I have been looking for a cheaper pocket size camera for awhile that can shoot in sport mode and has decent zoom and this seems to fit the bill. Panasonic cameras seem to get some love every time they come up so I had to go in for one. Baseball season is just around the corner!
I bought this on Woot last week. It’s a pretty good camera. Unfortunately I am returning it. The “lens barrier” did not retract completely so it caused a shadow in the corners of the pictures. Merely a slight goof on the refurb no big deal.
I was previously looking at the Canon ELPH 300HS on CNET.com. It’s older and a little more expensive but it is smaller and it has a similar rating to the Panasonic ZS20. The Sony WX50 has a higher rating and it’s newer, smaller, and cheaper. The Panasonic SZ7 is newer, smaller, and about the same price.
All of these cameras would be better if you want a physically smaller camera. Once I held the ZS19 in my hand, that extra half inch length and extra .2 inch thickness made a difference to me. (such a small difference, I didn’t think it would matter to me.)
However none of these cameras have more than a 5x zoom (SZ7 is 10x). If you want a 20x zoom I think this is the best camera for the price.
Personally, I value the smaller camera more and I am going to buy the Sony WX50 for $109.
I tried to download the CD that came with it. The manuel downloaded okay. I got a message on the camera that the applications part was not supported by my system. Is that because it’s Windows 8. Ya think??
Just got it today. VERY happy it can charge from my Energizer Energi Pack that I wooted long ago. That’s four out of the five devices I use out in the field!
[I am unable to charge the camera I just recd’. DId you return your camera to WOOT? or to the dealer?
Thanks.
quote postid=“5383242” user=“edmcguirk”]I bought this on Woot last week. It’s a pretty good camera. Unfortunately I am returning it. The “lens barrier” did not retract completely so it caused a shadow in the corners of the pictures. Merely a slight goof on the refurb no big deal.
I was previously looking at the Canon ELPH 300HS on CNET.com. It’s older and a little more expensive but it is smaller and it has a similar rating to the Panasonic ZS20. The Sony WX50 has a higher rating and it’s newer, smaller, and cheaper. The Panasonic SZ7 is newer, smaller, and about the same price.
All of these cameras would be better if you want a physically smaller camera. Once I held the ZS19 in my hand, that extra half inch length and extra .2 inch thickness made a difference to me. (such a small difference, I didn’t think it would matter to me.)
However none of these cameras have more than a 5x zoom (SZ7 is 10x). If you want a 20x zoom I think this is the best camera for the price.
Personally, I value the smaller camera more and I am going to buy the Sony WX50 for $109.
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Battery dead after a few months. Was this supposed to come with a charger?? Because I don’t have one!!! Darn, can’t look at my vacation pix.
[QUOTE=ljohn76, post:46, topic:381801]
Battery dead after a few months. Was this supposed to come with a charger?? Because I don’t have one!!! Darn, can’t look at my vacation pix.
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It’s a rechargeable battery. I’m impressed you got a few months out of it!
It came with a USB cable and a wall adapter for charging.
I bought this item and it was impressive…However I only used it a few times… When I went to take it on a trip the charging would not work.I am not sure I had previously ever tried to charge the battery…so I sent it to Panasonic and they told me $180.00 to fix it due to out of warranty. I have not had a previous bad experiences with WOOT items but this put a bad taste in my mouth about buying refurbished. …so buyers beware of what you get and test and retest it…before warranty expires… I guess I will not push WOOT as much as I have in the past.