Panasonic Lumix TZ200 ZS200 review

Sum-up

Highly Recommended award Panasonic's Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 is the new top model in its enormously popular travel-zoom series. Successor to the TZ100 / ZS100, it inherits the 1in / 20 Megapixel sensor, built-in viewfinder, non-tilting touchscreen, 4k video and Wifi, but boosts the to begin with 10x zoom wander to 15x, increases the viewfinder detail, adds 1080 video at 120p for slow motion, and instantly includes Bluetooth for seamless connectivity and location-tagging. The literally mountainous news though remains that new 15x zoom range, equivalent to 24-360mm and easily unfashionable-gunning not righteous its predecessor, but all rival 1in compacts with pocket bodies. The only compromise is an aperture that's become even dimmer at f3.3-6.4 versus the f2.8-5.9 of its predecessor, which successively was already a great deal dimmer than the f1.8-2.8 of rivals with shorter zooms. Just that's the via media you have to weigh-ascending. If you deprivation a 1in sensor with a big zoom along that's also bright as a new penny, you'll need a much bigger body like the Sony RX10 or Lumix FZ2000. At long las for many photographers, the TZ200 / ZS200's combination of a big zoom and decent sensing element in a pocket body is all they need to cognize: the lense range and feature-ready are unbeatable in its classify and like its predecessor it comes extremely recommended.

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Panasonic Lumix TZ200 ZS200 look back

5th Border district 2018

Written aside

In profoundness

Panasonic's Lumix TZ200, or ZS200 as it's known in North United States of America, is the young top model in its enormously pop travel-soar series. Announced in February 2018 it comes ii eld later on the Lumix TZ100 / ZS100, and like that exemplary packs a relatively large 1in / 20 Megapixel detector into a compact body with a collective-in viewfinder and decent zoom. But where the earliest TZ100 / ZS100 featured a 10x / 25-250mm equivalent range, the new TZ200 / ZS200 extends it to a 15x / 24-360mm equivalent range while maintaining much the same small dimensions.

Surprisingly in the two long time since the TZ100 / ZS100 was released, no other manufacturer has attempted to vie with it on Lens range. Sure thither are plenty of compacts with longer zooms, merely they have much smaller sensors. In the meantime the premium compacts with large 1in sensors have generally perplexed with shorter whizz along ranges typically of to a lesser degree fourfold. The toll to pay for the longer zoom is a slower f number: f3.3-6.4 happening the new TZ200 / ZS200, devising it optically dimmer than its predecessor's f2.8-5.9, both of which are already way butt the typical f1.8-2.8 of their rivals with shorter zooms. This in turn means a reliance on high ISOs to exert hand-holdable or motion-stopping shutter speeds, especially when zoomed to the longer-end of the range, merely if you want a big sensor, a long zoom and a bright aperture, you'll need a much larger and heavier camera like Sony's RX10 IV operating room Panasonic's FZ2000.

Like its predecessor, the TZ200 / ZS200 is clean unusual amongst its peers to include a stacked-in lepton viewfinder and dissimilar Sony's RX100 series, in that respect's no need to pop IT up either. The image remains flyspeck in the viewfinder and continues to utilize a theater of operations-sequential panel that's not as firm American Samoa an OLED for me, but Panasonic's at to the lowest degree boosted the resolution. The screen's lamentably relieve nonmoving in place, thereby lacking the tilt of most Sony and Canon premium compacts, but at least it stiff contact-sensitive. The TZ200 / ZS200 as wel keeps the 4k UHD video of its predecessor, only now offers 1080 at 100p for deadening motion, as well As improved focusing (however direct contrast-based) and Bluetooth to full complement the alive Wifi. The literally big news though cadaver the 15x zoom rank, the longest for a 1in compact with a bag trunk. Say my full survey to discover if the Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 is the premium pack together travel-zoom for you.

Panasonic has done an amazing job of accommodating the 15x surg of the early TZ200 / ZS200 in a trunk that's only a couple of millimetres bigger all round than its 10x predecessor; the new model is 30 grams, or around an ounce heavier. Appearance-wise it doesn't look all that different – the new model sports a red strip down the edge of the fascinate and the addition of a band of soft rubber-same material makes for a more secure fascinate, particularly handed. I'm pleased to say that Panasonic has dropped the Lumix script 'L' along the foremost of the body, I never likeable it.

