bartclan wrote:Seriously, Woot? I can only buy one? I was looking to add two to my Woot family of products, but am thwarted. I will vanquish you, Woot!

Um... log in with another user name, from another computer??? (Not that I have EVER done that!)

vgrhcp wrote:Hey, does anyone know if this will come in retail packaging or in an OEM-style box? I'm thinking about getting it as a gift....

OEM box IIRC... April was so long ago...

note2001 wrote:Tempting, but 'Refurb' has me concerned. Cameras are far more sensitive equipment than laptops and I'll avoid refurb laptops like the plague.

So far I've bought refurbed TVs (2), this same camera, and a netbook and have had absolutely no problems. I have bought a new camera and new TV that had to be returned. So, depending on cost savings, I'll sometimes take my chances with refurbed equipment. BTW - this is a great camera to carry with you when you don't want to lug around a DLSR and you want something a lot better than your phone cam/video. Fit's in a cargo pant pocket or jacket pocket very easily. No so easily in a shirt pocket or jeans pocket.

I checked around for prices (eBay, etc.) and this seems to be the best price now available. Getting a Leica lens means this is gonna be a great still camera. Don't know enuf about video to evaluate, but looks like a lot of other people do.

This camera looks great...but I NEED a viewfinder. Do any of you wonderful people know of a 10-12mp compact digital camera that still has a viewfinder? Thx.

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

Coat pocket, yes. Shirt or back pocket, no. This is a compact camera, not an ultra compact.

blntechie wrote:Guys, bought one after seeing your reviews and in Amazon.

This is my first Woot and my first camera (ever!) and hopefully it turns out good else... :-)

My video usage will not be heavy with this and so the space issue shouldn't be a problem I hope.

Even though I have never bought anything from Woot, I've been following this site for a while now and so I hope I do not go wrong with you Wooters!!!

Caution!!!! You might get hooked like me. 70+ woots over the last 5 years and over $2300. But there are only a handful of purchases I regret. I seem to have a weakness for LED flashlights that I don't really need :-)

note2001 wrote:Tempting, but 'Refurb' has me concerned. Cameras are far more sensitive equipment than laptops and I'll avoid refurb laptops like the plague.

I bought this camera's predecessor, the TZ5, as a factory refurb on eBay. It was in like-new condition when I received it, and has held up brilliantly. Of course, YMMV.

The video format used by this camera is MOV and according to the Windows Live Movie Maker 2011 help content, Movie Maker supports the MOV format. Thus, the video format used by this camera should not be an issue for editing/converting movies.

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.

No problems with the "Power2000" 1200mAh batteries that I bought at Amazon for the same camera bought in April.

does anyone know if you can get a remote control for this either wired or wireless ?

Cheers
A

dlimanov wrote:Does anyone know about the shutter lag? Can it take a series of shots continuously and not lag behind for either flash, writing them to card or displaying a preview?

I have this camera's predecessor, the TZ5. Specs are similar. The TZ5 has a high-speed burst option that will net you several shots a second, which I've actually used for stop-motion animation. It will take shots until you release the trigger. However, my camera does reduce the resolution to achieve this, to somewhere around 5 or 6 MP. It's a trade-off. What you do get is that one perfect frame that truly captures a moment.

As far as not lagging for the flash, the flash is disabled in this mode. There, problem solved.

markabarker wrote:Coat pocket, yes. Shirt or back pocket, no. This is a compact camera, not an ultra compact.

This camera is on the heavy side for it's size and would fall out of a shirt pocket if you would lean over a bit. It would fit, but I would not advise it.

Pulled the trigger.

Also, just picked up the Wasabi Power Battery and Charger Kit for Panasonic off Amazon - 2 extra batteries and a car charger. According to the reviews, these batteries work.

mike65401 wrote:Caution!!!! You might get hooked like me. 70+ woots over the last 5 years and over $2300. But there are only a handful of purchases I regret. I seem to have a weakness for LED flashlights that I don't really need :-)

There is no such thing as a led flashlight that you don't need.

Great camera.

Superb pictures, OK videos, as noted limited to 8 minutes per clip and around 60 minutes total time on a 16gb card. Good if you want to take small clips on vacation but buy a different camera if you want to record sports events. Very good image stabilization and the zoom is insane.

NOTE: the included card is not fast enough to record videos.

Cheap batteries: http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMW-BCG10-Decoded-Replacement-Battery/dp/B003EENZVK/

8$ shipped from amazon, bought two at the last woot when i got this camera.

Also, part of the reason this uses mjpeg is that the camera came out about a year and a half ago iirc. Awesome that it still compares favorably to more recently released cameras with the exception of video.

I bought this camera off eBay a few months ago after doing a lot of research. I love everything about it. Low light performance isn't exceptional, but I don't take a lot of photos in dark rooms. I do have some great night sky shots - it does good long exposures.

