Lumix zs60 vs zs100 vs ?

adamsdp wrote:

I am debating about getting a new camera and/or upgrading my phone to get a better camera. I have a DSLR that I rarely carry on walks and would like something small that will fit in a pocket with a zoom for bird photography.

I was originally leaning towards the Lumix zs100 with it's 1" sensor and 10x zoom. It is about the only camera I have found small enough to fit in a pocket with a decent zoom and 1" sensor. The Lumix zs60k has a smaller sensor (1/2.3") but a wider zoom - 30x. The larger sensor of the zs100 seems to have more advantages than the wider zoom of the zs60 in general, but I am thinking that the long zoom of the zs60 will make it a better chioce for bird photography. From what I can gather in reading online, wide angle general purpose photos may come out better from a good phone camera than either of these choices so having the zs60 with it's long zoom may make better sense to complement a cell phone camera.

I don't have a lot of knowledge about cropping, but would cropping images from the zs100 to adjust for the difference in sensor size give the same magnification as from the zs60? If so, would there be disadvantages in doing this?

I will be upgrading my phone in the next year and read reviews of the Galaxy S21 which has three camera sensors - wide angle, 3x and 10x I believe. The broader question, I am wondering is whether either of these camera's are going to be enough of an improvement over a good cell phone camera to justify the purchase. It seems that the longer zooms will be the biggest advantage over a cell phone camera from what I know. Any advice will be appreciated!

One must take a bit of care when dealing with cell phone cameras. The specifications may not always live up to their hype. As an example, I have a Samsung A51 phone. Admittedly this is nowhere near the top of the line as phones go. Supposedly this phone can do both 25MP and 12 MP photos. Indeed, if you count pixels, all the pixels are there. But, while viewing photos normally, they look great, but diving in closer, things degrade rapidly.

As an example, here are two shots taken with the phone at 25 MP resolution and at 12 MP resolution.

25 MP Phone

12 MP phone

Compare that with a lowly 14MP shot from a ZS19.

ZS19 14MP

If you want better resolution here's an RX10iv shot:

RX10iv 20 MP

Theoretically, the 25MP phone should have more resolution than my 20MP camera. That didn't happen.

My phone photos are very over sharpened and have lots of artifacts. Now I cannot attest if the higher quality Samsung phones will do better or not. And you mentioned photos at wide angle, the above shots were wide angle. My point being the phone did not deliver the expected quality level the specifications seemed to promise.

The ZS60 is 18MP. The ZS100 is 20MP. Not much difference in resolution. If you crop the ZS100 to emulate a longer zoom, you will find yourself with very few pixels left. You might get about 20% more "zoom" by cropping, but beyond that, forget it.

The ZS60 will do a great job in good light with excellent reach for bird shots. As the light fades, and your ISO starts to climb, IQ will start to fail. ISO 800 or so will probably be your upper limit, depending upon your noise tolerance.

The ZS100 with it's 1" sensor will do better in lower light, as you can crank up the ISO considerably more before the IQ starts to falter. Typical 1" sensor cameras can hit ISO's of 2400 or possibly 3200 before things get iffy. It just does not have the reach.

I think the ZS60 will serve you better for birding.

You need to decide what aspects are most important to you. Or, get one of each.