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Finally succumbed to the lure of the TZ60...

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Cyril Catt

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... after months of fairly positive reports by early adopters - for which, many thanks to all! - and after Australian prices began to drop.

So far, I'm delighted. It will be an excellent complement to my LX7.

I'm also surprised to find that it also includes, unmentioned in any PR blurb, the LX7's capability for 10x speeded up time lapse videos. See
 
Hi Cyril, I'm glad you're enjoying your TZ60. I've just returned from a weeks holiday on Anglesey (North West corner of Wales in the UK) and I must admit I'm just blown away with the results I have achieved. Admittedly, pixel peepers aren't going to be fantastically impressed, but for what I want, a record of the family holiday to show on Apple TV, neither my EOS 7D nor my GH2 would have done a better job! I shoot RAW + JPEG and use Lightroom 5.4 to process the Raw files which produces much better results than straight JPEGs, even shots taken at ISO 800 are reasonable when processed through Lightroom.

Dave.
 
Glad you're enjoying it. Have you tried the 720mm end of zoom? I was surprised at how usable it it is, thanks to the improved IS. After the marathon in Spain with TZ60/LX7 and FZ200, I'll just be taking the TZ60 to Florida, with 3 batteries I'm not even taking a charger.
 
DaveyBee said:
Hi Cyril, I'm glad you're enjoying your TZ60. I've just returned from a weeks holiday on Anglesey (North West corner of Wales in the UK) and I must admit I'm just blown away with the results I have achieved. Admittedly, pixel peepers aren't going to be fantastically impressed, but for what I want, a record of the family holiday to show on Apple TV, neither my EOS 7D nor my GH2 would have done a better job! I shoot RAW + JPEG and use Lightroom 5.4 to process the Raw files which produces much better results than straight JPEGs, even shots taken at ISO 800 are reasonable when processed through Lightroom.

Dave.
Click to expand...
how do you process them in lightroom do you just apply a auto setting? i would like to do what you are doing but do not wish to spend hours at it just dump them in let it do its thing and get a JPEG output to keep/print..

are the results a lot different results from RAW from camera and then altered would be appreciated if you get time
 
DaveyBee said:
DaveyBee wrote: Hi Cyril, I'm glad you're enjoying your TZ60. I've just returned from a weeks holiday on Anglesey (North West corner of Wales in the UK) and I must admit I'm just blown away with the results I have achieved. Admittedly, pixel peepers aren't going to be fantastically impressed, but for what I want, a record of the family holiday to show on Apple TV, neither my EOS 7D nor my GH2 would have done a better job! I shoot RAW + JPEG and use Lightroom 5.4 to process the Raw files which produces much better results than straight JPEGs, even shots taken at ISO 800 are reasonable when processed through Lightroom. Dave.
Click to expand...
Hi Dave, with wet and windy weather for the few days I've had the TZ60, I've not been able to carry out any real tests. But what I have done shows that it has a better IS system than my Canon TX1, my best long zoom travel camera for the last 6 years (and still a very robust travel accessory, with particularly good macro). But the TZ60's zoom range is greater, and it has several other modes that give it more scope than the TX1. It should be an excellent complement to the LX7, able to take over the distant and daylight subjects, whilst the LX7, with a fast 18mm accessory lens, is best for the wider and dimmer scenes.

Although I am unlikely to make much greater use of the availability of raw files, I recognise that they provide additional scope in difficult circumstances.
 
windmillgolfer said:
windmillgolfer wrote: Glad you're enjoying it. Have you tried the 720mm end of zoom? I was surprised at how usable it it is, thanks to the improved IS. After the marathon in Spain with TZ60/LX7 and FZ200, I'll just be taking the TZ60 to Florida, with 3 batteries I'm not even taking a charger. -- Stuart
Click to expand...
windmillgolfer said:
Also at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dieselgolfer/ Mr Ichiro Kitao, please upgrade the FZ50
Click to expand...
Thanks, Stuart. I've only had it for a few wet and windy days, so I'm looking forward for a better opportunity to reproduce Erik Ohlson's comparison with the Canon TX1, which seemed to yield a sharper result at 720mm equivalent. But the TZ60's IS IS undoubtedly better. So I'll be taking it to Japan later this year - with the LX7 and 18mm accessory, though I won't risk doing so without the charger.
 
