After what must be around 6 years of loyal service, the time has come to finally replace my ageing (and broken once and repaired) Canon IXUS II digital camera. Well, I say replace – it isn’t going anywhere. I just wanted a new one. Yes, even having just bought a new camcorder.
There was nothing especially wrong with the IXUS. It takes good quality pictures, is pretty quick, and has plenty of options and functions I rarely even needed. It just lacks a decent optical zoom (only 2x), and is 3.2 megapixels, which is somewhat weedy these days. Especially if I want to be taking photos of, say, my soon-to-be-born baby, and I want them printing on A4 or larger. Or something. And the battery now only lasts about 1/3 as long as it should, and doesn’t hold its charge for more than a few days if you don’t use it.
The new camera then? A Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5. Which, somehow, I got from the BT Shop online for less money than the slightly lower spec previous model (the TZ4) was selling for.
And very, very nice it is too. It’s a bit bigger than the IXUS, but that’s hardly surprising considering the huge 10x optical zoom the lens can do. The gigantic LCD screen on the back is bigger than the whole of the back of the IXUS too, but is of really high quality. Just as well, as there’s no viewfinder. Not that I ever used it on the previous camera.
It has a million more functions than the Canon too, although I doubt I’ll ever use most of them. Something it does have, which is really useful, is a set of pre-programmed settings for various types of shot. Tell it you’re taking a picture of the sky at night, or some candles, or a baby (no, really), and it’ll pick suitable shutter speeds, flash settings, and other things to help get the best shot. Clever!
So far, I’m very impressed. The only downside (and it is a bit of an odd thing) is that when the camera is connected to a computer, you can’t use the computer to delete or rename files on the camera’s card. This makes importing images into iPhoto or Picasa a bit of a pain if you have older pictures on the camera still, as you can’t import-and-delete. Photos can only be deleted by the camera, on the camera, or by taking the card out and using a card reader. This is only a minor complaint, however. Everything else is just lovely!
Here are a couple of comparison shots. First up is a photo of the new Lumix, taken by the IXUS. The second is a photo of the IXUS taken my the Lumix. Click the images for (huuuuuge) full size versions!
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