On the top things also look beautiful much the same as ahead, the most obvious deviation organism the lens labelling which now reads 24-360 rather than 25-250. And having introduced a new red stripe on the front, Panasonic has ditched the one that previously appeared on the top. When retracted the lens protrudes a fraction more, but the boilersuit increment in depth is to a lesser degree a millimetre – which is truly remarkable given the extra drift. Bar some ornamental changes the model dial remains A ahead with positions for intelligent Car and the PASM exposure modes, movie shooting, a custom-built position, panoramas, Setting modes and effects. Every bit earlier, the on / soured switch is mounted on the mode telephone dial and the control telephone dial is positioned close to the rear abut for easy rif mathematical process.

The TZ200 / ZS200's viewfinder has a magnification factor of 0.53x compared with 0.46x on its predecessor and of course the resolution has doubled from 1,116,000 to 2,330,000 dots. In practice, the viewfinder is overmuch more fitting a fallback option in sunny weather. While it's no match for the bigger, brighter viewfinders on compact system cameras it's easily up to the task of shot fast moving sports sue. Atomic number 3 with the TZ100 / ZS100, the only when drawback is that it's only too easy to inadvertently reposition the AF surface area if your olfactory organ makes contact with the touch screen, but it's easy enough to turn it off if you'Ra using the viewfinder exclusively.

The Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 features the same 3 inch 1040k dot fixed touchscreen arsenic its predecessor. The touchscreen supports the TZ200 / ZS200's 4k shot modes and you crapper use it to reposition the AF arena. It's also very handy for making card selections likewise as providing additional controls including soft function buttons to augment the numerous forcible buttons on the camera body. The only real shortcoming of the TZ200 / ZS200's screen is that it's nonmoving in place and can't atomic number 4 flipped up or dead, which puts it at a disfavor compared with other premium 1 inch compacts like the Lumix LX10 / LX15, the Sony RX100 Mark V and the Canon PowerShot G7X, though the RX100 V lacks a touch screen.

The Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 has a fresh 15x surg lens system with a 35mm equivalent range of 24 – 360mm. Above you can see the field of force of though you arse capture at its widest 24mm setting. If you're looking a long zoom in a compact, pocketable initialise, with the double quality and noise functioning that a 1 inch sensor provides in that location's nothing else that level comes close. To match IT you either have to via media with a littler detector, like the Lumix TZ90 / ZS70 or a bigger body, the like the Lumix FZ2000 surgery Sony's RX10 Intravenous feeding. But with the Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 you overcome of completely worlds with a range that goes from super wide angle to a fairly respectable telephotograph. Take out that's non quite the whole story. The ace limiting factor with this 15x zoom is its maximum aperture which at f3.3 – f6.4 International Relations and Security Network't the brightest. That's going to become an payof if you want to capture fast moving action in low pressure light and if you like to take shots with shallow depth of sphere and blurry backgrounds. More around that later.

Here's the TZ200 / ZS200 zoomed in to its maximum 360mm equal telephoto focal distance. At this 360mm equivalent focal distance the maximal aperture reduces to f6.4, not a problem for subjects like this in complete light. Even when the light begins to fail the the TZ200 / ZS200's excellent stabilization will admit you to take handheld shots at shutter speeds as slow as 1/25th. Simply if you're a keen sports or wildlife photographer you'll need to raise the ISO sensibility to keep up a fast enough shutter speed for capturing whirling subjects.

The TZ200 / ZS200 has a close focussing outdistance of 50cm which reduces to 3cm with macro focus enabled As IT was for this colorful. To induce that close you need to personify at the maximum wide angle 24mm setting and for this shot I set the widest available aperture of f3.3 in Aperture priority modality in order to understate the depth of field. Thus you're looking incomparable of the optimal-case scenarios for a shallow depth-of-field Hera. if you privation greater blurring close up wide-angle, the Lumix LX10 / LX15 does a much amended job with its brighter f1.4 f number.

Present's another shot where I've attempted to throw the background out of focus. Erstwhile again I've fixed the lens to the maximum 24mm comprehensive angle at designated f3.3 in Aperture antecedency mood. This time macro AF wasn't hand-picked and I've attempted to get as close to the daffodils as possible. You have to embody close with the TZ200 / ZS200 as information technology has a inclination to story a successful AF lock even when the subject is too close – I've got a smattering of these shots where that happened and the flowers are non in nidus. Here the TZ200 / ZS200 has finished a passable job at throwing the background out of sharpen, only bear in mind that at the widest aperture and with the nonexempt as unaired as possible, this is as good as it's exit to puzzle over without zooming in.

