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Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS40 compared to new Lumix ZS99

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GVCCBob

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I have owned for a long time a ZS40 which has been good for me. I had to repair it once replacing the display, but it has served me well. I am considering replacing it with the new ZS99. I am wondering if there are any new technological advances in the camera to warrant the purchase? They both are Lumix, so I assume the same operating technology. The newer Z99 does not have a viewfinder?

Comments?
 
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Would recommend doing a search for "Panasonic ZS99 review" (e.g. HERE) and read through at least three (3) reviews with some sample images you can download and compare with your ZS40 images.

For myself for the longer tele focal lengths I would want EVF.

I'm still using my old ZS50. Hope it lasts until there's some better options than the ZS99. :-|
 
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I own the UK version of ZS80D (TZ95D,) at longer focal lengths the evf is a must.

I am pretty happy with it as a daylight camera in the 80-1600 iso range.

above 1600 I use other cameras.
 
I think the biggest advantage of ZS99 is that it is in production
 
Hello, does the ZS99 present the same issue as the predecessor DC-ZS70 which has a very over sensitive On\Off button? I have a spoiled ZS70 which lens now does not totally project beyond around 100 mm due to the fact that it turned off by accident inside the bag and therefore the engine that projects the lens out got stuck. I love the camera but highly dislike this issue and before upgrading o the ZS99 I want to make sure the issue with the On\Off button is fixed.

Any advise?
 
I don't know how sensitive the power button is on the ZS99. It is a push button in the same location as the one on my ZS80 and ZS50. Looking at pictures, it looks the same as the button on the ZS70.

On my ZS50, I have accidentally pressed the power button while the camera was in a belt pouch, causing a disturbing sound of gears grinding. I did it a few times by accident. Fortunately my ZS50's lens never malfunctioned. It was just the zoom switch that malfunctioned on my ZS50, ZS20, ZS9, and FX500.

The power button on the more recent cameras is annoying because it's right next to, and the same size and shaoe as, the video recording button. I have accidentally pressed the wrong button before.

My favorite Lumix power switch was the sliding button on the ZS20. With that one, there was no mistake about whether or not the camera was on, and it was more difficult to accidentally activate it than the push buttons.
 
LumixCat said:
I don't know how sensitive the power button is on the ZS99. It is a push button in the same location as the one on my ZS80 and ZS50. Looking at pictures, it looks the same as the button on the ZS70.

On my ZS50, I have accidentally pressed the power button while the camera was in a belt pouch, causing a disturbing sound of gears grinding. I did it a few times by accident. Fortunately my ZS50's lens never malfunctioned. It was just the zoom switch that malfunctioned on my ZS50, ZS20, ZS9, and FX500.

The power button on the more recent cameras is annoying because it's right next to, and the same size and shaoe as, the video recording button. I have accidentally pressed the wrong button before.

My favorite Lumix power switch was the sliding button on the ZS20. With that one, there was no mistake about whether or not the camera was on, and it was more difficult to accidentally activate it than the push buttons.
Click to expand...
I love the sliding power buttons! And don't push buttons wear out over time? I'm finding this issue as I now have to push down harder to turn on my camera and at a specific point on the button which is really annoying! Soon I'll need to use a pen point to be able to turn my camera on and off!
 
OutsideTheMatrix said:
I love the sliding power buttons! And don't push buttons wear out over time?
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:-) ALL things will eventually wear out.

The majority of the Canon PowerShot cameras I own/ owned have/ had push type on/ off button.

The old PowerShot cameras I still have (SX50 HS, A710 IS, SX130 HS, SX110) and Panasonic cameras (ZS50, rebadge LF1 Leica C (Type C)) power button work just fine.

As to not pushing the power button when removing camera from case/ pouch I never put my finger at the power button location. Always place my thumb on back of camera side and my first two fingers on the font side of camera. By using the same method all the time just becomes a habit; no need to remember.
 
Jon_T said:
OutsideTheMatrix said:
I love the sliding power buttons! And don't push buttons wear out over time?
Click to expand...
:-) ALL things will eventually wear out.

The majority of the Canon PowerShot cameras I own/ owned have/ had push type on/ off button.

The old PowerShot cameras I still have (SX50 HS, A710 IS, SX130 HS, SX110) and Panasonic cameras (ZS50, rebadge LF1 Leica C (Type C)) power button work just fine.

