Here is our very own hands-on review of the Panasonic Lumix TZ40. the TZ40 is Panasonic’s new flagship compact travel camera having replaced it’s predecessor the TZ30. Keeping some of the previous model’s impressive features such as the 20x optical zoom but bumping up the megapixel count to 18.1, this really is one impressive piece of kit.
Build Quality
The TZ40 has a great resistive touchscreen with twice the resolution of it’s predecessor
The TZ40 is one sturdy camera and rightfully so as it pitches itself as an ‘on-the-go’ travel camera. It’s simply amazing that Panasonic has managed to cram such a huge optical zoom optic into such a small body and the speed at which you can control this is also very fast and efficient. This new model comes with Wifi and NFC built in allowing the device to connect to a smartphone or tablet that has the free Panasonic image app installed, available for both iOS and Android. Once connected, you can use your smartphone or tablet to carry out all sorts of cool features and even use your smartphone screen as your camera screen which allows you to control the camera remotely.
The TZ40 has a great resistive touchscreen with twice the resolution of it’s predecessor which makes it great for taking pictures in bright daylight and also, the images you take simply look better on the higher res screen. This really is a very well built piece of kit and I’d feel confident about throwing it into a rugsack and not having to worry about it.
Performance
The start up time on this camera is astounding.
The start up time on this camera is astounding. There’s never that moment where you’re having to wait for everything to kick in to allow you to take a shot. You just press the power button and you’re ready to snap away.
The focusing speeds are equally impressive, even at full zoom and with it’s power OIS or optical image stabilisation, your long distance shots are rarely blurry. Low light capabilities are impressive but not the best we’ve seen in this category but with all the other speedy features and image alteration settings available, this is one area we’re allowing the TZ40 to dip.
Overall, we didn’t really any times where the TZ40 slowed down on us or took sub-par photos and with it’s extremely fast start up time, this really is a camera you should consider if you want to get ‘that’ shot before it’s too late.
Image Quality
more than pleased with the results
Here are some sample shots we took with the TZ40 at varying zoom levels. Unfortunately the day we tested the camera was quite overcast but we were still more than pleased with the results, and the battery life for that matter, which lasted the whole day of heavy shooting.
Conclusion
…our favourite feature was…the incredible zoom on such a compact device
We must admit, we were very eager to get our hands on the TZ40 to do our very own review and we’re happy to report that it did not disappoint. If we had to say what our favourite feature was, it would have to be the incredible zoom on such a compact device, it really never failed to impress us which just how good it was. The TZ40 is a well built and all round solid performer and you would be doing yourself a great injustice if you didn’t at least pick one up to play with if you’re the market for a compact travel camera.
