Panasonic – LUMIX ZS100 1-inch 20.1-Megapixel Sensor Point and Shoot Digital Camera with LEICA DC 10X Lens – DMC-ZS100K – Black

This camera has all the features I have wanted for some time, and is within my budget. It is a premium travel camera that has a 1-inch sensor with 20-Million pixels, a very good Leica lens with a 10X optical zoom, and very good optical image stabilization. It comes equipped with a 3-inch touch-screen that allows a host of controls directly. It has very good automatic image control, that makes the camera very easy to use. It also allows one a host of means for manual control, and facilitates this with a control ring on the barrel of the lens and a dial on the top of the camera – and each of these can be user selected for different exposure controls. The camera is small and compact – easily placed in a jacket pocket. It is unintrusive – important for candid shots. I carry it with me on my daily walks, something I would not do with my larger cameras.
The attached photos of a deer family and of a cardinal were each taken at 10X optical zoom, with automatic image control. The camera was handheld, and indicate the quality of the optical image stabilization. The sun rise photo was taken at maximum wide angle, again with automatic image control.
Some accessories I would suggest include:
– SanDisk – Extreme PRO 128 GB SDXC Memory Card
– Case Logic – Era Camera Pouch
– Spare battery (DMW-BLG10PP)
– “Photographer’s Guide to the Panasonic ZS100/TZ100” by
Alexander S. White
I highly recommend this camera to all!

Purchased this LUMIX camera after reviewing other similar cameras. Particularly like the anti shake and zoom features. Has touch screen and am still learning more features of the camera. Wanted the higher megapixels.

I have a Canon 6D and a wide array of lenses, which are great, but too heavy to carry around on a daily basis. Finally got tired of inferior mobile phone photos so decided to pick up a bridge camera that can fit in my pocket and produces decent quality images. Researched the current line of advanced point & shoots and settled on the ZS100 because image quality appears comparable to the others and it has a 10x zoom, which makes it more versatile.
Obviously image quality of a 1″ sensor is not up to full frame standards, but I’ve found it much better than my mobile phone and unless I pixel peep, can produce images that are very acceptable.
The biggest benefit I’ve found is that it has expanded my ability to be creative and capture images that I wouldn’t have taken before. Generally I use a tripod with my DSLR, which takes time to set up. The ZS100 allows me to shoot quickly and hand-hold shots from various angles with surprisingly good results.
The only negative I feel is the difficulty in controlling ISO, aperture and shutter speed. Maybe its just a matter of getting used to the controls, but I would have preferred separate controls like what’s offered with the LX100. I was very tempted to get the LX100 except for the slightly larger size and limited zoom range.
All in all, I’m pleased with the ZS100 and look forward to using it as my casual go-to camera.