As to not pushing the power button when removing camera from case/ pouch I never put my finger at the power button location. Always place my thumb on back of camera side and my first two fingers on the font side of camera. By using the same method all the time just becomes a habit; no need to remember.
Click to expand...
It makes me sad because after originally having swapped or sold my old gear, I no longer sell anything and keep older cameras (on the plus side the gear I sold can now be bought very cheaply on ebay.)

Do you find push buttons not to wear out if you press them a certain way (for example with the flat part underneath your finger vs with your finger nail?)
 
OutsideTheMatrix said:
Jon_T said:
OutsideTheMatrix said:
I love the sliding power buttons! And don't push buttons wear out over time?
Click to expand...
:-) ALL things will eventually wear out.

The majority of the Canon PowerShot cameras I own/ owned have/ had push type on/ off button.

The old PowerShot cameras I still have (SX50 HS, A710 IS, SX130 HS, SX110) and Panasonic cameras (ZS50, rebadge LF1 Leica C (Type C)) power button work just fine.

As to not pushing the power button when removing camera from case/ pouch I never put my finger at the power button location. Always place my thumb on back of camera side and my first two fingers on the font side of camera. By using the same method all the time just becomes a habit; no need to remember.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
<SNIP>
OutsideTheMatrix said:
... Do you find push buttons not to wear out if you press them a certain way (for example with the flat part underneath your finger vs with your finger nail?)
Click to expand...
Since 1999 with all the digital cameras I've own/ owned just use my finger; no problems with any push on/ off button.

AFAIK all the compact PowerShots including the recent G7 X cameras use the push on/ off button.
 
I have 2 Lumix ZS70, and both got the same issue with a very sensitive On\Off button. Both got the lens' engine spoiled, and at least one of the cameras can still work at a full zoom capacity, while the other only goes up to maybe 100mm zoom, which is frustrating. I would like to know if the fixing will be worth or if it will be better to replace the spoiled camera. I like the Zs99 but I am concerned about the On\Off button. On the other hand, I have been looking for other brands, like the Canon SX740HS but it is not available now, and the Nikon A1000 has been discontinued, so the choices for a small compact travel camera with a good zoom lens are not plenty
 
HectorMorales said:
I have 2 Lumix ZS70, and both got the same issue with a very sensitive On\Off button. Both got the lens' engine spoiled, and at least one of the cameras can still work at a full zoom capacity, while the other only goes up to maybe 100mm zoom, which is frustrating. I would like to know if the fixing will be worth or if it will be better to replace the spoiled camera. I like the Zs99 but I am concerned about the On\Off button. On the other hand, I have been looking for other brands, like the Canon SX740HS but it is not available now, and the Nikon A1000 has been discontinued, so the choices for a small compact travel camera with a good zoom lens are not plenty
Click to expand...
Sorry to read about what happened with your ZS70. Maybe you could find a replacement zoom motor somewhere online, or just keep it for donating spare parts if your other ZS70 breaks something.

After my ZS50 died last year, I had considered buying the Canon SX740HS or the Sony HX99. If you really want the SX740HS, you can put your email on a waiting list at B&H or Adorama. But before you buy it, check the owners manual.

A nice thing about the B&H website is that for any camera, if you scroll down, in the area below the accessories but above the reviews, there will be a link to the owners manual.

I was disappointed to read in the owners manual that the SX740HS doesn't have autoexposure bracketing. Instead, it has an "auto lighting optimizer", whatever that is. I use autoexposure bracketing a lot, especially when traveling so that I won't have to spend time adjusting photos later at the hotel. It also doesn't have have EVF, and doesn't save in RAW.

The HX99 doesn't do autofocus while shooting bursts. It only autofocuses for the first shot in a burst. That's not good for me since I take a lt of bird in flight pictures.

Eventually, I got lucky and was able to buy a ZS80, which has all of the features that I wanted. Unfortunately the ZS80 is discontinued, and the ZS99 doesn't have an EVF.
 
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Thanks for the response. I find it very useful, as you clarified a couple of points. First, maybe the Canon Powershot SX740HS is not such a good investment for me, because you mention it has no autobracketing, and I use that feature quite often to sandwich the pics in HDR

Then, as Nikon has not produced lately anything in the format of the A1000, Nikon is out of the question, which leaves me with the Lumix ZS99 or maybe a model a little bigger with a good zoom range.

I sincerely appreciate your answer.
 
You're welcome. I'm glad I could help. If you're looking for a camera in the same class as the ZS99, you can go to the B&H website, go to the point and shoot section, and filter for sensor size 1/2.3. That'll show you the ZS99 as well as its competitors.
 
