Daniel Schwabe's blog/

Almost 2 years ago I bougth a Panasonic DMZ-FZ50, and upgrade from my small Canon SD 700 (which I still use occasionally) (see this post). I was quite happy with it, although I stilll could not take really good macros, and its low-light handling is not so good. Another drawback was its size, the same as an SLR.

About a year ago I could not resist and bought a Panasonic TZ5, to carry as a secondary camera, or when I could not carry the bigger and heavier FZ50. On some occasions, I would take the same picture using both, just to compare the quality.

Little by little, I ended up almost not using the bigger camera, as I could consistently get the same results using the smaller one. In addition, the TZ5 has a wider-angle lens, which comes in handy, especially when shooting indoors and buildings. On my last trip to Ireland I decided to take only the TZ5, and I must confess I did not really miss having the larger FZ50. So it looks like I will be using the FZ50 only on special occasions...

As far as the TZ5 is concerned, here are some of the pros and cons

Pros:

• Large and bright display
• Really nice lens - from wide angle to good tele (almost 400mm equiv. for 35mm format)
• Lots of exposure modes
• Can record video in full HD (although I have used this only once..)
• Good image quality (except for low-light situations using high ISO)
• Decent image stabilization for telephotos

Cons

• Display doesn't swivel like the FZ50
• The mode control disc on top gets easily rotated out of position, especially when inserting or extracting from the carrying pouch
• Macro mode harder to work with, and not so good as in the Canon
• Slow burst mode; not really usable for fast action shooting (e.g., sports)
• Quality not really usable above 400 ISO (except if you want to do some artistic processing)

So, for the time being, it looks like I'll only be carrying the TZ5 on my trips... you can check my photostream for the results ;-).

For those of you who also own either one of these cameras, let me know about your experience and impressions!