Panasonic Lumix® DMC-TZ1 Digital Camera

I like the looks of this camera. It is small enough to fit in any bag or even your pocket. It is slim but has enough feel to it that you can hold on to it. It is silver and shiny, what woman doesn't like that. And I think the Panasonic TZ1 does a lot for just $300.

I bought it mainly for the long zoom. I live in a state with lots of mountains and open land and I wanted to capture things that generally were further out there. That long zoom enjoys the company's MEGA Optical Image Stabilization technology, which works wonderfully. You get a sharp image at 50x zoom (with digital zoom) even though you can't hold the Panasonic TZ1 itself steady on the subject, you have to use a tripod at this zoom level.

It has a lot of options, from easy picture mode to more advanced modes for high sensitivity and for even embedding captions on your photos, all very easy to use. The dial symbols could be a little bigger for the older eyes but not bad.

I think that the Hi Sensitivity Scene mode does an exceptional job, delivering sharp, colorful images in very low light too. Did a great job at my nephews birthday party with the lights out and just candle light. Could still see everybody in the shot and what was going on very nicely.

Some special features that make the TZ1 particularly nice to have on the road. World Time Setting can calculate time differences as you move between zones. Travel Date Setting can, organize your images by the day of the trip. Calendar View shows images arranged by date shot. Scene modes including-- Aerial photo, Snow, Beach, and Underwater seem to cover everybody's needs.

I do not like the fact that there is no view finder. In high light situations you can not see the image on your screen. That makes taking pictures in sunlight a challenge to say the least, always looking for a shady spot or a different way to rearrange your subjects.

And you can't beat the price for a 10x zoom.