I also snagged a couple spare batteries off eBay which were designed to thwart Panasonic's battery check. They work fine.

atomfury wrote:Yes, although it will bulge.

not a good idea: these cameras have a problem with dust infiltration.

after a year or so of carrying a (nearly identical) lumix in the front pocket of my jeans, the inner elements were coated with dust.

i replaced it with one of these refurbished one, and am more careful. (i carry it in the case.)

mikewrfc wrote:Does this camera do bracketed exposures for HDR photos?

MacTexas wrote:No

YES! most cameras have it. most nobody uses it.

its right in the description!

Auto Bracketing (AE)
+/- 1/3 EV ~ 1EV step, 3 frames

Excellent all-around daytime camera. Speedy.

In-camera noise reduction processing is not very good (Panasonic's biggest failure in their camera tech,) and the aperture's slow, so it is NOT for low-light shooting. Low light, the LX5 (not a travel zoom) has the edge big-time.

But for the price, it is overall EXCELLENT!

galovics wrote:No problems with the "Power2000" 1200mAh batteries that I bought at Amazon for the same camera bought in April.

Sorry... link:
http://www.amazon.com/DMW-BCG10-2-1200mAh-batteries-Panasonic-High-Speed/dp/B0032G618O/ref=pd_cp_e_1

Got these at a previous offering. Quite pleased overall.

One question though:
Can someone confirm whether it can use its optical zoom while taking video? I was pretty sure it did before, but now mine only does the digital zoom. Maybe I accidentally changed some setting? Or it needs to be reset/repaired.

sh4ne wrote:Got these at a previous offering. Quite pleased overall.

One question though:
Can someone confirm whether it can use its optical zoom while taking video? I was pretty sure it did before, but now mine only does the digital zoom. Maybe I accidentally changed some setting? Or it needs to be reset/repaired.

there is E. Zoom button next to exposure. that makes it zoom in to max automatically.

you can use optical zoom while taking video.

dlimanov wrote:Does anyone know about the shutter lag? Can it take a series of shots continuously and not lag behind for either flash, writing them to card or displaying a preview?

No, it cannot. I always have to wait a moment between shots if I'm using the flash.

grampawizard wrote:I checked around for prices (eBay, etc.) and this seems to be the best price now available. Getting a Leica lens means this is gonna be a great still camera. Don't know enuf about video to evaluate, but looks like a lot of other people do.

It's not a Leica. Leica just licenses the use of their name to Panasonic.

Darn! Missed a good deal on a great camera!

One thing has always bugged me buying from/thru Woot tho. Fixed shipping is great (usually) but they're the only online retailer I've dealt with who charges sales tax regardless of where you're located. I mean what's with that?

Not a great big deal but just wondering. Anybody know??

StCarl wrote:Pulled the trigger.

Also, just picked up the Wasabi Power Battery and Charger Kit for Panasonic off Amazon - 2 extra batteries and a car charger. According to the reviews, these batteries work.

The wasabi bats work just fine with my zs6 (last woot) and seem to have a much longer life - they are rated 1200 mah v 895 for the OEM.

Charger that came with mine also had a euro adapter and car adapter.

I like the camera a lot.

cjent wrote:Darn! Missed a deal on a great camera!

One thing that has always bugged me buying from/thru Woot. While fixed shipping is great (sometimes) they're the only online retailer I've dealt with who charges sales tax regardless of where you're located. I mean what's with that?

I'm in CA and don't have to pay sales tax. I know that TX and WA have to pay tax. There may be other states that have to pay tax through Woot. You get to be one of the lucky ones...

Any digital camera should always be kept in a case. Keeping anything in the pocket of your jeans (including you cell phone) will result in lint dust working its way into in every crack and crevice. You should see the link my Moto Droid picks up in my pockets--insane. I would never do that to a digital camera.

pegdashfab wrote:not a good idea: these cameras have a problem with dust infiltration.

after a year or so of carrying a (nearly identical) lumix in the front pocket of my jeans, the inner elements were coated with dust.

i replaced it with one of these refurbished one, and am more careful. (i carry it in the case.)

- - -

Any digital camera should always be kept in a case. Keeping anything in the pocket of your jeans (including you cell phone) will result in lint dust working its way into in every crack and crevice. You should see the link my Moto Droid picks up in my pockets--insane. I would never do that to a digital camera.

So after all the good reviews I bought one, hope you wooters know what you are talking about, there are so many cameras out there I kind of threw in the towel and listened to you all. So what card should I buy for it, SD, SDHC, SDXC, do the faster cards do anything for this camera?

cputzig wrote:So after all the good reviews I bought one, hope you wooters know what you are talking about, there are so many cameras out there I kind of threw in the towel and listened to you all. So what card should I buy for it, SD, SDHC, SDXC, do the faster cards do anything for this camera?

