Compare and contrast ...

[ellarien]

I have succumbed to the Panasonic side of the force and acquired a Lumix TZ4. The Canon Powershot is a fine camera, but though it fits my hand nicely and can do some impressive things it's a bit cumbersome to carry around either every day or on long trips, and the little Sony's 3x zoom just doesn't cut it any more. The Lumix, on the other hand, is much more portable and has 10x zoom.

In fact, it's so portable that when I got to work today I discovered I had both the new camera and the old Sony in my purse! I took advantage of this by trying some comparison shots, below the cut.



These are shots taken within a minute or so of each other, same spot, full automatic mode with no retouching other than scaling down to sensible size.

Comparison 1 Panasonic Lumix TZ4 on the left, Sony Cybershot P73 on the right, both taken from the same position in fully automatic mode, no zoom.

Comparison 2 Panasonic on the left, Sony on the right. Same flower, same light.

Comparison 3 Panasonic/Sony test, showing the advantage of the wide-angle lens.

I was amazed when I looked at the two side by side. I've been pretty much resigned to blue pansies (see icon), but the Panasonic gets much closer to the true color. The wide-angle makes a noticeable difference, too, not to be despised in the cluttered campus conditions that can make it hard to get far enough back from a feature to get it all in.

Comments

[ellarien]

Yes, seeing your results was one of the things that convinced me to get my own. (lapswood has one too; the third leg of the tripod was fondling one in a going-out-of-business electronics store.)

I think it may have the Canon beaten on colour, too, though I haven't done a direct side-by side yet. This is the nearest I can come up with:

Comparison 4 Canon Power Shot DS5 on the left, Panasonic on the right -- taken a couple of weeks apart but under similar conditions (not great light, in the canyon between buildings) and in the same spot.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

In that comparison, the Lumix wins hands down and in every direction for me.

Always exciting to have a new toy!

[ellarien]

Yes, I'm very pleased. The only direction where it doesn't win is the ergonomic aspect -- I've had the Sony for four years and it fits perfectly in my hand, whereas with the Lumix the joystick buttons are under my thumb and I tend to get my fingers in front of the flash. I'm sure I'll get used to it in time.