I've ordered one of these. I have no experience with this specific camera, but I am an avid and experienced nature photographer with SLRs. These are my comments on the camera, based strictly on internet research:

1) The lens goes very, very wide for a point-and-shoot camera, 25mm. This is a lot wider than most cameras. This is a very good thing, I predict most of y'all will like it if you learn to use it. It will usually mean you'll have to get very close to your subject for a good shot, though.

2) Based on the Panasonic website, and at least one internet review, it appears the camera doesn't let you shoot RAW mode. If that doesn't mean anything to you, don't worry about it and you won't miss it. The "pro" or wannabe pro photographers out there (I'm in the second category) will miss it.

Still appears to be an excellent price and a good camera.

Here's the Panasonic "official" website:

http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Lumix-Digital-Cameras/model.DMC-ZS6K_11002_7000000000000005702

mkohanfars wrote:did you hear about apple patenting a new technology that prevents you from videotaping/recording at concerts?

That's relatively easy to do as long as camera manufacturers comply and employ the chips into their devices. It was a similar situation with VCRs and DVDs. All concert venues have to do is to send out a radio signal to activate the anti-recording algorithm. The two major flaws are that signals can often be blocked, i.e. with a Faraday Cage. And older cameras remain unaffected.

mikeami wrote:When I picked up this camera last time on woot, I bought 2 1250mAh batteries (original is 895 mAh) on ebay for $18 including shipping.

ebay search for DMW-BCG10E

I've got a number of cameras but none are very good for digiscoping through my Pentax spotting scope. This seems like it would be great with a 12x optical zoom--i'm wondering if any wooters have had experience with that....just a shot?

thanks!

Panasonic has insisted, over several Lumix models, that you use genuine Panasonic batteries. The camera checks for this (they are encoded somehow) and rejects second-party manufactured batteries that are, for all intents and purposes, made for their cameras.

Genuine Panasonic batteries are difficult to find and very expensive when you can. I had my Lumix ZS-3 reject a battery I had bought from Amazon that stated it was made to my camera's specifications and I had to return it. Beware of this.

Jstew5 wrote:Does anyone know if it possible to get expedited shipping?

If you need it quickly, don't order this Woot because there are several things working against you:

1) There is no expedited shipping

2) In fact, things are worsened by the fact that Woot is using SmartPost. That's a service where Fedex will deliver the item from Woot to your local US Post Office, and then your normal US Postal Carrier will deliver it to your home. That's slower than using either service alone, i.e. USPS Priority Mail takes only 2-3 days. In fact, as you can tell from the logo below, Woot depicts a snail.

3) It's the weekend which means that no one is available to process your order until Monday at earliest. It probably won't get shipped until Wed.

Sorry!

This camera is listed as DMC ZS6.

The one sold here April 24th is listed as DMC ZS6KCP.

What does the KCP mean for the April 24th woot?

This is one of a few in the same series of cameras from Panasonic that are incredible.

Couldn't recommend them enough. They just simple work without any fuss.
There is a lack of manual settings that the similar range canon's do have, but for me, I was looking for something simple, with the thought process that I do want an SLR, but trying to have the best of both worlds often doesn't work out very well, so I want a point and shoot and an SLR, not the in between guys.

I'll buy it again when mine eventually dies.

musicalman wrote:Is this camera small enough to fit in a shirt pocket or jeans back pocket?

it'll fit, but it's not as small as a lot of 'pocket cameras' like canon's SD series and other very small ones.

jellyjamsam wrote:This camera is listed as DMC ZS6.

The one sold here April 24th is listed as DMC ZS6KCP.

What does the KCP mean for the April 24th woot?

the 'k' means it's black. There are other colors - silver, red, blue, etc - for some of the other lumix cameras. don't know the 'cp' part.

Recently bought a similar Panasonic (refurbished)on Woot. Loved the camera, but it simply could not deliver a sharp enough image, no matter what.