I'm in the same boat. Girlfriend wants a new P&S for her b-day. I saw this today and bought it after a quick review of the reviews. Normally I'd research the hell out of something like this but not knowing much about anything I went by the fact that this seems like a pretty great deal based on reviews. Just bought some batteries and a charger on Amazon. Any recommended memory cards or other necessities would be helpful.

cputzig wrote:So after all the good reviews I bought one, hope you wooters know what you are talking about, there are so many cameras out there I kind of threw in the towel and listened to you all. So what card should I buy for it, SD, SDHC, SDXC, do the faster cards do anything for this camera?

You should be able to find an 8G class 6 SDHC card for around $15. That's all you need.

cputzig wrote:So after all the good reviews I bought one, hope you wooters know what you are talking about, there are so many cameras out there I kind of threw in the towel and listened to you all. So what card should I buy for it, SD, SDHC, SDXC, do the faster cards do anything for this camera?

I'd get a SDHC class 6 or class 10.

StCarl wrote:Pulled the trigger.

Also, just picked up the Wasabi Power Battery and Charger Kit for Panasonic off Amazon - 2 extra Lumix batteries and a car charger. According to the reviews, these batteries work.

windje wrote:The wasabi bats work just fine with my zs6 (last woot) and seem to have a much longer life - they are rated 1200 mah v 895 for the OEM.

Charger that came with mine also had a euro adapter and car adapter.

I like the camera a lot.

Thanks for the battery compatibility confirmation! I had read things about some of the others on there. Now, I won't sweat it for another minute.

Great camera I paid about $100 more a year ago.

djd242 wrote:I'm in the same boat. Girlfriend wants a new P&S for her b-day. I saw this today and bought it after a quick review of the reviews. Normally I'd research the hell out of something like this but not knowing much about anything I went by the fact that this seems like a pretty great deal based on reviews. Just bought some batteries and a charger on Amazon. Any recommended memory cards or other necessities would be helpful.

Same for me, my daughter goes crazy because I take months to buy something after looking at every aspect. So this was unusual for me. I got a couple extra batteries too on ebay, got the 8GB Class 10 SDHC for 14.99 there after the recommendations were made here. Thanks!

djd242 wrote:I'm in the same boat. Girlfriend wants a new P&S for her b-day. I saw this today and bought it after a quick review of the reviews. Normally I'd research the hell out of something like this but not knowing much about anything I went by the fact that this seems like a pretty great deal based on reviews. Just bought some batteries and a charger on Amazon. Any recommended memory cards or other necessities would be helpful.

You *must* use a class 6 or higher card as per the Panasonic manual if you plan to take videos (that's for the ZS3 with AVCHD video but I suspect this one also requires this type of card). Price break currently is at around 16 GB so I suggest that if you're doing much photography away from the computer. I'd get one extra 4GB card and an extra battery (see notes about inexpensive compatible batteries on Amazon) as spares. After all that and a nice soft case, you'll still be under or around $200 for everything. Best deal you can get in a really good P&S these days.


PS: Here's a nice case

http://www.amazon.com/Impact-Resistant-Digital-PANASONIC-Cameras-DMC-ZS1/dp/B0047EL5D6/

Bought one 2 woots ago, my wife took it from me, bought 1 last woot daughter took it from me!

Need another but sold out will buy another one next no one else here to steal it1

sdc100 wrote:PROS:

- AMAZING 12x OPTICAL zoom!

- Excellent quality lens by Leica, a very well-respected lens maker

- OPTICAL stablization as well as a hybrid mode combining optical and digital stabilzation. Unless you use a tripod, stabilization is crucial when zooming, and a necessity when you zoom 12x.

- Ability to Zoom in movie mode

CONS:

- It uses the very inefficient Motion JPEG CODEC. Many newer cameras now use H.264 compression, which is 4x more efficient. That means you can fit roughly 4x more video in the same amount of space at similar video quality when using H.264. MJPEG is old technology. Then again, it's much more universally playable, i.e. you can plop the file into many digitcal picture frames and play EXCEPT...

- Panasonic stupidly decided to use the Apple's Quicktime (MOV?) container. I don't know for sure if this is the case, but the description mentions Quicktime. That would usually mean MOV, although it may also mean the more universal MP4 container. MOV is a bad idea because it's not supported in the Windows world (inhabited by the vast majority of computer users). I know of no Free or Shareware Windows program that would allow you to edit MOVs, You'd normally have to convert before editing, which means a decrease in quality. And it's time consuming, considering that these cameras tend to have lots of separate clips. Furthermore, virtually no digital picture frame (besides those from Kodak) or DVD player support MOV, which means that you can't just plug in your SD card for playing on TV. Panasonic should have chosen AVI, which is much much more universal, or even MP4.

FVD Suite http://www.flashvideodownloader.org/fvd-suite/ is free software that converts MOV into Mp4 quickly and easily. I've been using it with not problems on my PC (Win7Pro).