Today at CES 2013, Panasonic officially launched the TZ40 superzoom compact, known in the US as the ZS30, with the same incredible optical zoom range and wide angle lens, but an improved sensor and processing with HDR, superior battery life of up to 300 shots, new 5-axis anti-shake, built-in NFC and Wi-Fi.
Check out all the latest CES 2013 news and hands-on reviews here
Panasonic Lumix TZ40 specs
Like its predecessor the TZ30, the Panasonic Lumix TZ40 sports a 20x optical zoom, the highest offered by compact non-bridge cameras. Digital zoom further extends this but we wouldn’t recommend using it. The Lumix TZ40 also still offers a LEICA 24mm wide-angle lens, giving a focal range of 24-480mm at F3.3 – F6.4. Panasonic has implemented a new 5-point anti-shake system which should help to counteract blur from shaking hands and such.
Panasonic Lumix TZ40 pictures and video
The Panasonic Lumix TZ40 uses a new 18.9 megapixel CMOS sensor which, combined with its new Venus engine, can shoot up to ISO 6,400 extended and 10fps, with an orientation sensor for lining up your horizon nicely and a good selection of creative scene modes.
File support is limited to JPEG and 3D with no RAW. Also, for the first time on the high-end TZ/ZS series, you can shoot in HDR (High Dynamic Range) mode, good when trying to bring out detail in extreme bright or dark sections.
On the video front the Panasonic Lumix TZ40 superzoom can shoot 1080p at 60fps in MPEG-4 or AVCHD with stereo audio. There’s also a 320 x 240 slow motion mode which goes up to 220fps.
Thankfully, the TZ40/ZS30 still offers a touch-screen, but its resolution has been boosted to 920k to view your photos and videos in more detail than ever. The screen’s touch functionality complements the camera’s physical controls to allow for niceties like touch-to-focus.
Panasonic Lumix TZ40 wireless
The Lumix TZ40 is one of the best-equipped wireless cameras on the market, as it offers not only GPS and Wi-Fi, but even NFC, which is found on ever more tablets and smartphones. This allows effortless pairing with such devices for easy transfers of images or video.
Wi-Fi can also be used to access LUMIX Club Cloud Sync, which will save your photos directly to the cloud – very handy for when that SDXC memory card runs out of space. Naturally, you can also instantly share photos on social networks with the Panasonic Lumix TZ40. You can also use advanced wireless functionality like remote triggering from your smartphone and tablet.
Panasonic Lumix TZ35
The cheaper TZ35 is very similar to its TZ40 bigger brother, but steps the sensor down to 16.1mp (not necessarily a bad thing) and drops Wi-Fi.
Panasonic Lumix TZ40 price and availability
The Lumix TZ40 will be available in March online and in stores, in your choice of black or white. Unfortunately UK pricing has not been confirmed yet but it’s a pretty safe bet that it will follow in the footsteps of its predecessor the TZ30, so we’re hoping to see it at under £300.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
