Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 Review – Noticeable Compact Megazoom

We loved:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 offers pretty good performance, is trouble-free to use, has pleasant design and delivers great photo quality.

We hated:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 doesn’t have the AV output cable incorporated and on top of it the camera has no aperture controls and shutter speed.

Introduction:

It’s always pleasing to see a camera deliver what it promises. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 is one of the very few cameras which does so, and even though the outer shell of the camera doesn’t wander away from the other Compact Megazoom cameras from Panasonic, but from inside the camera has an ultra-compact wide-angle lens having 8x zoom, a re-engineered autofocus system, and a refurbished optical image stabilization system. Just put a tad speedy performance and pretty good photo quality and you will get a superb pocketsize Megazoom camera.

Build and Design:

Considering the lens specifications of Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1, the camera is considerably small in size. Though, the 8x zoom lens might be small in comparison to the other Megazoom, but its better than the characteristic 3x or 5x zoom lens that have been seen in the lens that we’ve seen the cameras of this size. The Lumix DMC-ZR1 has got pretty decent looks and feel, and even though the camera is available in silver, black, red and blue variants, the slight design of the camera certainly won’t stand out in a crowd. The smoothly curved edges of the camera give a comfortable hold on the camera while shooting with one hand. One impressive thing about the ZR1 is its all new image stabilization, the Power OIS, which doubles the subjugation power of Panasonic’s preceding Mega OIS system. It performed particularly well, in our tests, especially when the zoom lens was in use.

The control panel of the camera is pretty straightforward and simple enough to be understood by even the out-of-the-box users, mentioned that you are familiar with digital cameras. Positioned at the top of the camera is the silver plastic Mode dial, which lets you swap between the shooting options smoothly. In addition, you will have to extend your hand to reach for the shutter release and the zoom ring, if you want to use them. Now this easily could be worrying or annoying for some of the users. Other than this, all the controls of the camera are rather simple and reasonably sized and are positioned straight at back. The controls are easy to use and are being arranged logically. What’s worth mentioning is the Extended Optical Zoom (E.Zoom) button next positioned next to the thumb rest and is used for zooming out the camera lens completely with just one touch. Though, press it again and it will activate the comprehensive optical zoom which mainly crops down the 12 megapixel image to 3 megapixels.

The menu system here also is rather uncomplicated and rather large. There is a Quick Menu Button (Q.Menu) located on the rear end of the camera, which brings a vertical bar with shooting-mode-sensitive alternatives. There is a common Menu Button positioned right in the middle of four navigational buttons which doubles as flash, exposure, timer and macro controls. Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1’s main menu has three tabs: one for shooting features, a Travel mode and one for setup. The travel mode of the camera lets you program in time, location and date for any trip so that the pictures taken in between them stay together. If you want to see the pictures clicked by you on a TV then you will have to have a USB-to-AV cable or USB-to-component cable, in case you want HD.

Specifications:

Manufacturer: Panasonic
Part Number: DMC-ZR1K

Price: $174.95 – $249.99
Product Type: Compact, Digital camera
Weight: 4.9 oz
Dimensions (W x D x H) in inches: 3.9 x 1 x 2.2 inches
LCD size: 2.7 inch
Resolution: 12.1 megapixels
Optical Zoom: 8 x

Digital Video Format: MJPEG and QuickTime
Software: Panasonic PHOTOfunSTUDIO 4.0 and Drivers & Utilities
White Balance Presets: Shade, Halogen , Cloudy and Daylight
Additional Features: Direct print , DPOF support , Audio recording , Face detection , Built-in speaker , Date/time stamp , Histogram display , Cropping an image , PictBridge support , Resizing an image , Face Detection AF/AE , Built-in help guide , Digital image rotation , USB 2.0 compatibility , RGB primary color filter , Digital noise reduction , Camera orientation detection and In-camera red-eye removal
Focus Adjustment: Automatic
Features: Aspherical lens and Built-in lens shield
Exposure Modes: Program and   Automatic
Connector Type: USB, DC power input, Composite video/audio output and Component video output
Shooting Programs: Food , Pet , Baby1 , Snow , Beach , Baby2 , Sunset , Candle , Pin hole , Scenery , Fireworks , Clipboard , Film grain , Soft skin , Underwater , Starry sky , Night scene , Flash-burst , Aerial photo , Sports mode , Portrait mode , Party/indoor , Hi-speed burst , Self-portrait , High sensitivity and Night portrait
Shooting Modes: Frame movie mode
Peripheral Devices: USB port and CD-ROM drive
Included Accessories: Hand strap and Battery case
Flash Modes: Fill-in mode,   Auto mode,   Flash OFF mode,   and slow synchro and Red-eye reduction
Camera Flash: Built-in flash
Battery: Li-ion rechargeable battery, 950 mAh

Performance:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 claims of bringing in improved performance for Panasonic and it clearly shows. In general the Megazoom that we’ve seen in recent times are typically slow in starting and getting ready for their first shot, but the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 does the same in just 1.3 seconds, which clearly is fast. The shutter lag for ZR1 is at 0.4 second in bright conditions and becomes 0.6 secs in slightly dimmer lighting. The camera is capable of capturing 2 frames per second using the full-resolution burst mode of the camera.

Depending upon how fanatic you are about the picture quality, the picture quality offered by Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 is pretty good. Although there is apparent noise in all the pictures taken from ZR1, but it doesn’t becomes apparent, until ISO 400.

Expert Comments:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 is a noticeable compact Megazoom, with a fast AF system, normally high-class snapshot photos and a wide-angle, Megazoom lens.