JACK’S CAMERA REVIEWS UPDATE 2 JULY 2011

JACK’S CAMERA REVIEWS UPDATE 2 JULY 2011
Hi,
Another new camera now in stock,
PANASONIC LUMIX DMC-TZ8 CAMERA BLACK
Another great camera from Panasonic featuring the Leica DC Vario-Elmar lens. This camera is part of the very impressive Panasonic super-zoom range of digital cameras. The 12x optical leica lens has a zoom range that is the focal length of 25mm to 300mm (in 35mm terms). During my testing of the camera I found this range very useful, the wide angle 25mm was great for landscapes etc and the 300mm full zoom was great for reaching those more distant subjects. This focal length is actually what I use for a lot of my wildlife photography. I’m not suggesting that it is as sharp as my Canon 300mm 2.8L series lens. But then you don’t need a second mortgage and a very understanding wife to buy this camera either!! All joking aside I was very impressed with the printed results from this camera at both ends of the lens focal length. The Leica lens produced crisp, sharp images at 25mm, which were exactly what I was looking at on the screen when I took the pictures, The meaturing appeared to be accurate and the colours were superb. I particularly like the lack of noise (grain) on the prints that I did. At the other end of the lens (300mm) the results were some of the best I have seen on a camera of the class and price. Not quite as sharp as the 25mm end but not far off at all. I liked the ‘depth’ of the images and how well it coped with shadow areas. The focus was quick and accurate during my test and I found it easy to take macro (close up) shots with the camera. Again the results were sharp and accurately exposed. I like that you can override the flash, which of course you don’t always need or want for macro work. The optical image stabiliser performed well during my test, to help keep images blur free. The TZ8 records 1280x720HD video at 30fps. I also tried all the programs including Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual exposure modes. This is a great compact camera which has everything you need to be more creative with your photography, but also does everything for you with full auto and intelligent auto if you want it to. If you don’t want to go down the SLR route and carry lots of kit and heavy lenses this is a great alternative. I certainly wouldn’t mind having it in my kit bag.
Features
Camera Effective Pixels
12.1 Megapixels
Optical Zoom 12x
Focal Length f=4.1-49.2mm (25-300mm in 35mm equiv.)
Extra Optical Zoom (EZ) 14.7x (4:3 / 8M), 18.8x (4:3 / 5M), 23.4x (under 3M)
Intelligent Zoom 16x
Lens LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR / 10 elements in 8 groups / (2 Aspherical Lenses / 3 Aspherical surfaces / 2 ED lenses)
29 scene modes Yes
Optical Image Stabilizer Power O.I.S. (Off / Auto / Mode1 / Mode2)
Digital Zoom 4x / ( Max. 48.0 x combined with Optical Zoom without Extra Optical Zoom ) / (Max. 93.8 x combined with Extra Optical Zoom) Focus
3” SCREEN
Normal / Macro, Zoom Macro, Quick AF On/Off (On in Intelligent Auto), Continuous AF On/Off, AF Tracking

I look forward to seeing you; don’t forget you can take test pictures with any camera you are looking at, which I will print instantly for you to. I also set up every camera sold with my customers and show them how to use it.
Thanks
Jack
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