An Early Present To Myself

~ beetleypete

I bought myself an early Christmas present, and didn’t have to wait until the 25th to unwrap it. Always keen to expand my digital camera collection, I have currently been trying to find small cameras that I can carry around easily when I am out walking with Ollie.

Not long ago, I bought a second-hand Panasonic LX100 that fits nicely into a coat pocket. I have been pleased with it so far, so explored the range further. I found an immaculate used Panasonic TZ70 silver version, advertised as boxed with all accessories and instructions. The price was around a third of what it cost new in late 2015-2016. It arrived this morning, and is in first-class condition, as promised. In fact, it shows no signs of use whatsoever.

As well as a rear screen, it also has an electronic viewfinder, albeit a very small one.

The control ring on the front can be set to perform an operation of choice, whether to change aperture, white balance, or exposure compensation. As you can see, it does lack the range of knobs and dials that I usually prefer, but there is a reason for that.

It is VERY small!

It is actually small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, and is barely half the size of my Oppo smartphone. The downside of this is that some of the controls and buttons are fiddly to use, even with my small hands. It came with a dedicated wrist strap that doesn’t even fit over my wrist.

Yes, we are talking small!

However, this diminuitive digital camera launched in 2015 has two huge selling points. Like the LX100, the lens is manufactured by Leica. Unlike the LX100, it packs a massive 30 times zoom into the small body, offering a range from 24mm-720mm. (Equivalent) The compromise for this is the sensor, which is only a modest 1/2.3, the same as the one on my Fuji X30.

To help with the very long telephoto range five-axis stabilisation is built in, and as well as most features you might expect from a modern digital camera, it can also shoot video in 4K resolution. Add numerous effects filters, a tiny built-in flash, various focusing and exposure modes, and Panasonic really threw everything into such a small package.

Once I have charged it up and adjusted the settings, I will take some photos and let you know what I think of it in use.

63 thoughts on “An Early Present To Myself”

    1. I only use my phone sometimes for video, and i bought a special clamp handle for that.. I find it fiddly to hold, and prefer a viewfinder to looking at a screen. But I know that most social media photos are taken on phones, probably the majority of them. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  12. Wonderful, Pete! Thanks for the review! I just bought a Lumix FZ300 based on a number of blogger’s recommendations, when it seemed like my Sony RX10 was failing earlier this year. I tried it for the first time yesterday and already love it, though I still have much to learn. I bought it for the longer zoom and as a backup to my RX10. I’ll look into the LX100 for my next pocket size camera! I love that it also has a long zoom!

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    1. I have charged it up, and it seems to be working well. I just need to adjust all the settings, get some good light, and I will be taking photos. One downside is that the tiny size does make it tricky to hold, but the lens appears to be sharp, so I am happy so far, given the price.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. They make sacrifices with the maximum and minimum apertures, and use a smaller sensor. But it’s a useful range nonetheless, and has most apertures I need for everyday photography. I have other cameras with larger maximum and minimum apertures if I need them, David. This new one is ideal for carrying around in a pocket, especially as it is a lot smaller than a smartphone. (Though thicker of course.)
      Best wishes, Pete.

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        1. I bought a Canon T90 film camera a while back. But I haven’t used it, as it’s mainly just ‘to have it’. 🙂
          (I have a lot of film cameras stored in the loft. Some go back to the late 1920s. I couldn’t be bothered to fiddle with roll film and developing, but they are lovely to look at. Or were, when I had them on display!)

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  18. I have the same camera but I am not sufficiently knowledgeable to get the best out of it. I wanted a stronger zoom so I got another camera and that is the one I mostly use as going back and frth with 2 cameras is more confusion than I can deal with. I think I must go back to the Lumix for a bit as I do like it.

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  22. Congratulations! Great camera. The features look a bit like those of my Nikon A1000, but the Nikon seems to be somewhat bigger. It still fits into my pockets, though. I just got myself an remote for it, plus a flexible arm with a suction cup to mount it on the inside of our truck’s windshield. I hipe I can take videos with it now while driving. That is something I really wanted to do on many of our travels. I did some on our last one, but it wasn’t easy to even hold my cell phone with outstretched arms for a longer time. I’m really curious if that arrangement will work.
    Have a great Sunday,
    Pit

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