Why would anybody want the GPS feature?

I like the quality of the camera lens but am concerned about GPS tagging.

Any ideas about why GPS is a desired feature and how easy it is to disable from the bad guys?

likesowls wrote:Why would anybody want the GPS feature?

I like the quality of the camera lens but am concerned about GPS tagging.

Any ideas about why GPS is a desired feature and how easy it is to disable from the bad guys?

If you use Google's Picasa (and other software, I'm sure), you can use your geotagged photos to see a map showing when and where each picture was taken, in addition to the other myriad of information that's stored with each digital image. This information is invaluable folloiwng a vacation. I'm sure you can turn geotagging off, and if not, it's easy to scrub the information from files you upload.

I bought one today as a gift.

Now, where are the Sansa MP3 players? C'mon, Woot!

crazybobblehead wrote:I bought this camera a few months back.

2) Audio Quality:
I love to shoot live bands/concerts. When I inquired before buying this earlier I had asked if anyone knows how well the audio recorded sounds... NOBODY answered.

I have shot concert videos for years on a JVC Eviro GZ-MG77u, it's audio is at 384k and sounds fantastic, never does it overload, great bass and overall sound.

I seen a similar JVC Eviro not long ago wooted here and was reading the comments, when I came to the mention that it recorded in mono only that is all the further I went and decided not to get it.

I point you to a video I shot...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4MDciWmWp8

Granted, this was with the ZS-1 and was in mono, and I have since bought the ZS-6 here on woot, with stereo recording, but I'd have to imagine that the audio quality would be the same or better.
Hope that helps.

This can be found new for that price. Damn you Amazon!

robin731 wrote:The people at DPReview don't think much of it. In a comparison test they rated it in the middle of the pack for image quality in good light, and at the bottom for low-light and flash performance. Their conclusion said

(Reposted from the last time this camera was offered.)

On DPReview.com it received a 72% rating and was dinged for low-light performance as you say. But it's worth noting, no camera in this category received a rating higher than 77%. Can't help but wonder if their expectations are biased a bit by the higher end cameras.

GREAT freaking Camera. Got it the last go around on Wooty, and it is amazing. Turn on speed is fast. Picture taking is fun again!
Thanks!

The GPS feature is great for SPOT advenures to pin the pic to the exact place! No worries about the time stamp placement if you move another GPS file to SPOT adventure. GPS rocks!

Anyone care to share your experience with the Square Trade warranties? Specifically, how much of a hassle are returns/repairs, and the cost and expediency of shipping things to and from them.

whatsamattaU wrote:That's all I needed to know. My knowledge/posts are hit/miss, so I like gathering everything into one place when I go to past posts. FWIW, PC World's reader survey for electronics (if they're doing the usual) I expect to see at the end of the month. Good night, ThunderThighs/y'all!

I prefer the one post full'o'links method as it makes it easier to find them when you look at the discussion in the future. I always felt like this was the way to do it, but you get way more second helping's if you post individually if you are going for that. It would be cool if every item had a post at the end of the sale of all the 'second helping links, useful links'. Reference the second helping's for future reference is OK, but sometimes the second helping's are wrong, or lead to even more useful facts. A summary post 'what we learned about' for the future would be cool.

elandria wrote:Anyone care to share your experience with the Square Trade warranties? Specifically, how much of a hassle are returns/repairs, and the cost and expediency of shipping things to and from them.

It has been several years since I tried Squaretrade. They made me jump through hoops to try to return my eBay purchased phone that stopped working. First they said it was normal wear and tear, then they said it wasn't covered, then they said I would have to ship it to them, it would take 4-6 weeks for them to analyze it and determine if it was covered under warranty, and if it wasn't I would have to pay for shipping, etc.

In a nutshell, it was a horrendous experience. I posted on the eBay forums and a squaretrade representative responded saying that what I went through wasn't normal operating procedure. Unfortunately her statement wasn't backed up because when I read other complaints at eBay they all followed the same formula of making it VERY hard to return an defective item and putting you in 'gamble' situation by having to send the item in, wait, and hope they decide it covered and if not out money for shipping.

This was a few years ago, so they may have changed, I don't hear many complaints from them here at woot! and I have heard moderators state they have a good working relationship with SquareTrade so that may help if there are problems.