As I recall, it was 180x180 dpi. In any case, when viewed in its full size, it was messy.

Returned it, got a refurbished Nikon Coolpix s6000 for $99.95 at Adorama. 300x300 resolution, and a joy to use.

jellyjamsam wrote:This camera is listed as DMC ZS6.

The one sold here April 24th is listed as DMC ZS6KCP.

What does the KCP mean for the April 24th woot?

Okay, I looked further down the description and see that this too is Listed as DMC ZS6KCP. I'm new at this and I'm old. I'll catch on to this sooner or later!

Oh, yeah! The thing about the batteries. Alilnam is correct. I got a battery made for my Panasonic (Guess it was April 24th). When I put it in, camera thought about it for a second or two, then told me that it wanted a real Panasonic. Too bad, cause this was an expensive battery. Fortunately, the seller took it back, and has an EN-EL12 in the mail for my wonderful Nikon Coolpix S6000!

Alnilam wrote:Panasonic has insisted, over several Lumix models, that you use genuine Panasonic batteries. The camera checks for this (they are encoded somehow) and rejects second-party manufactured batteries that are, for all intents and purposes, made for their cameras.

Genuine Panasonic batteries are difficult to find and very expensive when you can. I had my Lumix ZS-3 reject a battery I had bought from Amazon that stated it was made to my camera's specifications and I had to return it. Beware of this.

The battery probably has an ID chip, which many cheap Chinese manufacturers have copied. The same technology is often used in inkjet cartridges. The courts have decided that printer manufacturers cannot void the warranty if consumers choose to use compatible cartridges. I wonder if the same ruling applies to batteries. Maybe not since faulty batteries can zap the cameras dead.

The main concerns I have with cheap compatible batteries are safety and capacity. I've bought "high capacity' versions that actually lasted shorter than the original "regular capacity" battery. Chinese manufacturers are notorious for exaggerating the capacity of their generic batteries. Worse, many are so poorly made that they can leak or explode during use or charging. That can literally destroy your camera.

Also has gps included not that I'm missing that feature on the zs6

sdc100 wrote:I prefer the Samsung HZ30W 12MP Digital Camera w/15x Opt & Schneider Lens which also occasionally shows up here. I got it on Woot for $119 last year. Many of the specs are comparable to this Lumix, but the video capabilities are superior for two reasons:

- The Samsung uses state-of-the-art H.264 compression, which is 4x more efficient than MJPEG CODEC used by this Lumix. That means you can save roughly 4x as much video in the same amount of space in comparable quality. In fact, I'm somewhat shocked that a high end point-and-shoot like this Lumix still uses MJPEG, which is usually only used by low end or old cameras (because H.264 needs a high speed CPU). That makes me think that this Lumix is old and will be discontinued if it hasn't already happened.

- The Samsung is one of the VERY few cameras that can PAUSE during recording. In fact, many dedicated video cameras like the Flip and higher end camcorder can't pause. Pausing is very useful for saving space and energy, and prevents the headache of having to edit out junk footage later.

- The Samsung has a 3 Stereo audio modes when recording. You can 1) Mute and not record sound; 2) Record sound constantly.; or 3) Have an auto-Mute mode that mutes if you zoom. This can be helpful because a lot of people hate the sound of the zoom lenses moving. The stereo mics are only an inch away from the lens so you can imagine how loud the sound is.

Of all the point-and-shots I've used, the Samsung has the best video features. The stills are also excellent. Because of this, and the lower price, I'm recommend the Samsung over this Lumix.

The last time this camera appeared on Woot, I read all the remarks and ended up buying a refurb DMC-ZS3 (also known as TZ7) model from eBay for $139. I added an extra battery and two class 6 memory cards so that the total ended up around $200. It's the best $200 I ever spent for photography.

