Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS20

Bottom line

It's one of the cheapest and tiniest rugged/waterproof cameras you can buy, but the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS20 gets mixed reviews. Many owners -- and some reliable experts -- highly recommend it as an affordable way to capture your pool, beach and ski memories. Others disagree. They say the TS20's photos look too shabby -- and some unhappy owners say their cameras sprung a leak on the very first day.

Rugged/waterproof cameras usually cost $300 or more. If photo quality is your top priority, you should spring for one of those, experts say. If you don't plan to abuse your camera, reviewers prefer the Canon PowerShot A4000 IS (*Est. $130) and step-up Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX150 (*Est. $220).

Ease of use

Slim, light and easy, although the LCD screen isn't the best. It's tiny for a tough camera. The Panasonic TS20 weighs 5 ounces and is three-quarters of an inch thick -- no bigger than a regular pocket cam.

"New users should have no trouble operating the TS20," says Christopher Snow at DigitalCameraInfo.com. It has just a few buttons, laid out in the usual way for a pocket cam, he says, "although the labeling is engraved and practically illegible."

The 2.7-inch LCD screen is a little smaller than most, but it's bright enough to see in any kind of light, "including direct sunlight and underwater," say testers at Steves-Digicams.com. Snow says it's hard to see at an angle, though, and another source rates the screen only fair.

Testers quickly find their favorite features. At Steves-Digicams.com, it's the handy one-touch video record button. Snow likes the fast-responding menu.

"The TS20's menu system isn't particularly well designed or thought out," Snow says, but "it's so fast and responsive that this almost doesn't matter. ... You'll never have to wait around for the camera to finish thinking."

Performance

Not the greatest photo quality -- but some reviews say it's good enough. Three out of four owners on Amazon.com say they are happy to have found an inexpensive camera that can go underwater and take some abuse.

"The pictures have turned out great (as long as your expectations are in the right place)," one Panasonic TS20 owner writes at Amazon.com. "What I mean is that if you want professional landscape photography, get a different camera, but if you want a durable camera for vacations to capture the essence of the memories that you are making, then I think this camera is what you are looking for."

Some pros agree. One respected testing agency names the TS20 a Best Buy rugged camera. So does Steves-Digicams.com. Testers there say the TS20's outdoor and indoor photos look nice, with realistic colors.

Other pros disagree. The TS20 "succeeds as a cheap and rugged device, but fails as a camera," says Snow at DigitalCameraInfo.com. Colors are especially inaccurate, he says. Despite the camera's 16.1 megapixels, photos aren't very sharp, and they suffer from a lot of distortion and grainy "noise."

PhotographyBlog.com's Mark Goldstein can't get past the "disappointingly poor image quality," either. PCMag.com's Jim Fisher strikes a middle ground: He agrees that the photos are soft, but he points out that you probably won't notice unless you're printing large photos.

Speed is OK. The Panasonic TS20 starts up faster than most cheapies -- 2 seconds in PCMag.com's test -- with very little shutter lag and moderate dead time between shots. It can shoot a little more than one frame per second (fps) at full resolution, or eight fps at reduced resolution -- "and so far they have come out incredible," one owner writes at Amazon.com. "I recently went cliff jumping and got some really good progressive shots of people falling in the air."

Video is OK in most tests, too -- not great. It's HD, but only 720p (not full 1080). "The footage is sharp, albeit a little grainy," Fisher says. Steves-Digicams.com says it's "enjoyable to watch either on a computer or TV," with smooth playback and good exposure and color. The microphone does pick up every little bit of noise, though, testers say -- especially wind noise. You can use the optical zoom while you film, but you'll hear the motor on your audio.

Battery life is rated at 250 shots per charge, better than many ultra-cheap cameras. "We were able to capture over 120 images and several short videos without having to worry about the battery dying," Steves-Digicams.com says.

Durability

Some reviews say it really is shockproof and waterproof -- but others report failures. This is the Panasonic TS20's claim to fame. It promises to withstand a 5-foot drop, stay waterproof down to 16 feet and freezeproof to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, and still remain dustproof.

Sixteen-foot waterproofing "will get you a long way down, certainly more than most pools and probably enough for some light snorkeling or scuba diving," says Snow at DigitalCameraInfo.com. "Freezeproofing down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit will be sufficient for relatively warm ski days, while the dust and shock resistance mean you won't spend as much time worrying about the camera's safety."

The TS20 does survive a 5-foot drop in Steves-Digicams.com's test. It keeps working during an aquarium dunk, too, although a few drops seep behind the waterproof seal -- "more than we like to see."

Real-world tests are the best -- and they're mixed.

Plenty of owners report no problems. "It has survived waterfall hikes, ocean waves, throwing back and forth between friends in a pool, and even diving down to about 15 feet during a snorkeling trip," one owner writes at Amazon.com. "Salt water was not an issue at all, just rinse and let dry."

Others say it survives surfing ("heard it knock against my board multiple times") and dropping into sand. "All the cracks had sand in them, so I was a little worried. I just filled my sink with water and sat the camera in it for about 10 minutes, and all the sand just fell off."

Still, plenty say the TS20 leaked and died, often on the first use. About one in four owners at Amazon.com downgrades the TS20, usually because it wasn't as tough as it claims.

Features

Short 4x zoom and few extras. You don't get many extra goodies on the Panasonic TS20, reviews say. The 4x optical zoom (shorter than the typical 5x zoom) works well, thanks to an image stabilizer that's "better than many cameras," according to one test. It compensates for shaky hands, so zoomed-in shots don't turn out blurry.

Otherwise, "scene modes are typical, with options like Portrait, Food, Sunset, Pet, and two varieties of dedicated Baby modes," says Snow at DigitalCameraInfo.com. "There's nothing here that can't be found on another camera. As for picture effects, there is only one: the highly fashionable Miniature Effect."

The TS20 comes with A/V and USB cables. As with most under-$150 cameras, there's no HDMI jack for easy viewing on an HDTV.