I would love to hear success stories with SquareTrade.

I have this camera and I love it. For a point and shoot - fantastic. Here's a little proof in the mother-effin-Slayer (I shot this photo recently from at least 20feet back from the stage in a huge crowd).

This is my go-to camera when there's "no professional cameras allowed" at music shows.

sdc100 wrote:No AC adapter is necessary since charging is done over the USB cable. If you're not by a computer, just buy a USB AC adapter from eBay, i.e. this one is 89 cents and FREE s/h.

Id be wary of a 300Mah DC output charger. You can get cheap ones that output 500Mah and higher, it will charge the camera and other devices much faster. Even a computer USB port is 500Mah (through spread among devices in some cases). Monoprice has a nice surge protector that has two USB charging outputs which put out 2000mAh and works with iPad and other high current draw tablets. Its a bit more at about $10 with shipping, but well worth it.

The Panasonic DMC series of 'point and shoot' cameras have consistently been some of the best cameras in the category for several years now. They are also one of the best values that continue to appear here at woot! as far as price vs. other outlets. I have bought several of them from woot! My Mother, Sister, Aunt and I all use various Panasonic DMC series cameras for our point and shoot needs. The DMC-10 on sale now is one of the better ones in the series that has been on woot! lately. I'd buy it in a heartbeat if I needed one.

likesowls wrote:Why would anybody want the GPS feature?

I like the quality of the camera lens but am concerned about GPS tagging.

Any ideas about why GPS is a desired feature and how easy it is to disable from the bad guys?

Its very easy to disable. I'm not sure what you are worried about with 'the bad guys' comment? Are you afraid you will post pictures with the GPS info online and people will know where you or your kids live? There are programs you can run images through to strip all that data out, but again, you can turn it off easily.

There have been instances of lost cameras being returned to the owner using GPS information in the pictures, as well as thieves being caught by taking pictures and leaving the GPS info in the pictures. So there are some good things that have come of it in addition to the ability to see exactly where the picture was taken in the future.

slcarter wrote:If you use Google's Picasa (and other software, I'm sure), you can use your geotagged photos to see a map showing when and where each picture was taken, in addition to the other myriad of information that's stored with each digital image. This information is invaluable folloiwng a vacation. I'm sure you can turn geotagging off, and if not, it's easy to scrub the information from files you upload.

I bought one today as a gift.

Now, where are the Sansa MP3 players? C'mon, Woot!

Thanks for the info!

As far as Sansa MP3 players are concerned, I bought a Sansa Fuze MP3 player with 8GB from 1Saleaday.com yesterday for $34.98 (which includes shipping).

lakedawg wrote:This can be found new for that price. Damn you Amazon!

Can you post a link,I would rather buy it new.

While zooming in does anybody notice a rough spot where the image jumps and you can feel it?

I asked this before but possibly nobody noticed my question because there was quite a bit I had typed and skipped past my post.

OR I am the only one with a defective camera.

not totally camera related...but does anyone know if I can use the Bill Me Later service of Paypal for this? My Paypal is linked to Woot! so I'm worried it may just do the payment that way without taking me to Paypal and giving me the Bill Me Later option. Anyone been through this?

lakedawg wrote:This can be found new for that price. Damn you Amazon!

someone must have bought them all because I couldn't find it at that price on Amazon. Can you provide a link, please?

lakedawg wrote:This can be found new for that price. Damn you Amazon!

Paint me skeptic... link please... I found a "new" unit on ebay for $119... with a damaged LCD (new, but broken)... best price I've found is 229.99 (new) @42ndSt.

theguruguys wrote:I prefer the one post full'o'links method as it makes it easier to find them when you look at the discussion in the future. I always felt like this was the way to do it, but you get way more second helping's if you post individually if you are going for that. It would be cool if every item had a post at the end of the sale of all the 'second helping links, useful links'. Reference the second helping's for future reference is OK, but sometimes the second helping's are wrong, or lead to even more useful facts. A summary post 'what we learned about' for the future would be cool.

I see what you're saying. Sometimes, if it's mainly comments, I'll either paste then together or summarize them briefly (I've done both this week). At this point, I've got enough quality posts that the # isn't as important (unless I can trade them in for woot coupons).