Before that, I used a Canon Rebel 6 megapixel DSLR and a DSC-W7 Sony point and shoot (7 MP) and always had good results. This camera beats both hands down for ease of use, versatility, and yes, picture quality. And that's before you get to that huge and very useful zoom. The movie mode works perfectly including beautiful zooms while filming, excellent autofocus tracking and stunning image stabilization, even while panning. I always worried that I couldn't get sharp images from a camera with such a small sensor but I was wrong. I love it.

About the batteries: yes, the newest software versions disable non-Panasonic batteries but there are exceptions. This battery for ten bucks: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MZ0ID0 works fine with my zs3 with firmware version 1.3. I don't know for sure if it SterlingTek batteries work with the ZS6 but I suspect so.

A superb photographer called Trensamiro has a beautiful photostream in Flickr here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mirepapa/4747082328/in/set-72157624418465274/#/

He provides extensive instruction on how to get the most out of this series of cameras basically by using the lowest ISO speed possible, making sure there is minimal camera motion (you can often use the 2 second self timer for that) and using maximum (mode 2) image stabilization for all shots. I used his suggestions which are in the remarks to the Flickr stream and they helped a lot. I have to admit I did not get as good results as he did but he's been doing it a lot longer.

Trensamiro feels that the slightly lower pixel count of the ZS3 makes is better than the ZS5, 6, and 7 which fit 12 MP in the same sensor area that the ZS3 uses for 10MP but others disagree. I don't know but I suspect any difference will be minor.

Leica sells an almost identical camera (there are subtle differences which don't much matter and often don't favor the Leica) as the VLux 20 which costs $600+ on Amazon and is unlikely to do more than this camera will.

Dpreview tested the 5 and 7 models here:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q210grouptravelzoom/page9.asp

The Leica version is described here:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/1004/10042002leicavlux20.asp

Look at these ZS3 Trensamiro images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mirepapa/
(remember to click on the image (sometimes twice) and then on "all sizes" at the upper right to get the largest view (Flickr is weird). And if you get the camera, read his comments which also apply to the ZS6.

More Trensamiro discussion and photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mirepapa/4551449263/

This camera won't replace a current DSLR or probably even a 4/3 model for image quality but it will almost certainly do as well as any point and shoot camera with a small sensor and better than most and at this price, it's an outstanding deal. If you miss the woot, you can often get the ZS3 on eBay for $139 to $159.

One last thing. Be sure to get at least a class 6 memory card if you want to get reliable video.

And I recommend AVS video editing programs. They interconvert any format to any other, burn your DVD's, edit your video a dozen different ways and effects, they're fast and easy to use and the whole bunch of their programs is $60-- you can try them all for 30 days for free. They really work -- for me anyway. Here: http://www.avs4you.com/index.aspx

srphillippe wrote:the 'k' means it's black. There are other colors - silver, red, blue, etc - for some of the other lumix cameras. don't know the 'cp' part.

Thanks so much! I wanted a black camera.

Hey, if I seem hung up on this, sorry. Remember that this has 12x zoom only because the normal lens is so wide. The material states that this is the equivalent of 300mm in a 35mm camera. Well, the "Standard" lens on a 35mm is 50mm, so 300mm is the equivalent of 6x!

My hobby is hand held macros of living natural objects, so sharpness is critical. Depth of field is too, so a wide angle base lens has its advantages too. And the Coolpix is sharp at maximum zoom, which is nominally 7x, but the digital zoom is good enough to deliver very crisp results, so it works out about the same, zoom-wise, as the Panasonic, but sharper.

I like to enlarge my (often cropped)macros, often to 116x20. Don't try that with this camera.

breaddrink wrote:This is one of a few in the same series of cameras from Panasonic that are incredible.

Couldn't recommend them enough. They just simple work without any fuss.
There is a lack of manual settings that the similar range canon's do have, but for me, I was looking for something simple, with the thought process that I do want an SLR, but trying to have the best of both worlds often doesn't work out very well, so I want a point and shoot and an SLR, not the in between guys.

I'll buy it again when mine eventually dies.

