Panasonic Lumix Rugged/waterproof Review

[kja]

It's called the TS2 in the US and something else here I can't remember, sorry!

I've just put my hands on this camera so this is going to be one of those reviews that you're going to have to stop back and check for updates since I've shot five frames so far But they were impressive frames.

First impressions:

- it's huge. This is not what I class as a "pocket" camera - compact, yes. Pocket, no. It's heavy compared to my Olympus SW720 and Canon 1200SD; it's lighter than my Canon A series (and well smaller and sleeker than the A series). It is not my idea of a go anywhere pocket camera. Toss in the handbag or backpack and it will be fine for size and weight in everything but the smallest purses. This is a bit of a down-side for me coz I am all about the form factor and I'm a little disappointed. I thought I'd read the specs right but I was wrong. No biggie - I use two different baby cameras now and was just hoping to be able to use this one exclusively on my upcoming trip, but both this and the Canon 1200SD IS will be coming along as I don't want to haul this clunker around when we are out at restaurants and bars etc.

- the buttons are happily tactile. They all feel good to use. I haven't yet figured out how to turn off the beeps it makes when you do some things, but hopefully there is a way.

- typically next-to-useless instruction manual.

- feels responsive so far, but I've only shot static subjects. Will be heading to the beach later to give it a moving target test. I sat down with my Oly and this one for the frames I shot and it was definitively faster to take a shot. Of course, a blind turtle with a sketch pad & piece of charcoal is faster at rendering an image than the Oly is...

- focus seems to have been nailed each time. The Oly found focus on these subjects all but once (which is a 20% failure rate out of five frames) - and this has always been and continues to be a huge problem with the Olympus Tough range, they simply miss focus on the easiest subjects too often.

- settings: macro, flash forced on, ISO 100, normal picture, little shaky hand on screen (again, haven't figured out how to turn this off), inside the house with no extra lights on = sharp, fast photos. These are straight from the camera to resized for web - no other settings applied in post. At 1/1 you can see excellent detail in the texture of his nose and the details in his eye. Very happy with this type of shot; the Oly did OK but not quite as crispy.

Lobo is thrilled I have a new toy...

I suspect there is an aggressive sharpening action taking place in camera so it will be interesting to see how this is handled at other ISOs and in a variety of scenes.

So far, it's working. Can't wait to hit the beach and try to get some action shots of the girls - that will be the true test for my needs. And I'll do some indoor, low light stuff at some stage just because...

[Ripley]

What colour did you get? I got blue.

I didn't notice its weight. My pocket camera was 4 years old and probably pretty heavy compared to today's pocket ones. I've just pulled it out of the cupboard and now you mention it, it is a bit of a clunker. I find it the same size as a lot of other point and shoots though and I'd chuck it in my handbag no probs. The battery is flat in it or I'd tell you how I got to turn the beep off! Just keep playing with and and you will find it. I love how you don't need an underwater casing for it.

I scrolled through the menus and managed to turn the beep off. I can't remember how, just keep scrolling and you'll find it. That 'hand' symbol is the stabiliser. If you have that symbol displayed, it counteracts a bit of camera shake.

I've taken shots on 'beach mode; 'sunset' for sunsets - it makes the colours punchy; landscape for outdoor pics as it will give you nice blues and greens.

I don't edit my shots out of this camera either as you don't have to.

There is a mode called night portrait and I used this to take a self portrait and was very happy with how it came out straight out of camera - I used the face detection mode with it, photo is now my FB profile pic. The self timer gives you about 10 second to get into place.

I'm very, very happy with my TS2, I hope you like it. I bought mine for snorkelling and as a take anywhere camera. Going to take it hiking next week and leave the DSLR at home.

It has a wide angle lens on it which I really like.

eta: there are different focus modes and you need to find out which is the best one to use for what you are photographing by scrolling through and trying them out (I agree the instruction manual is just hopeless). I was trying to take photos of sharks swimming about and it wasn't until I fiddled with the camera's focus section, selected the correct mode that I was able to get sharp shots. Mostly this was just by using the centre focus point only, which is what I use on my DSLR when I'm photographing birds in flight.

Edited March 5, 2011 by Ripley

[wagsalot]

I haven't seen the TS2.

I have the FT1 - I presume its a newer version - one came out just as I got mine.

Im not overally happy with the one I have though

Edited March 6, 2011 by wagsalot

[kja]

More first impressions on my blog

I only used this camera in Bali and haven't had time to look at the images properly yet. I am happy with how it performed but I have yet to look at the images on the computer so that will be the real test and I will be adding more info here and on the blog once I get to Bali photos!

[kja]

Love to hear your thoughts on the focus modes. I'm using the spot mode the majority of the time and dunno but it seems we missed focus a bit, really. Stuff the baby Canon SD1200 simply never misses right out the box. Frustrating. Still haven't looked at everything I shot in Bali but am noticing the same problems over and over so hopefully it's just a setting.

Took the dogs to the beach yesterday and had more misses than keepers - even on really easy shots.