HectorMorales said:
Thanks for the response. I find it very useful, as you clarified a couple of points. First, maybe the Canon Powershot SX740HS is not such a good investment for me, because you mention it has no autobracketing, and I use that feature quite often to sandwich the pics in HDR

Then, as Nikon has not produced lately anything in the format of the A1000, Nikon is out of the question, which leaves me with the Lumix ZS99 or maybe a model a little bigger with a good zoom range.

I sincerely appreciate your answer.
Click to expand...
But don't you have an HDR function built into the camera?

I find it hard to believe even an older camera would not have autobracketing, even my older Fuji cameras have it (as well as HDR) even in manual exposure mode!
 
Sometimes manufacturers intentionally leave out features in some cameras to make customers buy a more expensive camera with the desired features. For example, the Nikon D3000 series DSLRs don't have autoexposure bracketing and don't support high speed flash sync. The Nikon D5000 series DSLRs do have autoexposure bracketing, but don't support high speed sync. You'd have to buy a D7000 series DSLR to get both of those features. By the way, with Canon, even their cheapest DSLRs can do autoexposure bracketing and high speed sync.

Although many modern cameras have built in HDR, I don't like to use it because:

1. It can make some colors, especially skin colors, look weird and artificial.

2. Since it merges 3 images, if the subject moves, that can make the subject look weird.

3. It takes several seconds for the camera to finish processing the HDR file, so it makes the camera inoperable for several seconds.

I'd rather process HDR images later in Lightroom.

Also, when I'm taking pictures while traveling, I usually don't have much time to stop and fiddle with the camera since my travel companions get impatient if I take too long. Also, I don't want to spend too much time in the hotel room adjusting pictures. I'd rather just take a quick 3 shot burst with autoexposure bracketing, and then choose 1 out of the 3 pictures for sharing and backing up.
 
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LumixCat said:
Sometimes manufacturers intentionally leave out features in some cameras to make customers buy a more expensive camera with the desired features. For example, the Nikon D3000 series DSLRs don't have autoexposure bracketing and don't support high speed flash sync. The Nikon D5000 series DSLRs do have autoexposure bracketing, but don't support high speed sync. You'd have to buy a D7000 series DSLR to get both of those features. By the way, with Canon, even their cheapest DSLRs can do autoexposure bracketing and high speed sync.

Although many modern cameras have built in HDR, I don't like to use it because:

1. It can make some colors, especially skin colors, look weird and artificial.

2. Since it merges 3 images, if the subject moves, that can make the subject look weird.

3. It takes several seconds for the camera to finish processing the HDR file, so it makes the camera inoperable for several seconds.

I'd rather process HDR images later in Lightroom.

Also, when I'm taking pictures while traveling, I usually don't have much time to stop and fiddle with the camera since my travel companions get impatient if I take too long. Also, I don't want to spend too much time in the hotel room adjusting pictures. I'd rather just take a quick 3 shot burst with autoexposure bracketing, and then choose 1 out of the 3 pictures for sharing and backing up.
Click to expand...
How far apart do you bracket? I like bracketing even in manual exposure mode because sometimes the camera gets the metering wrong. I have a choice of 1/3 stop 2/3 stop and 1 stop and three shot bracketing.

The greed shown by camera companies maddens me. That's why I love that Panasonic includes the same features in their entire camera line. Olympus used to do the same thing until they started dumbing down their lower range cameras a few years ago. The last fully featured Pen lite was the E-PL8 and the last fully featured EM-10 was the Mark 2.
 
I do 1 stop, 3 shot bracketing.

Unfortunately, it seems that all cameras have done that to some extent, such as Panasonic's ZS99 omitting the ZS80's EVF.

Canon has dumbed down the R50 camera's hot shoe. It does not work with standard Canon flashes, and needs a special adapter.
 
It is great that this excellent company has finally produced a new ZS, extending it's very nice series (I own 3 ZSs). Yet, it is silly that it has produced a camera without a viewfinder. I have no better word for it: My old ZS3 and 5 did not have viewfinders, but these days I already have nice 2- & 3-lens Samsung phones that require me to still compromise and take quickie nice photos without a viewfinder -I don't need any more such devices. This new issue should have required a different series label, perhaps SZS or NZS. Or will future ZSs now be competing with phones, perhaps marketed as upgrades to phones? Maybe this is to justify or buttress or even raise recent prices of used ZS80s: the ZS99 cannot compete with it for this long-term Panasonic user.
 
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