Hands-on with Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS200 / TZ200

Hands-on with Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS200 (TZ200)

The Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS200 is a powerful, pocketable travel zoom compact camera, with an impressively long lens. We've had our hands on one – click through for a closer look.

20MP 1"-type sensor

The ZS200 is built around the same 1" 20MP BSI-CMOS sensor as its predecessor the ZS100, which immediately makes it a cut above traditional superzooms that sacrificed (among other thing) sensor size for lens reach.

15X optical zoom lens

The ZS200 scores over its predecessor in a few ways, but the most obvious upgrade is to the lens. While the ZS100's zoom range of 25-250mm was pretty good, the ZS200 turns things up to 11, spanning a much wider range, of 24-360mm (equiv).

Comprising 13 elements in six groups, this complex lens contains three extra low-dispersion elements and five aspherical, plus one that's both extra low-disperson and aspherical. That's pretty impressive for such a small camera.

Also updated compared to the ZS100 is minimum focus, which has been reduced to 3cm from 5cm (at 24mm equiv). Distortion at such a close distance (and at such a wide focal length) will be pretty wild, but for flowers, bugs and other organic subjects, it should be fine.

15X optical zoom lens

The extra zoom range doesn't come free though, and at F3.3-6.4, the ZS200's lens is slightly slower across its focal length span than its predecessor (shown above, on the left). The longer lens contributes to a slightly greater bodyweight, too. The ZS200 weighs 340g with a card and battery installed, compared to 310g for the ZS100.

This side-by-side shot shows off our ZS200's 'gunmetal' finish. Not quite gray, not quite silver, we think it looks rather nice. Good old black will still be an option when the camera ships next month.

4K video

The ZS200 offers 4K video recording at 30p and 24p. Familiar 4K Photo features like Post Focus are available, in addition to a couple of new modes which were also introduced into the DC-GX9.

Auto Marking analyzes a 4K video clip and automatically marks points at which it detects action, and Sequence Composition (illustrated above in a Panasonic-supplied example shot with the DC-GX9) is a 4K Photo feature that allows you to composite multiple frames of a moving subject in front of a static background into a single 4K-resolution still image.

2.3 million-dot EVF

Here at DPReview we love a good EVF, especially in pocketable travel cameras, where it can really make a difference to handling in bright light. The good news is that the ZS200's EVF is improved quite a bit over its predecessor. Resolution has been upped to 2.3 million dots, and magnification has been increased from 0.45X to 0.53X (equiv).

The bad news is that the viewfinder is still field-sequential, so the rainbow effect is alive and well, and shooting with a 0.53X magnification finder is still a bit like watching a television from the end of a hallway. As such, while the ZS200's EVF is much nicer than its predecessor's, it's not a match for the OLED finders in some competitors, such as Sony's RX100-series.

1.24 million-dot touchscreen

Keeping the ZS200's electronic viewfinder company is a fixed 3" rear LCD, which boasts 1.24 million dots and touch-sensitivity. As such, placing your desired AF point is as easy as simply tapping the screen.

We're also pleased to see that Panasonic has included its 'Touch Pad AF' feature to the ZS200. In essence, this is exactly what it sounds like – with your eye to the viewfinder, the ZS200's rear LCD can be used as a touch-pad to position the AF point. Pretty neat. And as you can see, despite the touchscreen, the ZS200 still has enough direct-access buttons to satisfy someone used to more traditional user interfaces (or someone wearing gloves).

Depth-from-Defocus (DFD) Autofocus

The ZS200 features a version of Panasonic's Depth-from-Defocus autofocus technology. In very simple terms, DFD uses known blur characteristics of Panasonic lenses to work out whether a subject is front or back focused, before driving the focusing group to achieve focus. This reduces the characteristic focus 'hunting' of a typical contrast-detection AF system, by increasing the processor's confidence that it's moving things in the right direction.

While we haven't had the chance to properly test the ZS200 (or use it much outside of a conference room and our upper floor balcony), AF speed is impressive at all focal lengths, albeit with some very slight 'wobble' when focus is acquired at long telephoto settings. In theory, the ZS200 should be capable of continuous autofocus at up to 6 fps – something we're keen to try out when we receive a final production camera.

Increased battery life and Bluetooth Low Energy

Built-in Wi-Fi is to be expected these days, but we're pleased to see that Panasonic has also included low-energy Bluetooth (BLE) in the ZS200. This allows for 'aways on' functionality, enabling easy remote trigger functionality from a smartphone without a huge hit in battery life.

Battery life is actually something of a strength of the ZS200. Usually when features get added to a camera, battery life goes down. Not so with the ZS200. Panasonic tells us that improvements have been made to power management, which have paid off in a CIPA rating of 350 shots (compared to 300 from the ZS200) when the LCD is used, and ~250 when shooting with the EVF.

Putting the camera into 'Eco' mode should ensure ~300 shots between charges, regardless of shooting style.

What do you think?

So what do you make of the Panasonic Lumix ZS200? Did one of the best travel zoom compacts just get better, or are you ambivalent about the extra zoom reach and slower lens? Let us know in the comments.

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Hands-on with Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS200 / TZ200 was originally posted by https://www.proton-pack.com