you lot can transfer images to your smartphone for social sharing, or use your Android or iOS device as a remote control. Image transfers are speedy, beaming to the gratis Panasonic Paradigm app with ease. And the remote control interface is also quite potent. You have full control over the ZS100 via your phone'south screen. It's possible to zoom the lens, tap on an area of the frame to set focus, and adapt almost whatsoever setting yous tin can think of. Information technology's an excellent remote feel.

Images are stored on a standard SD/SDHC/SDXC card. The slot is located in the battery compartment, accessible via a bottom door. At that place are only a couple of ports—micro HDMI and micro USB. The photographic camera charges via USB; no external bombardment charger is included. CIPA rates the battery for 260 shots using the EVF and 300 using the rear LCD. If you plan on using the ZS100 for travel, it's not a bad idea to choice upwards a spare battery, and an external charger so yous can proceed to use the camera as your second battery recharges.

Unique to Panasonic is the 4K Photo feature. It leverages the ZS100'due south 4K video capabilities for still capture. If you're shooting a very fast-moving subject, you lot can burn down off 8MP JPG images at up to 30fps. Images are slightly cropped, merely similar the 4K video that the ZS100 records, then you won't be able to use as wide an angle as you tin for full resolution photographs. Mail Focus is also supported in this fashion; information technology runs of a quick series of photos, each at a different focus bespeak, minimizing the chances that your image is improperly focused.

Performance and Epitome Quality

The ZS100 starts, focuses, and fires in near 2.one seconds—not bad when you lot consider that the lens has to extend in social club to take a moving-picture show. Its autofocus is very quick, locking focus and firing in most no time at its widest bending, and in about 0.1-2d at 250mm.

If yous want to shoot at full resolution, the ZS100 fires off shots at upwards to 10fps—non as fast as 4K Photo, but 20MP Raw and JPG images are more versatile than 8MP JPGs. It can keep that step for 12 Raw+JPG, xiv Raw, or 62 JPG shots. Those numbers are with fixed focus—if you want to refocus between each shot the outburst charge per unit drops to 6.1fps. When ready to AF-C, the ZS100 nailed focus on every shot in our moving target focus test.

I used Imatest to bank check the quality of images captured by the ZS100'south zoom lens. And that'due south where the camera falls on its confront. At 25mm f/2.eight photos are a petty soft, 1,791 lines on average, which is but shy of the ane,800 lines we expect for in a photograph. The key area of images is well-baked, though, at 2,300 lines, merely the middle 3rd is on the soft side (1,670 lines) and edges are blurred (966 lines).

Narrowing the aperture to f/4 improves the average to 2,165 lines, with 2,500 lines at the center, two,150 lines in the mid parts, and edges that are soft at 1,500 lines. Soft edges at the widest angle are pretty typical for a meaty camera—don't fret nigh them too much. Prototype quality remains stiff at 25mm f/v.6, at 2,103 lines, but drops at the minimum f/viii setting—ane,880 lines.

Meet How We Test Digital Cameras

Zooming to 50mm drops the maximum aperture to f/4.one. The lens scores a solid 1,836 lines here, with solid performance through almost of the frame, simply edges that are just a piffling soft (1,729 lines). At f/v.6 the average score improves to two,017 lines, and there's a drop at f/eight (i,811 lines).

At 135mm the maximum discontinuity is just f/5.7, two stops dimmer than the brightest f/2.viii setting. Information technology's also where image quality starts to become a problem; sharpness drops to i,738 lines, just outside our adequate range. Performance is actually a bit worse at f/8, 1,595 lines.

The tendency continues at 200mm f/5.9, where the entire frame is soft, averaging ane,457 lines. You exercise see some slight improvement at f/viii here—1,552 lines. At 250mm f/5.nine it's worse, 1,334 lines, with f/8 showing nearly the same resolution (1,372 lines). Our copy of the ZS100 shows some evidence of decentering of the lens at 200mm and 250mm, with the left side of the frame netting meliorate results than the right. This was reproduced in three divide batches of tests, a standard procedure when a lens exhibits odd behavior.

