Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ1

Bottom line

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ1 is one of the tiniest, cheapest cameras you can buy with a 10x zoom lens. Photos and videos look good, too. In fact, a leading testing organization judges it one of the best subcompact digital cameras you can buy.

Still, if you're looking for a long zoom in a tiny body, the top pick Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX150 (*Est. $220) outclasses them all. It shoots faster, reacts more snappily and comes loaded with features you won't find on the Panasonic SZ1, plus it has higher-resolution photos and better-quality video that looks like you shot it with a camcorder.

The Panasonic SZ1 could be a longer-zoom alternative to cheaper cameras like the 8x-zoom Canon PowerShot A4000 IS (*Est. $130). But the Panasonic isn't much better otherwise, and it hasn't been as extensively tested as the Canon, which proves consistently solid in test after test. We found only two reliable sources that have thoroughly and independently tested the Panasonic SZ1.

Ease of use

Tiny and simple -- just be sure to wear the wrist strap. Despite its big zoom lens, the Panasonic SZ1 is very tiny and slim: 9/10ths of an inch thick and less than 5 ounces.

Wear the included wrist strap, though -- the SZ1 can slip out of your grasp easily. "There is no grip on the front of the camera and just an area of raised dots on the back," says Joshua Waller at EPhotoZine.com. Richard Baguley at DigitalCameraInfo.com says it feels secure in his hand, but he -- like Waller -- recommends using the strap just in case.

Otherwise, the SZ1 is very easy to use, one top source says. Baguley agrees: "This compact package fits well into the hand, with the shutter falling under the index finger, and the zoom control that is around it being easy to reach. The on-off switch just beyond this is easy to reach as well, so you can quickly turn the camera on and start shooting."

Just a few buttons and the usual shooting modes (one full-auto and a couple of slightly-less-auto) make the SZ1 beginner-friendly. A one-touch video record button is a nice touch, Baguley says -- no fiddling with the menu when you want to shoot a video.

The 3-inch LCD screen looks good, one source says -- again, just about average for the class. It automatically adjusts its brightness to match its surroundings. "We found that this worked well, but the image did get somewhat washed out in direct sunlight," Baguley says.

Performance

Very good photos and good video for the price. The Panasonic's 16.1-megapixel photos look very good – even in flash photos, one top source says. Grainy image "noise" does rear its head in low light, and the flash doesn't have a very long range, but that's par for the cheap-camera course.

It's pretty quick for a sub-$200 camera, too. Waller manages to start up and shoot in just 1.7 seconds -- "very fast ... much better than most models," another source says. Shot-to-shot delays drag on a bit, though -- 1.2 seconds without the flash or 2.1 seconds with it in Waller's test.

If you plan to shoot fast action, Panasonic says the SZ1 can rattle off a rapid-fire burst of 10 frames per second (fps), but only if you knock resolution down to 3 megapixels. Waller manages 7.5 fps in his test. If you want full-resolution photos, expect only 1.3 fps.

Video shoots in HD, but only 720p (not full 1080). Quality is good in a leading test -- about average for a subcompact camera. Audio sounds good too, but if you zoom while you're filming you'll hear the zoom motor on your movie.

Battery life is rated at 250 shots per charge. Waller manages more than 300 shots before the battery conks out in his test.

Durability

Few complaints about sturdiness. EPhotoZine.com lists the Panasonic SZ1's metal body as a pro. However, we found no expert tests that judge the SZ1's toughness.

Owners are usually silent, too. One Amazon.com customer says the SZ1's "metal body feels very sturdy and very well made." But another says the "body feels a little 'plastic-y.'"

Another Amazon.com customer writes a glowing review of the SZ1 -- but then amends it a few months later. "Bad news, my screen broke. Must be fragile as I did not drop my camera. Very disappointed."

Still, in more than 50 reviews at Amazon.com, only one other owner says the SZ1 broke. In that case, the lens cover refused to open after a few months.

Features

10x zoom looks fantastic. Experts and owners zoom in close with the Panasonic SZ1's 10x lens -- and come away impressed. "I found myself saying 'Wow' many times after taking some test shots," one owner writes at Amazon.com. Extra digital zoom boosts the length to 20x -- and even that works well, one owner says, adding that " it fails miserably and is a joke on every other camera I`ve tried it on. Other digital zooms are better described as 'the distorted pixelation button,' so I have no idea what voodoo magic they invoked to make their digital zoom actually look decent in most cases."

Another owner agrees. "I can stand 20 feet away from my front door and the zoom on the camera can make it look like I'm taking a picture of the doorknob from a foot away. The optical zoom is, of course, crystal clear, but even the 20x digital zoom looks wonderful compared to many other cameras or cell phone cameras I've used before. No more grainy, pixelated junk pictures filling up my memory card just because I was trying to capture something far away!"

The Panasonic SZ1 also has a very good image stabilizer to compensate for shaky hands while you're zoomed way in, one expert source notes. This keeps your close-ups from turning out blurry.

Like most pocket cams, the Panasonic SZ1 offers a bunch of Scene modes (the camera picks the right settings for situations like Night Scenery, Sunset, Portrait, etc.) and a few special effects you can add to your photos (like Black and White, Sepia and Vivid).

You can shoot panoramic photos, too, simply by holding down the shutter button and sweeping the camera across the scene. The camera shoots a bunch of photos and stitches them together seamlessly into one panoramic shot. This works well in Waller's test at EPhotoZine.com.

A mini HDMI jack lets you view your videos and photos easily on an HDTV. The Panasonic SZ1 also has a combination A/V-USB jack.