Hi Cyril, you're spot on, that's a really good combination, although, if you give the TZ60 it's head in low light, you might be surprised by the results. I shoot with Auto iISO with the top ISO limit set to 800 and get pretty decent results, albeit with a bit of processing in Lightroom to reduce the inevitable noise you get at ISO 800.

Have a look at my recent post with some holiday snaps from around Anglesey & North Wales - http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/53822951

Dave.
 
Hi there. I have what I think is a pretty good set of defaults saved as a preset so that most of the work is done for me when I import my Raw files. I have exported the preset for you to try, but I have yet to work out how to get it to you as attaching it to this reply is not allowed (I did try... honest).

Dave.
 
Sounding very enticing!

Love the video clip too!
 
Cyril Catt said:
I've only had it for a few wet and windy days, so I'm looking forward for a better opportunity to reproduce Erik Ohlson's comparison with the Canon TX1, which seemed to yield a sharper result at 720mm equivalent.
Click to expand...

What value is there in comparing a TZ60/ZS40 to a Canon TX1, Cyril? They aren't the same class of camera. Even if the TX1 at 390mm scales up to better IQ than the TZ60 at 720mm, the widest the TX1 goes is 39mm, which would kill any interest I might ever have had in it, not to mention its limited feature set compared to the TZ60.

BTW, where can I find Erik's comparison?
 
Gordon W said:
Gordon W wrote: Cyril Catt wrote: I've only had it for a few wet and windy days, so I'm looking forward for a better opportunity to reproduce Erik Ohlson's comparison with the Canon TX1, which seemed to yield a sharper result at 720mm equivalent.

What value is there in comparing a TZ60/ZS40 to a Canon TX1, Cyril? They aren't the same class of camera. Even if the TX1 at 390mm scales up to better IQ than the TZ60 at 720mm, the widest the TX1 goes is 39mm, which would kill any interest I might ever have had in it, not to mention its limited feature set compared to the TZ60.

BTW, where can I find Erik's comparison? -- Regards, Gordon_

Photography since 1950 • Digital since 1999 My online photo galleries
Click to expand...
Gordon, obviously the ZS40 and Canon TX1 are chalk and cheese. They are completely different formats, and there's some 6 years of technological development separating them. But the TX1 was an innovation when introduced, so there is some value in comparing the progress that has been made since then.

At the time the TX1 was introduced, there were relatively few p&s cameras with wide lenses, so I was keen to pair it with models such as the LX3. And though the TX1's widest setting is 39mm, the narrow angle, combined with its remarkably close super-macro focus, still appears to renders it much better suited to photographing small subjects than the current crop of models with lenses so wide that their close-up photos of small objects require considerable cropping to remove extraneous surroundings.

I had noticed that Erik does a rough check on the performance of his new cameras by shooting the same scene from the same place in his back yard. When he posted his shots for the ZS40, I took advantage of screen grabs of his previous posts to compare shots from the ZS19, ZS25, Canon TX1, and the ZS40 at zoom settings of about 720mm equivalent. Clearly, shots taken at different times of day, in different seasons and lighting conditions can only give a rough comparison, but my montage of crops from the same part of the target area, shown at the same relative size, appear to give the advantage to the TX1 (using 'Enhanced Digital Zoom') compared to the ZS40. Which is why, now that I have a TZ60 and a TX1, I would like to repeat the comparison in side by side conditions to see whether it leads to a similar conclusion.

The original comparison is at <http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/53377412>

--

Cyril
 
Yes, Dave, I'm interested to see how the special Mode settings work in poor light, and to find out whether the control ring/control dial suits my needs. It usually takes me a few months to sort out what I can do, and what I prefer to do, with a new camera with this many capabilities.