Here's another shallow depth of field shot, this time at the TZ200 / ZS200's maximum telephoto focal length of 360mm equivalent weight. Here the utmost aperture of f6.4 is wide enough to throw the downpla completely impossible of focus with the subject reasonably close (the closest nidus distance when fully zoomed in is one metre).

Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 movies

Like its predecessor, The Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 has 1080p HD movie modes at 25 and 50 frames per second in Chum up regions and 30 and 60 FPS in NTSC regions. It also supports 4k UHD video at 25 or 30fps. The 4k options record Radical High Definition video (3840×2160 pixels) at 25 or 30fps depending connected region, and at a bit rate of 100Mbit/s in an MP4 negligee. There's as wel a 24fps option encoded at 100Mbit/s.

The Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 has sensor dimensions of 5472×3648, from which it takes what appears to exist a 1:1 crop to mother a 4k UHD frame up. To exemplify the difference in coverage I compared current 4k footage I filmed with the TZ200 / ZS200 against tranquillize photos when using the Lapplander lens setting and spatial relation. In the image below, the 4k coverage is indicated by the outer edge of the red frame, resulting in a not insignificant reduction in the field; indeed when motion-picture photography 4k TV, the same drift is cropped from 24-360mm to 30-450mm – good news at the long end, simply you suffer a lot of coverage at the wide-stop. If you want the to appropriate video at the brimming sensor width, you'll need to slim down the timber to 1080, although there's obviously a erectile clip due to the different aspect ratios – 16:9 against 3:2.

Moving on, the Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 records 1080p at adequate to 28Mbit/s in AVCHD or MP4 modes. In addition to 1080p50/60, the MP4 modes are 1080p25/30, 720p25/30 and 640x480p25/30. Switch to AVCHD format and the options are 1080p50/60 at 28Mbit/s, 1080i50/60 at 17Mbit/s (from 50p sensor output) or 24Mbit/s (from 25p sensor output), and 1080p24 at 24Mbit/s.

The Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 give the axe also shoot 1080p movies at 100fps for slow motion playback at a after part concrete metre velocity, upgraded from 720p on the Lumix TZ100 / ZS100. Information technology's an improvement, simply the TZ200 / ZS200 still lags way behind the slow motion video capabilities of Sony's RX100 V. Sony's In high spirits Inning Range feature offers a multitude of slowmo options including 240 / 250fps, 480 / 500fps or 960 / 1000fps in NTSC / PAL regions respectively. These are automatically conformed in-camera to (your choice of) either 25p or 50p for Brother regions, or 24p, 30p Beaver State 60p for NTSC regions. If you select the 25p and 24p options, the three recording modes will slow-down the legal action by 10, 20 OR 40 times respectively. The quality reduces as the frame rates step-up, but information technology's still impressive to have this degree of slow motion at your electric pig in a pocket photographic camera. That aforesaid, a four-time largo-down at 1080p May still be sufficient for your needs – here's an exemplar of how it looks on the TZ200 / ZS200.

Above: Download the original file (Registered members of Vimeo only). New to the TZ200 / ZS200 is 1080p high speed video recorded at 100fps. When high fastness picture is turned on in the motion picture menu the TZ200 / ZS100 records at 100fps for 25fps playback at a quarter real clip speed. The focus on is fixed, American Samoa you can see if you watch the clip to the final stage.

Other video features include snap movie, which records a short clip of between two and octonary seconds in length. With snapshot movies you can unmoving upfield a sharpen pull in advance tapping the projection screen to define the start and end focus positions, which is beautiful neat. You can also add a monochrome to colour fade in or out effect, Eastern Samoa well as a sagittiform photograph fade. There are as wel Time Retrogress and Stop Gesticulate modes, accessed through the main menus rather than the film options. Panasonic recommends using an SD card rated at Class 4 or faster for AVCHD, and UHS-I Class F number 3 (U3) for the 100Mbit 4K UHD and 1080p / 100p / 120p modes.

Live Cropping, introduced on the TZ100 / ZS100, exploits the resolution of a 4k soma to bring home the bacon a digital genus Pan and zoom lineament at 1080p resolution. You specify the start and end of the clip away tapping the screen to lay a 1920×1080 sized frame. You can also set the general time of the clip to either 40 or 20 seconds. The degree of zoom is limited to the full 4k frame at the sweeping end to the 1920×1080 frame at the 'zoomed-in' end to keep calibre. It's a neat feature which makes innovative utilisation of the TZ200 / ZS200's 4k resolution to make life easier, particularly if you need a super-compound panning shot, but don't bear a tripod.

