I'm a LUMIX fan, so I decided to buy this camera because of its potential and all the features it has. What a mistake! The quality of the pictures is just average (a lot of noise and poor colors). Autofocus is no that fast and sometimes it doesn't work, specially at mid range distances in automatic mode, so pictures are sharpless. Even the GPS is not relocating properly and it labels the pictures with previous pictures locations.The only thing I would recommend about the camera is the Full HD video recording mode, as we're used to see in Panasonic's digital cameras. But I supose you don't want this kind of camera just for recording videos. Be careful with the zoom, its noisy when you change it and seems weak. In fact, it fails autofocusing at mid range distances in my case. If you like useful and good quality cameras, don't buy this one. Don't get wrong with such an amount of promising features, its most important features doesn't really success.
This is my second Panasonic DMC. The lens is outstanding, with tremendous clarity even at full optical magnification. Anti-shake works very well if you have at least some stability while taking your shots. It is somewhat confusing finding memory card formatting (and other maintenance options), but the menus are usually self-explanatory and you don't have to drill down very far to locate solutions (different menu options when dial is in different spots--manual offers the most available. Major negative is still that the lens sucks in dust and small debris whenever the camera is turned on (lens extends automatically, unless in memory card view mode). Have not taken this one apart to clean the debris (minor and can be removed with alternate software stamping tool), but had many problems with dust on previous version. I hope that super zoom compacts from Panasonic will finally have the dust problem solved.
Rated high and it lives up to expectation. Takes great pictures for me. Separate vidio record button is nice. Mic picks up crisp sound. Takes quality MP4 movies. A great choice for both pictures and vidio. I feel like I have quality in my hand when the lense moves. The screen is bright and menus are large enough for my over 50 year old eyes to read. It is fun to use. Flash is good for a point and shoot but takes about a second to fire in low light. The flash has two modes: iAuto that covers most cases and off.
This is my 2nd Lumix Camera. I thought my DMC TZ5 was great, but this one really outshines it. I'm most impressed with the 20X zoom and the excellent stability achieved when in zoom mode. I like the fact that it uses a chargeable battery, but am not so happy that the battery is unique to this specific camera. Also, there is not a separate battery charger. It must be charged while in the camera, which defeats the purpose for having a second battery. This camera takes very good quality 3-D photos. Color quality is also very good as well as image sharpness. Another feature is the separate button for recording movies. An action shot is easily missed if you have to fumble with setting your camera up to record. With the DMC ZS20, just point & shoot for stills or live action. I would not hesitate to recommend this camera to a friend.
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