If you want manual settings, consider the Samsung 12MP Digital Camera w/15x Optical Zoom & Schneider Lens – HZ30W which is often sold on Woot or SellOut Woot. I got mine for $119 last year and love it. It matches or surpasses this Lumix in most specs (which admittedly does not mean superior photos). Although I've never used the manual settings, the below Woot description claims full manual control.


- 12MP digital camera boasts a 24mm ultra wide-angle and a 15x Super-zoom lens
- Record videos in high definition, then watch them on a HDTV in high-quality 720p resolution
- Dual Image Stabilization delivers sharp, clear photos using Optical Image Stabilization mechanism with the advanced algorithms of Digital Image Stabilization
- 3.0” LCD with improved contrast and color reproduction
- Intelligent LCD brightness automatically detects environmental illumination and adjusts the LCD brightness for optimal image viewing
- Full Manual Control lets you capture those moments you might miss with a camera in auto mode
- Aperture Priority makes sure your main subject stands out from the surrounding
- Shutter Priority captures fast movements and Manual Mode grants you complete control of the exposure
- Delivers 720p HD quality video at 30 fps
- With the H.264 format that offers recording time 2 times longer than MPEG-4 and 4 times longer than MJPEG video
- Multiple lens effects: Smart filter, Miniature filter, Vignetting filter, and Fish-eye filter
- Smart Auto 2.0 (Still & Movie) instantly analyzes key elements of your composition then automatically adjusts to capture the perfect shot with multitude of different photo modes and movie modes

musicalman wrote:Is this camera small enough to fit in a shirt pocket or jeans back pocket?

Not really. It's a bit too thick for a comfortable fit. I ended up buying a belt case for mine and walk around with it that way.

What happens if you don't like it? Will Panasonic take it back or are you just SOL?

cabaret25 wrote:What happens if you don't like it? Will Panasonic take it back or are you just SOL?

eBay and Craigslist are the best friends of buyers remorse.

Jstew5 wrote:Does anyone know if it possible to get expedited shipping?

no it is not - at least , it wasn't when I bought mine on the last woot.

went to Antarctica in February with my Lumix FZ28, AND a DSLR, and was more than jealous of the UNEDITED photos the passengers with Zs3 and Zs6 cameras took. Thus my April purchase.

I'm wondering what you people think of the newer model on amazon

Panasonic DMC-FH25S 16.1MP Digital Camera with 8x Wide Angle Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Silver)

It's the same price with a lieca lens, less zoom. The refurb here is a year old. The new one uses some funky 'Venus' tech that looks like it escaped from pr0n. I can vouch that the Lumix line has fantastic point and shoots for the clueless and semi-clueless. The Samsung some of you are going on about is also awesome. I need to replace one. I ended up getting the 4x lumix that was on here about two weeks ago. It's awesome, but then again, I'm entertained by playing with the buttons and you know, taking pics of my cat (you know you want to!!). For a DSLR I am thinking about a Nikon 5100 because Amazon is having that lens deal now. The more point and shoots the merrier, though...

As I've said before, (on April 24th to be exact, the last time this was offered) I love my my ZS-1, so this would be a no brainer had I not sprung for one of these just under 6 weeks ago...

To those on the fence, GET IT! My only recommendation, search ebay for invisible shield for this screen size. (I found one slightly bigger, easily trimmable, for $3) to protect the screen from scratches.

But on another note... Really Woot?!? Again?!? What's with the repeats? When are you going to offer a 55' samsung refurbished LED flatscreen (Specifically model # UN55C6300?)

I'm waiting...

The comments here, some reviews I googled, and the video below convinced me to go ahead and order this camera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxxmhW1pObM
(Not sure how to embed on here)

This is replacing my old Canon A590 IS. Good camera, but I have been really wanting an HD cam. Hopefully this will arrive before our trip to D.C. in July.

jamesbottomtooth wrote:my only beef is video format. it will stop at ~8 -10 minutes because it creates 2Gig file at that point. other than that zoom is amazing and features are awesome.

