Lumix DMC-TZ40

[Mart61]

Hi guys. It's been a while since I posted here. Lots been going on in my life, the upshot of which being that I do a fair bit of travelling on business.

It's often impractical to take my DSLR along with me so I picked up the newly released Lumix DMC-TZ40 at Manchester airport on Tuesday. I'll keep you posted as to how I get on with it, unless anyone here has one and would care to pass on their thoughts?

All the best,

Martin

 

[valb]

Brother in law is eyeing up a TZ40 as an upgrade for his TZ8. He has been put off a bit by the reviews that say it feels flimsy against other compacts e.g Sony etc. What are your thoughts on this? Any other early observations would be appreciated. I should add that he is a total novice and the camera is used solely as a point and shoot.

 

[Mart61]

Brother in law is eyeing up a TZ40 as an upgrade for his TZ8. He has been put off a bit by the reviews that say it feels flimsy against other compacts e.g Sony etc. What are your thoughts on this? Any other early observations would be appreciated. I should add that he is a total novice and the camera is used solely as a point and shoot.

Well I should say that I upgraded from theTZ10 and, whilst the TZ40 does feel lighter, I wouldn't call it flimsy. It's, relatively speaking, a fair bit smaller than the TZ10 which I believe accounts for its lightness. The body is still very sturdy though. Perhaps my only comment in that respect is that the touch screen is resistive rather than capacitive like the iPhone etc. As such that feels a little odd but, by several accounts, is perhaps better on such a small screen than a capacitive version.

The wifi direct function is pretty neat and you can remotely control the camera if you have the app installed on your smartphone. You can even see what the camera is seeing on your phone screen. I found it a little fiddly to set up but, once you have it sorted, you can save the connection to a favourite and then it's one touch and your connected, having selected your camera as an access point on your phone that is.

I'm shortly going to head into Palma, Mallorca, where I hope to get some shots to post on here later today. We'll see how they turn out eh?

 

[valb]

Thanks Martin

I will pass this on to him. Have a great time in Palma. Be interested to hear what you think of the shots with the TZ40 when you return.

 

[Mart61]

Thanks Martin

I will pass this on to him. Have a great time in Palma. Be interested to hear what you think of the shots with the TZ40 when you return.

Right been out now and taken a few shots. They are not in the same league as the other guy's Mallorca thread. In my defence I was out before 0900, the light was not great (and got worse as it clouded over and started to rain). Anyway, enough excuses, here's a few of the shots I took:

La Seu

La Seu with in-camera "impressive art" effect (Panasonic's description not mine)

Coloured houses

La Seu II

Big Mamma (The artist's title not mine)

I found the shots a little low on colour, perhaps due to the light. Having said that I was mostly using the full-auto mode and there's most likely a myriad of settings I can change on the camera to make the shots a little more vibrant.

I tried to keep the PP to a minimum (all done with Snapseed on my iPad) so I only cropped here and there and pushed the saturation up a tad.

I'll go out tomorrow when, hopefully, the light will be a little better.

 

[valb]

Not sure about the impressive art photo but I think my brother in law would find all the others perfectly acceptable and as he only ever works in full auto mode they are very appropriate. I particularly like the last one - I can see where the name comes from!!

 

[Mart61]

Well all in all I'm quite pleased with it. For a first outing they are not too bad. As with all cameras at present, there's so many setting to mess with in-camera. I'll read the manual this evening and see what I can tweak here and there.

Tomorrow I'll drop it out of full-auto and see what it (and I) can do.

I really must get Photoshop Elements or similar on my laptop too. Snapseed is OK but its pretty limited to effects rather than any real PP. I also wonder what's happening to the image file during the conversion to whatever format the iPad uses. My laptop display is not that great either and it's uncalibrated.

Oh the joys of travel...

 

[Mart61]

Right, dropped the camera out of auto and downloaded Gimp so can PP the shots a little.

Here's the results. They're much better IMHO.

 

[mcristy]

Thanks Martin for the pictures. Now I have an idea of the quality of the TZ40. Can I ask you to post some pictures at night without flash? and inside pictures ? Thanks

 

[valb]

You are right they are much better - I think these will swing it for my brother in law. Thanks for posting these. Looks like you are having some really god weather. Have a good time and enjoy your holiday.

 

[Mart61]

Thanks guys. I shall endeavour to get some outdoors shots but there not much here to photograph at night. I'm not actually staying in Palma, rather just down the road that Playa Palma.

Is there anything you'd particularly like to see?

 

[Ian D J]

I've got the Lumix TZ45 and it is a crackin' little knockabout camera (even though I have the D3100 and D7000 in my arsenal!).

I got these two with the Lumix.

 

[Mart61]

I've got the Lumix TZ45 and it is a crackin' little knockabout camera (even though I have the D3100 and D7000 in my arsenal!).

I got these two with the Lumix.

Superb shots! Been looking for something like that in Palma to catch but, up until now, not seen sunsets even close to those.

Just one question tho - so you mean the FZ45? I wasn't aware that there was a TZ45 but I'm no expert.

 

[Mart61]

Oops! Duplicated post.

 

[valb]

Do you mean the FZ45? I thought the TZ40 was the latest in the compact range.

 

[Ian D J]

Superb shots! Been looking for something like that in Palma to catch but, up until now, not seen sunsets even close to those.

Just one question tho - so you mean the FZ45? I wasn't aware that there was a TZ45 but I'm no expert.

Indeed, it is the FZ45 - I think it's no longer around as I've had it for a good couple of years. I wouldn't think the '40 wouldn't be that much different but might be worth me googling that up now I have come to have thought about it.

PS: Just googled it up and the FZ40 looks exactly the same as the FZ45 so I should imagine that the former would be a younger brother sort of thing.

 

[Mart61]

Indeed, it is the FZ45 - I think it's no longer around as I've had it for a good couple of years. I wouldn't think the '40 wouldn't be that much different but might be worth me googling that up now I have come to have thought about it.

PS: Just googled it up and the FZ40 looks exactly the same as the FZ45 so I should imagine that the former would be a younger brother sort of thing.

I guess. However the thread is all about the TZ40.

 

[Mart61]

Thanks Martin for the pictures. Now I have an idea of the quality of the TZ40. Can I ask you to post some pictures at night without flash? and inside pictures ? Thanks

Hi there. These are not earth shattering shots - the skies in these parts are somewhat misty all day long at present, thus one never gets a particularly clear shot giving the impression of the picture being a bit "soft". Anyway, here goes: