Panasonic Lumix TZ60: On the minus side
The 30x Optical Zoom works well, but it extends fairly slowly. On a couple of trial shoots with birds in a tree, I lost a few shots simply because the Lumix TZ60 was taking its time to zoom outwards. Panasonic advertises the Lumix TZ60 as having 60x “Intelligent Zoom”, but like most digital zoom factors, you’ll be better off taking a 30x shot and cropping afterwards for best effect.
The rear display is information heavy, which is a plus, but it’s not a touchscreen if that’s important to you.
There’s also the obvious issue that a zoom of that length on a camera body of this size is an open invitation to lots of handshake. The Lumix TZ60 does have a standard tripod mount, and supports external iOS/Android apps for remote shooting.
If you’re going to shoot lots of heavily zoomed photos, it’s likely to be a must. The zoom’s extension also gives it some balance issues. At full extension, you can’t actually rest it on a flat surface without the lens dipping down due to its weight imbalance, again tipping it towards being more tripod-friendly.
Next page: Panasonic Lumix TZ60: Pricing and conclusions