Information technology's expected that a long zoom lens comes with a narrowing discontinuity, at least in this form factor. Usually that ways that image quality holds up, merely that'due south not the instance hither. It seems as if you lot want both a long zoom and first-class paradigm quality in the 1-inch sensor format, you nonetheless have to look at a bigger camera with a lens that's much larger than the one here. Our favorites in this toll range include the 24-200mm f/2.viii Sony RX10 and Panasonic's own 25-400mm f/2.8-4 FZ1000. Neither will fit in your pocket, even so.

The ZS100 uses a proven 20MP paradigm sensor. When shooting JPGs information technology keeps noise under 1.five percent through ISO 6400. Noise reduction does take its toll on image quality when pushing the photographic camera that far. Our examination images are the sharpest at the base ISO 125 sensitivity, and too quite clear at ISO 200. Some modest mistiness is visible at ISO 400, and it increases at ISO 800. At that place'south more than mistiness at ISO 1600, merely you can withal make out details. At ISO 3200 and 6400, details are a trivial bit lessened. Pushing to ISO 12800 is too far for JPG shooting, every bit lines that should be distinctly split in our test image blur together. Y'all should avoid using ISO 25600 when shooting JPGs if possible.

Raw capture is bachelor if you want to eke more quality out of images, especially at loftier ISOs. Raw images bear witness almost as much detail at ISO 3200 equally they exercise at ISO 125. As yous'll find in the crops that nosotros include in our slideshow, Raw shots aren't quite equally crisp every bit JPGs. We convert Raw images using Lightroom CC with default settings enabled, but you'll want to utilise a little bit extra sharpening and contrast adjustment to net Raw images that lucifer JPGs in crispness. That's something we've seen in almost every 1-inch sensor camera nosotros've reviewed.

Grain is more than pronounced at ISO 6400, just detail holds strong. The noisy grain is rougher at ISO 12800, to the point where it starts to be obtrusive. Images at the highest ISO 25600 sensitivity are very, very noisy, but show much more texture than equivalent JPG output.

The ZS100 supports 4K video capture. A lot of pocket cameras top out at 1080p, only Panasonic mostly puts more emphasis on video than competitors. You lot can record in 4K at 24 or 30fps for upwards to 12 minutes at a time—if you want to gyre footage at a more brisk frame rate y'all can select 1080p, where 60fps is available.

The 4K frame is a cropped, 37mm equivalent at the wide angle. Fifty-fifty at the maximum zoom, handheld footage is well steadied; the narrower field of view certainly helps there, equally information technology gives the lens stabilization elements more than room to movement effectually. Y'all're too using the crispest portion of the lens; where details falter in stills, they are relatively well-baked in video, even when zoomed all the manner in. Autofocus is responsive, racking smoothly equally the scene changes, and the affect screen lets yous tap to select a focus target. Sound isn't great—the internal mic is fine in shut quarters, but outdoors wind dissonance is heavy on the soundtrack. There'southward no manner to connect an external microphone.

Conclusions

It's unfortunate that the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS100's lens isn't of better quality. It'south the weak link in an otherwise first-class performer. No matter how good an image sensor is, or how fully featured a photographic camera is, if the lens isn't upwardly to snuff, images won't be either. The long zoom is the big selling point here, and it'south simply non crisp at telephoto lengths. If the idea of the ZS100 appeals to you, hold out for a better version.

In the meantime, your long zoom, pocket-friendly needs tin be met with a 1/2.3-inch sensor photographic camera like the Panasonic ZS60 (nosotros haven't yet tested information technology, only the discontinued ZS50, which shares the same lens, was a solid performer). Information technology also supports 4K video and has an EVF, and sells for nearly $450. And there's the Sony HX90V, which has a 30x zoom lens and an EVF.

If you're chomping at the bit for a 1-inch sensor with a large zoom, whatever Sony RX10 model—there are three versions on the market, each with different capabilities—or the Panasonic FZ1000 are better buys, simply they won't fit in your pocket. For a pocket-friendly one-inch photographic camera, go for the Catechism G7 X Mark II, which zooms to 100mm, or the Sony RX100 III, IV, or 5, all of which offering a meager 24-70mm attain, merely make up for it with an excellent lens and large, pop-upward EVF.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/consumer-electronics-reviews-ratings-comparisons/15146/panasonic-lumix-dmc-zs100

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