On the Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 you can record in PASM exposure modes, selected either from the telecasting carte or by tapping the pic modal value icon in the top left of the screen when the mode dial is in the movie berth. During transcription you can change the vulnerability setting including, dependant on the way, aperture, shutter speed, ISO sensitivity and exposure compensation. While you force out use the camera's physical controls to alter the settings the touchscreen provides a slide out panel allowing you to do so silently. You can also tap the screen to pull nidus during recording, or course use the lens operate echo. There's too focus peaking and zebra patterns to help with focus and photograph.

Above: Download the original file (Registered members of Vimeo only). For this snip and the ones below I set the Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 to its 1080 / 60p video musical mode. The quality is saintly and the TZ200 / ZS200 handles the exposure well. The stabilization is rock steady as is the autofocus. You can see a 4k version present.

Above: Download the original file (Registered members of Vimeo only). For this clip I affixed the TZ200 / ZS200 along a tripod and disabled the stabilisation. Once again the vulnerability is spot along and the quality of the TZ200 / ZS200's 1080p video looks very nice. The zoom motive interference ISN't every bit audible in this clip as the previous one and the autofocus once again does a good line of work. You can see a 4k version hither.

Above: Download the master data file (Registered members of Vimeo only). Another nice solution from the Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 in this interior low-temperate panning shot. There's no evidence of noise, the exposure is good, and the colour balance is spot along. The stabilisation keeps things nice and steady and the continuous autofocus doesn't falter. You buttocks see a 4k version here.

Above: Download the original file (Documented members of Vimeo only). You can use the TZ200 / ZS200's touchscreen to focus during motion picture recording simply by tapping the area you want to focus on. With the lens zoomed in a little and the aperture lot to its supreme to minimise the astuteness of arena I alternately tapped the screen (with my thumbs while mitt holding the camera) in the area of the coffee cup and then the furniture below the illuminated exclude signboard (the TZ200 / ZS200 had problems focusing on the sign itself). Though IT lacks the phase detect AF present on models like the Sony RX100 V, the Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 is notwithstandin capable of with confidence shifting the focal point game and away without search. You hindquarters see a 4k version here.

In that location's three continuous shooting modes on the Lumix TZ200 / ZS200: Low (2fps with Live View), Culture medium (6fps with Live View), and High (10fps without Live View). With Continuous autofocus, the summit rush along reduces slightly to 6fps regardless of whether you're set to Mass medium or Advanced, so you may likewise fancy the former and enjoy Live Though.

Like other recent Lumix models with 4k video, the TZ200 / ZS200 also supports Panasonic's 4k Photo mode – a fun way of exploiting the fact 4k video captures an 8 Megapixel image finished to 30 times a second. The TZ200 / ZS200 is equipped with software system that lets you easily capture bursts of picture earlier scrolling through the footage and extracting the perfect physical body as a JPEG image, all in-camera. You could of track build grab from video externally, but Panasonic has made it easy to perform the unimpaired process in-camera. Thither's three options: Volley (which records video while the shutter button is pressed), Flare-up S / S (which starts recording with one press and stops with some other), and 4K Pre-burst (which keeps a rolling buffer to avoid unwieldy clips to memory boar and go through).

Post Focus is another feature that uses the TZ200 / ZS200's 30fps 4K shooting musical mode, in this cause to focus-angle bracket a rapid sequence of images. Post centerin manner is selected from the Rec menu and is also assigned by default to the Fn2 button. When selected you apparently can no more set the AF area, but the PASM and other shooting modes can equal kick in the familiar way as can the ISO sensitivity. The entirely limitation is the slowest available shutter speed which, as for other 4k shooting modes is 1/30. You can pick out one of four 8M aspect ratios – 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and 1:1.

The above barb was taken in the TZ200 / ZS200's 10fps around-the-clock advanced mode which disables live view and fixes the focus and exposure on the first frame. Despite that I got a complete number of keepers from this academic session at a local anesthetic football match, though I likewise lost a fair few collectable to mis-centerin. I was more concerned that the TZ200 / ZS200's maximum aperture of f3.3 – 6.4 was loss to preclude Pine Tree State from selecting a sufficiently fast shutter speed to capture the action a reasonably low ISO sensitivity.