I wouldn't fault the camera for that - you can always get a bigger video card. True, it would be nice to have the AVCHD Lite option that you have on the ZS3(whihx I own), but I wouldn't call it a dealbreaker. Since we're all mainly just making video to show other people, the mpeg option is the more useful one anyway.

jamesbottomtooth wrote:my only beef is video format. it will stop at ~8 -10 minutes because it creates 2Gig file at that point. other than that zoom is amazing and features are awesome.

Another "beef" about video: if it doesn't have a microphone INPUT then you cannot get good sound quality if you record somebody who is talking a bit far away. You MUST "ace the sound" and you can't do it with this camera.

I bought one last time and I have been absolutely happy with it. Videos and sound are awesome and are as sharp as the still pictures. I was concerned about battery life and the clunky charger but I have not been disappointed yet. A very good buy, whatever the cost.

musicalman wrote:Is this camera small enough to fit in a shirt pocket or jeans back pocket?

The dimensions are listed : 4.07"W x 2.35"H x 1.28" D

Used this during an Appalachian Trail hike last weekend...Heavy forest canopy and wide-bright vistas, coupled with close-ups of critters and dusk camp scenes....It handled everything with aplomb; or maybe it was a prune.

At any rate, this camera is really appealing. I'm bananas over it.

Very nice camera, i purchased 3 of them for mothers day for all the mom's and they all love them, i agree one of the best point and shoot consumer cameras till you get up to the DSLRs.

mikeami wrote:When I picked up this camera last time on woot, I bought 2 1250mAh batteries (original is 895 mAh) on ebay for $18 including shipping.

If you research on Google and on Amazon reviews, you will find that many of the batteries (of brands other than Panasonic) that are supposed to work in this camera will stop working once you do a firmware update on the camera. I found the OEM battery on Amazon for $20.87 and the "look alikes" were about the same price, so I opted for the Panasonic one.

Alnilam wrote:Panasonic has insisted, over several Lumix models, that you use genuine Panasonic batteries. The camera checks for this (they are encoded somehow) and rejects second-party manufactured batteries that are, for all intents and purposes, made for their cameras.

Genuine Panasonic batteries are difficult to find and very expensive when you can. I had my Lumix ZS-3 reject a battery I had bought from Amazon that stated it was made to my camera's specifications and I had to return it. Beware of this.

Amazon is currently carrying the actual Panasonic replacement for $20.87. Yes, the camera will not allow use of second-party batteries, sometimes from the very start, and certainly after a firmware update.

Was totally interested in this camera until I read about the bad video capabilities in cr4pple quicktime format. that kills the deal for me. Going to look into that samsung.

11corbin11 wrote:This was the best digital camera I ever had...until I dropped it and shattered the screen

Now is you chance to replace it.. I wooted this camera in march.. luv it, good price, good camera, great deal.. You have to trust to buy a referb, I have had great luck with referbs..save a lot. I think a lot of the time it is a new item, so they can discount it for us..

musicalman wrote:Is this camera small enough to fit in a shirt pocket or jeans back pocket?

Please note this comes with a case with a belt loop. Works great!

We have one of these, obviously bought it for a lot more money. Damnit woot! Love the pictures, even good with kids who are moving about constantly. I'm thinking of buying another one to have a spare. One problem I did have is that the lens covers is malfunctioning... doesn't want to open or close on its own.

I owned this camera and was thrilled with it. I had a bad wipeout skiing and it never worked again. I woke up to see my wife already rebought it this AM. We've owned at least ten digital cameras thru the years and this is our favorite.
We have a big Nikon but the problem there is that its so bulky that we dont take it to events unless the event is very special. The Lumix takes a great picture and because its relatively small (fits in my front pants pocket), I use it alot and get lots of great pics based on the fact that i actually have it when i need it. Highly recommended...