When I do refer to recycled links in newer posts, sometimes I'm better at it than others to re-check the links, but I usually do, to make sure they're accurate. Last night's, for example, I did end up updating a few links after I posted the recycle. The PC Magazine survey had their 2011 camera data up for example, so I went back and substituted that data and quoted the new data. The PC World ratings will be updated soon I think (End of November last year). Another example was when I posted NightGhost's old data. I checked most of the links, found one video not available anymore, and deleted that out and made minor updates in the comments/format.

Thanks for the input, theguruguys. When I don't have the luxury of doing this as much (which will happen again), you certainly can take up some of what I'm doing as well as what you're doing today (or sdc100 or woncoolone or someone else).

Seems a little risky to buy a refurb. Any opinions???????

woottoady wrote:Paint me skeptic... link please... I found a "new" unit on ebay for $119... with a damaged LCD (new, but broken)... best price I've found is 229.99 (new) @42ndSt.

that's what I found, too. This price is a good one...found another on eBay for the same price but it was sold as "for parts or not working"....really? Stick with Woot!

theguruguys wrote:Id be wary of a 300Mah DC output charger. You can get cheap ones that output 500Mah and higher, it will charge the camera and other devices much faster. Even a computer USB port is 500Mah (through spread among devices in some cases). Monoprice has a nice surge protector that has two USB charging outputs which put out 2000mAh and works with iPad and other high current draw tablets. Its a bit more at about $10 with shipping, but well worth it.

I'm pretty sure that with most portable devices, a lower amperage rating just means it'll take longer to fully charge. Today's electronics have circuit protection for variable loads, and most chargers have sensors to stop pushing watts when the device is "full."

mpstarling wrote:Seems a little risky to buy a refurb. Any opinions???????

I've bought at least 1 refurb camera so far on woot. So far, so good. Look in my signature for the explanation of refurb's per woot.

mpstarling wrote:Seems a little risky to buy a refurb. Any opinions???????

I've grown to like refurbs over the past 3 years... no regrets so far.

FYI... If you wait for Black Friday you can get the DMC-ZS8K model new for 179.99 at Staples and Office Max. Of course you're getting somewhat less camera, but that might be OK depending on your needs.

I got the ZS3 a few years ago, new, and a great Amazon deal. I love it. Only problems are...the video is tricky to watch, and I broke the LCD...twice. the first time it was under warranty, sent it in, and got back one (refurbished, no doubt) very quickly. The second time I bought an LCD from some discount outfit, got up my courage, and replaced it myself after watching a free youtube video showing how to do it...no words. This guy does them for hundreds of models of cameras so you can likely find your camera...and the replacement part was cheap. I managed to do it, although I didn't position it just right and have a little light bleed on the LCD...does not affect the photo at all.
If I wasn't already happy, I would go for this. I take many reference landscape photos for scenes I later paint...the zoom is great. But what is nice is that it is also a great macro for closeups of flowers. And it sounds like they fixed the video issue.

REALLY BUMMED I paid $239 last time it was on. Great camera!

bbqsteve wrote:ID-Security Li-ion Battery Pack (3.6V, 895mAh) (included)
AC Adaptor (Input: 110-240V AC) (not included)

Amazon to the rescue! $29.99 with free Super Saver shipping:
http://www.amazon.com/Wasabi-Power-Panasonic-DMW-BCG10E-DMW-BCG10PP/dp/B0049V0ZX8/ref=pd_sim_p_4

The "package contents" photo shows a battery charger, but the description says "AC Adaptor (Input: 110-240V AC) (not included)"
so which is it?

Bought one last time it was on woot! Great little camera. Some of the reviews that ding the picture quality were done with an older version of the firmware. After I received the camera from woot! I upgraded the firmware from here: http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/DMC-ZS10K?t=downloads&support#tabs. Firmware upgrade was quick and painless. Didn't do a before and after comparison, but, I find no issues with the quality.

bnk999 wrote:The "package contents" photo shows a battery charger, but the description says "AC Adaptor (Input: 110-240V AC) (not included)"
so which is it?

Charger for the battery is included, but, the AC Adapter, which allows you to power the camera directly from an AC outlet is not included.