The above shot was taken on a bright solar day with a mixture of sunshine and cloud allowing me to shoot in Shutter antecedence modality at 1/500 with the ISO set to auto; near of my shots were in the range of 250 to 640 ISO which I'd state is good. That said, in poorer inflammation conditions you could easily end up having to shoot north of 1600 ISO in order to maintain a fast decent shutter hotfoot – that or put up with a little bit of motility blur at slower shutter speeds. It's deserving noting that the older Lumix TZ100 / ZS100's 10x f2.8-5.9 lens would make single about a quarter of a stop divergence, Beaver State to put away it another way the difference between 400 and 500 ISO.

However, If you equate information technology with the 24-70mm f1.8-2.8 lens on the Sony RX100 V, Beaver State the 24-100mm f1.8-2.8 Canon PowerShot G7X Mark II, the difference of opinion is more than two Newmarket, so you could be victimisation 400 ISO on either of those models compared with 1600 ISO on the TZ200 / ZS200. Not forgetting the Lumix LX 10 / LX15 with it's 24-72mm f1.4-2.8 lens That aforementioned, neither the Lumix LX10 / LX15, the Sony RX100 V nor the Powershot G7X II would get you anywhere near As close to the action as the Lumix TZ200 / ZS200. There's always compromises when dealing with a little body.

Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 Wifi and Bluetooth

As happening the earlier Lumix TZ100 / ZS100, the Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 is equipped with WiF for wireless image transfer and outside control with smartphones. The recently model adds Bluetooth for seamless location tagging, a more responsive remote shutter, and unchaste Wifi negotiation. Once mated over Bluetooth using the free Lumix Image App for iOS surgery Android handsets, the app remains in low-power contact with the camera, allowing IT to pass location inside information and embed them on images with zero effort or interaction (the Image App necessarily to be socialistic running for location tagging to work).

For a live image, greater curb, or the happen to transfer images, you'll need to connect over Wifi. On my iPhone whenever a Wifi joining was required an alert prompted me to unite with the TZ200 / ZS200 in my Phone's settings. Judging from Gordon's experience using the Lumix G9 with his Samsung Galaxy S7, it's a pocketable to a greater extent seamless with an Android handset – the app testament utilization Bluetooth to fire-up the Wifi on some devices and take aid of passwords for you.

In Remote Operation you get (almost) full manual control terminated the photographic camera with the chance to adjust pretty such anything that's not set past a forceful telephone dial. So spell the photograph way however has to be focused along-television camera victimization the camera dial, the app lets you arrange the photo and video quality, shutter, aperture, ISO, white balance, photograph recompense and AF area. You can start and check video recordings of whatsoever timber via the app, and also tap the phone blind to pull up-focus while filming. If peaking or zebras are enabled on the camera, you'll also see them in the live view too.

There are two options for transferring images; Batch transfer provides a bill of fare from which you can select options to transfer the up-to-date day's images, or you can include the most recently 3, 7 or 30 days, or if you're feeling hotheaded you can opt to transfer everything. Further options allow you to restrict transferred files to fair-minded photos or videos. If you want to browse the images connected the card in the camera before deciding which to transfer, then Transfer selection is the option to go for.

The app downloads a low firmness thumbnail that you can pinch to zoom-in a infinitesimal, but not American Samoa much as if you were viewing the pilot. When you see an effigy you like, just tap it and the Lumix Figure of speech app will let you save the master copy to your device or get down uploading it to one of the mixer, share-out OR storage services installed happening your device. You can configure the app to provide shortcuts to two or three of your all but used services which could include Dropbox and Instagram additionally to the more usual suspects. Or of course once the image is traced into your twist, you could just go out the Panasonic app and handle IT forthright from whichever joint or storage app you like via your phone's gallery.You can also choose whether to copy images in their new resolution, surgery in one of two smaller versions.

Overall the wireless experience of the Lumix TZ200 / ZS200 is excellent with the Bluetooth in particular behaving exactly as you'd require it to: quietly and expeditiously doing the catchy work behind the scenes, leaving you to love the remote access with your sound.

Moving the TZ200 / ZS200's mode dial to the Creative master position provides access to 22 personal effects including Expressive, Retrospective, Old Days, High Keystone, Low Key, Sepia, Monochrome, Kinetic Monochrome, Rough Monochrome (above), Impressive Art, High Dynamic, Cross Cognitive process, Dally Effect, Fiddle Pop, Bleach Electrical shunt, Illumination Effect, Fluffy Focus, Fantasy, Star Filter, Incomparable Point Colour and Sunshine.

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