Thanks for the vicarious tour of Anglesey. (I memorised Llanfair PG when I was 12, though I suspect my Welsh Grandma (whom I never met) would be appalled by my pronunciation)
 
Hi Cyril, I've yet to experiment with the modes and so far I've only used the camera on Program or Panorama with Auto iISO and it's not given me an unrecoverable photo.

As an aside, my roots are also Welsh (albeit Southern), but any pronunciation of the full Llanfair PG is going to be better than any of my attempts - one up to you! :-D

Dave.
 
21st Hermit said:
Can you point to it in the advanced manual, did a search.
Cyril Catt said:
I'm also surprised to find that it also includes, unmentioned in any PR blurb, the LX7's capability for 10x speeded up time lapse videos. See
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
From the LX7 Advanced Manual, Page 71: Creative Control - Miniature Effect:

When a motion picture is recorded, the finished recording will be approximately 1/10th
of the actual recorded time period. (If you record a motion picture for 10 minutes,
the resulting motion picture recording time will be approximately 1 minute.) The
recordable time displayed on the camera is approx. 10x longer than actual time
needed for recording. When the recording mode is changed, be sure to check the
recordable time.

So, it's true that the capability is there, but poorly documented as this in no way says it results in time lapse video!

--

Bruce
You learn something new every time you press the shutter
 
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Using the Scene Mode "SCN" on the Main Dial, I found one labeled "High Speed Video" with a text description: "Slow Motion High Speed Recording", perhaps that is the mysterious setting? I'll do a test.

No mention of miniature in the manual.
kkardster said:
21st Hermit said:
Can you point to it in the advanced manual, did a search.
Cyril Catt said:
I'm also surprised to find that it also includes, unmentioned in any PR blurb, the LX7's capability for 10x speeded up time lapse videos. See
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
From the LX7 Advanced Manual, Page 71: Creative Control - Miniature Effect:

When a motion picture is recorded, the finished recording will be approximately 1/10th
of the actual recorded time period. (If you record a motion picture for 10 minutes,
the resulting motion picture recording time will be approximately 1 minute.) The
recordable time displayed on the camera is approx. 10x longer than actual time
needed for recording. When the recording mode is changed, be sure to check the
recordable time.

So, it's true that the capability is there, but poorly documented as this in no way says it results in time lapse video!

--

Bruce
You learn something new every time you press the shutter
Click to expand...
 
21st Hermit said:
Using the Scene Mode "SCN" on the Main Dial, I found one labeled "High Speed Video" with a text description: "Slow Motion High Speed Recording", perhaps that is the mysterious setting? I'll do a test.

No mention of miniature in the manual.
kkardster said:
21st Hermit said:
Can you point to it in the advanced manual, did a search.
Cyril Catt said:
I'm also surprised to find that it also includes, unmentioned in any PR blurb, the LX7's capability for 10x speeded up time lapse videos. See
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
From the LX7 Advanced Manual, Page 71: Creative Control - Miniature Effect:

When a motion picture is recorded, the finished recording will be approximately 1/10th
of the actual recorded time period. (If you record a motion picture for 10 minutes,
the resulting motion picture recording time will be approximately 1 minute.) The
recordable time displayed on the camera is approx. 10x longer than actual time
needed for recording. When the recording mode is changed, be sure to check the
recordable time.

So, it's true that the capability is there, but poorly documented as this in no way says it results in time lapse video!

--

Bruce
You learn something new every time you press the shutter
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
The High Speed (slow motion) Video is actually a quite different feature to the Miniature Effect.

The Miniature Effect for the ZS40 is described under the Creative Effects on p116 of the ZS40 manual: "Miniature Effect: This effect blurs peripheral areas to give the impression of a diorama." Then it says:

"When a motion picture is recorded, the finished recording will be approximately 1/10th of the actual recorded time period. (If you record a motion picture for 10 minutes, the resulting motion picture recording time will be approximately 1 minute.) The recordable time displayed on the camera is approx. 10x longer than actual time needed for recording. No audio is recorded for motion pictures."

Ian

--
Ianperegian
http://www.ianperegian.com/
 
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