I used to work as an electronic technician at an audio video repair shop. We did factory warranty repair for all the big companies and stores including Panasonic.
It was very common to receive devices with nothing the matter with them at all. Those usually were more time consuming than an item that actually needed fixing. We had to go through EVERYTHING on the unit, on a stereo receiver we had to test every input for example, make sure every light was lighting up.

In the end when nothing is found it was defined by us as an NAP (no apparent problem). Many of the manufacturers have no factory warranty rate on an NAP!!
The business practice as instructed by the owner at this point was to randomly ruin a component and replace it and claim the repair under the warranty rate.
(Randomly? Sony Walkmans were very common and we had the part numbers memorized that we would defect, we could not make things too obvious and had to be random)

The owner of the company held a company meeting one day saying how he could not afford to pay us because he had to pay his taxes instead, he passed around lists of items we could take in trade for our wages - or simply trust him and wait it out till he could pay.

I was badmouthing him with the lead tech and the owner was around the corner and heard me, I got fired.

Shortly later.. now, get this!!! I happened to enter a Panasonic service center and told them about this practice. They assured me that I was not the first tech to come in telling them about this and actually said that they do not care.

I had beaten them in unemployment for many reasons. I will add here that the owner was previously a police officer in his days of life.

Years later (he still owed me money) I found him in business under a new name still fixing things and gave him a call (my phone number was *69 cloaked), he said he owes nobody, said he filed bankruptcy and then started threatening my limbs, my house (what house?!) and life.

The next day I came home from work to find all the windows on my van shot out. I had no listed phone number. He must had used his cop buddies to get my location.

I hope he is deceased by now..
-- Runs and Hides --

crazybobblehead wrote:I used to work as an electronic technician at an audio video repair shop. We did factory warranty repair for all the big companies and stores including Panasonic.
It was very common to receive devices with nothing the matter with them at all. Those usually were more time consuming than an item that actually needed fixing. We had to go through EVERYTHING on the unit, on a stereo receiver we had to test every input for example, make sure every light was lighting up.

In the end when nothing is found it was defined by us as an NAP (no apparent problem). Many of the manufacturers have no factory warranty rate on an NAP!!
The business practice as instructed by the owner at this point was to randomly ruin a component and replace it and claim the repair under the warranty rate.
(Randomly? Sony Walkmans were very common and we had the part numbers memorized that we would defect, we could not make things too obvious and had to be random)

The owner of the company held a company meeting one day saying how he could not afford to pay us because he had to pay his taxes instead, he passed around lists of items we could take in trade for our wages - or simply trust him and wait it out till he could pay.

I was badmouthing him with the lead tech and the owner was around the corner and heard me, I got fired.

Shortly later.. now, get this!!! I happened to enter a Panasonic service center and told them about this practice. They assured me that I was not the first tech to come in telling them about this and actually said that they do not care.

I had beaten them in unemployment for many reasons. I will add here that the owner was previously a police officer in his days of life.

Years later (he still owed me money) I found him in business under a new name still fixing things and gave him a call (my phone number was *69 cloaked), he said he owes nobody, said he filed bankruptcy and then started threatening my limbs, my house (what house?!) and life.

The next day I came home from work to find all the windows on my van shot out. I had no listed phone number. He must had used his cop buddies to get my location.

I hope he is deceased by now..
-- Runs and Hides --

Wow. Hope nothing else happens to you. I had extra repairs to a rental car before as well that didn't need to be done. I'm far away from the repair people though, so my reporting the place to the rental car company hopefully won't result in the same thing. I've dealt with mostly honest people with repairs so far in life, but wow.

For all the good and/or bad to be said of this model...it cannot be overstressed...the lens is the thing that puts the cherry on top of this camera....Leica lenses are some special stuff, and even if this piece isn't their dreamiest, it's still better than no name glass. I gave my GF a Panasonic a year or so ago...and I have to say the results compare favorably to my Canon gear into which far more money is invested.

This is a terrible camera, but perhaps not a bad throwaway for the price. I had one of these for less than a week before returning it. Absolutely awful low-light performance, and the video is useless. If you own a phone made in the last 3 years you already have a better camera.

