Performance
Compact cameras often produce overly saturated colours, even in their standard shooting mode. Fortunately, this is not the case with the TZ20.
Images show a natural tone and, for those who like vivid results, there is the appropriate scene mode to provide this. Auto white balance gives sufficient results in most situations and manual white balance is available when the results are not quite up to scratch.
Viewing images at 100% shows detail to be rather smudged and watercolour-like. As a result, images feel a little soft and lacking punch. This is not unusual for a compact camera, however, and image quality is on a par with similar models. What the competition does not offer, though, is a 24-384mm lens.
Image quality is consistent throughout the range, and zooming to and from each extreme takes just under three seconds. Pictures taken at more telephoto focal lengths are helped no end by the built-in optical image stabiliser. With a steady hand it is feasible to shoot at around 1/15sec without visible signs of camera shake.
Fifteen million pixels is an impressive resolution and a maximum file size of around 6MB comfortably produces A3 prints without interpolation. The pixels are packed into a compact 1/2.3in sensor so the size of the photosites is reduced, which takes its toll on the camera’s dynamic range and noise levels.
Exposures lack the dynamic range of a DSLR, for example, and there is a clear tendency to expose for the midtones and shadows. Highlights, such as an overcast sky, more often than not appear as a solid area of bright white.
This was still the case when manually tweaking the exposure by -0.6EV, which was the setting I generally opted for before midtones became too dark. The TX20 fares better in brighter sunlight. Once again, none of this is unusual for a compact camera.
Noise is well controlled at ISO 100 and 200, and the first real visible signs of luminance noise come in around ISO 400.
In overcast conditions, exposures are bright but sky detail often appears as a block of white
It is particularly evident at ISO 800 and 1600, but there is still a respectable level of resolution detail at these settings.
What comes with a greater focal range is a new structure of the lens. This is a contributing factor to the slightly slower lens when directly compared to the lens of the TZ10. At 300mm the TZ10 has a minimum aperture of f/4.9, but at the same focal length on the TZ20 it is f/5.7, or f/5.9 at 384mm.
A major benefit of a CMOS sensor is that it traditionally consumes much less power than a CCD sensor. This helps compensate for some of the power-hungry new features.
However, according to Panasonic’s website, the 300 shots possible on a full charge when using the TZ10 has been reduced to 260 shots with the TZ20. This is still fairly standard for a camera at this level, but it should be noted that the GPS function drains the battery somewhat.
Autofocus is as responsive as one would expect from a camera of this type. In bright conditions there are no focusing issues, but the TZ20 struggles a bit in poor-contrast light. Continuous AF in the 5fps mode is a great asset. The fast frame rates are good fun to shoot with and I am pleased with the handling.
In each mode just over one second of shooting is available before the rate either slows down or the burst stops. Information is processed surprisingly quickly, and a 60fps burst is viewable in around four seconds.
Resolution images: These images show 72ppi (100% on a computer screen) sections of images of a resolution chart, captured with the lens set to its 100mm point. We show the section of the resolution chart where the camera starts to fail to reproduce the lines separately. The higher the number visible in these images, the better the camera’s detail resolution is at the specified sensitivity setting.
