Panasonic Lumix TZ18 - Ultra Compact Camera with Powerful 16x Optical Zoom

The Panasonic Lumix TZ18 (also known as the ZS8 in the US) is an update to the popular Panasonic Travel Zoom (TZ) series and features a new 16x optical zoom lens and 14 megapixel sensor, compared to the previous version's 12x optical zoom and 12 megapixel sensor.


Panasonic Lumix TZ18 Features
The camera has an impressive zoom range, providing 16x optical zoom from extra wide angle 24mm equivalent to 384mm equivalent, along with optical image stabilisation.

In Program (P) mode you can zoom from wide (24mm) to the full 16x optical zoom (at 384mm equivalent), at 14Mp. in intelligent Auto mode you can zoom from wide to 20x "intelligent zoom" at 14Mp, pressing the E.Zoom button again will zoom the camera to an equivalent of 42.2x zoom at 3Mp.

The camera has a large 3 inch screen, a good size mode dial and manual controls. There are very nice feeling on/off switch buttons and an easy to use record and playback switch that I always miss on other cameras as it works so well.

The TZ18 is the "little brother" to the TZ20 (known as the ZS10 in the US) - and offers 720p video compared to full HD on the TZ20. The TZ20 also features a 14Mp Live MOS sensor for high speed shooting at 10fps, upto 60fps at 3.5Mp, 3D photo mode, GPS and a higher resolution screen (460k vs 230k).



Key Features 

• 14 megapixel CCD sensor
• 16x optical zoom lens, equivalent to 24-384mm in 35mm equiv., f/3.3 - f5.9
• Intelligent zoom extends the zoom to 20x at 14Mp
• 3inch screen, with 230k pixels
• 720p video at 30fps with mono sound
• P/S/A/M modes
• POWER O.I.S.(Optical Image Stabilizer)
• Automatic screen brightness adjustment
• ISO100 - ISO1600
• 3cm Macro mode
• Facebook and Youtube sharing