For fun, take a look at this video which compares the video performance of this camera to a similar Sony:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y0DsmDWMes

Really not much of a comparison.

I'm looking for a camera that I can use to zoom while taking videos and have it refocus once it's zoomed in. Will this camera do that?

David3482 wrote:Bought one last time it was on woot! Great little camera. Some of the reviews that ding the picture quality were done with an older version of the firmware. After I received the camera from woot! I upgraded the firmware from here: http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/DMC-ZS10K?t=downloads&support#tabs. Firmware upgrade was quick and painless. Didn't do a before and after comparison, but, I find no issues with the quality.

Strange. My camera has firmware 1.0 so I followed your link & downloaded a 7 MB .bin file. I Googled the directions & found this link which has the same filename, but after expanding, it's 23 MB.
http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/download/TZ20_ZS10/index.html
Going to try the 23 MB.

**Update worked fine

tarvo1 wrote:I just got one at full price ($249) and am very disappointed with the battery life.

With 30 minutes record time for video (I charged the battery and timed it several times) you don't even fill the included 4 Gb card.

Does it actually run out of power? Or just stops at 30 minutes? It turns out that due to tariff reasons, many digital cameras will not record video longer than 30 minutes at a time. It might be an EU law, but it could be that some cameras just ship with the same firmware regardless of the market.

See, for example, http://philipbloom.net/2009/06/03/the-lumix-30-minutes-eu-recording-issue/

sdc100 wrote:For superzooms, I've always seen it as a battle between Samsung and Panasonic. Both are Asian electronics giants not known for imaging, yet both brands have received generally very good reviews. Because their specialty is electronics, both companies also outsource to respected lensmakers for their optics. Panasonic uses Leica while Samsung uses Schneider-Kreuznach. As a result, photo quality have been very good. The respected site, depreviews.com, for example, lauded the 15x zoom Samsung HZ30W (which I bought here on Woot for $119) for its lack of optical distortion.

In the past, I've always preferred Samsung for one reason: Video. Panasonic used outdated Motion JPEG compression while Samsung uses H.264. As a result, Samsung can hold roughly 4x as much video of the same quality in the same amount of space. But this Panasonic not only uses H.264, but it also gives you the option of MJPEG. And it does 1080 HD. In short, the video specs are incredible. I also hated the fact that Panasonic used MOV, which no free Windows program can edit well. I believe that it now uses the more universal MP4 container, which Samsung has used for a while.

My only question now is whether this Panasonic can pause while recording. Virtually no digital cameras (or palmcorders like the Flip, or even cheap camcorders) have this ability -- except Samsungs. This is an important feature for many reasons (read the previous Panasonic camera Woot for details). Regardless, the specs for this Panasonic is amazing, and I'm tempted to pull the trigger.

Panasonic invented AVCHD, and has been using it for 3 years. They don't outsource anything in the imaging category, it is all manufactured in Japan by Panasonic. Somewhere near 90% of the digital cameras on the market today use an image sensor from Panasonic or Sony. The Leica lens is not something built for Panasonic, but something that is built to the specifications that Leica would require on their own cameras, and in fact Panasonic builds almost all of the Leica point and shoot products (see any similarities here: http://us.leica-camera.com/photography/compact_cameras/v-lux_30/ ) . Panasonic takes huge pride in their imaging line, and doesn't send a single imaging product out of the factory without being hand tested first to ensure that no faulty units ship out. This is also why Panasonic is the highest rated brand for satisfaction and reliability by Consumer Reports and Square Trade.

This lens also has their Nano coating to eliminate ghosting/lens flare that happens at night from reflections. In response to your question about pausing video, I'm not aware of a single digital camera that can do that, but one thing that the Panasonic's do that few other digital cameras do is allow you to record video until you fill up the SD card, no 8 minute clips here.

I am concerned about the battery. The link that someone kindly gave us to the owner's manual says:
"The camera has a function for distinguishing batteries which can be used
safely. The dedicated battery supports this function. The only batteries
suitable for use with this unit are genuine Panasonic products..."
...so if that means I will be required to buy an over-priced battery from Panasonic (or one of their cronies) I will NOT buy anything like that. Others in this thread indicate clone batteries are OK. SO can I use those eBay batteries or not?