The TZ5 is in a class of its own, offering both a wide angle lens and an excellent zoom.
In addition, the specs show an excellent 3" LCD screen and HD video recording. The TZ3 (the predecessor of the TZ5) is one of the top recommended compact cameras on many camera review sites. The other camera that consistently tops the charts is the canon sd870is. Because the canon sd870is and the TZ5 are among the few compact cameras that have a wide angle (28mm) lens, I will reference the sd870is at times during this review as a comparison. Again, please keep in mind that these cameras aren't necessarily in the same class (the canon has a 28-105mm zoom lens and the Panasonic TZ5 has a 28-280mm zoom lens). Also, while I have used a TZ3, I don't actually own one.


Design:

Excellent, in fact there are very few things I can see that they could have done better. The body of the camera is very well designed and mostly made of metal (another reviewer wrote that it is made of plastic - it's not). I haven't used/seen the black or silver cameras, but the blue color looks very nice and adds texture to the camera making it easier to grip. The TZ5 isn't as compact as some other cameras like the sd870is, and therefore isn't as pocketable. However, for the vast majority of applications, and as a travel camera, it is the perfect size. You can use this camera easily with one hand, in contrast with smaller cameras like those in the canon digital elph series. All of the controls are easy to use and access and the majority of camera looks/feels of very high quality (exceptions: the power switch and the AV door on the side are a little sketchy, also the tripod mount is plastic). The screen on the back is beautiful, but lacks anti-reflective coating like the sd870is. As other reviewers have noted, the improvement in resolution is most obvious when reviewing the photos in play back mode. When taking pictures, the increase in resolution isn't as obvious. However, this is the best screen I have ever seen on a point and shoot camera.

Menu System:

This camera is very easy to use, and the menu system is very logically designed. The Q-menu button allows access to features that you would want access to more often/quickly (e.g. white balance and ISO settings). I can't say enough about the usability of this camera, it certainly outdoes the canon. Additionally, the graphics of the menus have been improved compared to previous panasonic cameras.

Photos:

There are various scene modes to take advantage of, but the most important new feature to note is the intelligent auto mode. In the intelligent auto mode, if you are taking a picture of a person, the camera detects the face (the face detection works extremely well by the way) and puts the camera in portrait mode, automatically removing red-eye if a flash is needed (not only with a pre-flash, but digitally as well! Nice!) -This feature is available outside intelligent auto mode as well-. If you are taking a close-up of a flower or other object, the camera is automatically put in macro mode, and if you are taking a picture of a landscape the camera is put in landscape mode. It is rarely fooled and works extremely well. In the intelligent auto mode the camera automatically adjusts the ISO (which can be scary above 400). In the camera settings you can adjust the MAX ISO you want the camera to go to while set in automatic ISO. However, in the intelligent auto mode, the camera will take the ISO as high as 800 if it needs to (this doesn't happen often). The intelligent auto mode is absolutely fantastic for novices that don't want to have to worry about tinkering with the camera settings.

How is the picture quality? Very good. In fact I was extremely pleased with it until I compared it to the canon sd870is. Of course, most of the differences are not evident until you start analyzing the photos at 75-100% magnification. However, viewed at 100% the TZ5 dispalys more noise at all ISO settings than the canon and I prefer the smooth appearance of the photos produced by the canon cameras. The color saturation was only *slightly* better with the sd870is, but the sd870is tended to expose the pictures better in some situations, and was rarely bested by the TZ5.

The macro mode on the TZ5 is very good but not as good as I was expecting. The canon allows you to get much closer and tends to make *slightly* better photos in this mode. However, for the majority of people that aren't going to analyze every aspect of the photo, the TZ5 will do more than an adequate job.

Lens:

This leica lens is one of the shining points for the TZ5. The zoom is incredible, fast and quiet. Also, unlike the canon there is very little distortion and also unlike the canon, I never noticed any blurred corners. The ability to go from 28-280mm is an incredible feature. I do wish that the lens was faster (only f3.3 - 4.9) compared to the sd870is (f2.8-5.8). In addition, this allows the canon to produce more depth of field (which I prefer). Overall, this is an easy win for the TZ5, no other compact can compete.

Video Mode:

I was very excited to see the videos that this camera produces. I would call them good with average sound quality. Yes, it is nice that they are such high resolution (and you can zoom during video), but the overall quality of the videos is still lacking. I made a 640x480 video with both the sd870is and the TZ5 (obviously the TZ5 can attain much higher resolution at 1280x720, but for testing purposes I wanted to make them the same resolution; the canon can only make a 640x480 video) and the canon embarrassed the TZ5 in both video quality and sound quality. On its own and for what it is, the high definition video from the TZ5 looks good, but it won't stand up to scrutiny. Don't buy this camera for the HD video capability and expect miracles. As others have noted, this is a point and shoot camera with video recording capability, not a stand alone high definition video recorder. *As a side note, make sure you turn off the continuous focus feature for the best videos, otherwise it is always focusing in and out*

Overall, I am very impressed with this camera. The lens is first rate, the design of both the camera body and its software is excellent. While the photo quality is very good, I would like to see photo quality (color saturation, exposure and detail) more similar to the canon and of course, like everyone else, I was hoping that the HD video would have been better. Focusing takes noticably longer than the sd870is and startup time, while great, isn't as good as the sd870is. Despite the mentioned negatives, I definitely recommend this camera. When I travel what I am I going to take with as a compact camera? It is going to be the Panasonic TZ5.

I am sure I forgot to mention something, so If you have any questions or comments about this review, please post them and I will reply when I can! Thanks!

*Make sure you buy a high speed sd or sdhc card for this camera. It requires a high speed card for the HD video. I bought the SanDisk 4 GB Extreme III SDHC Card with MicroMate USB 2.0 Reader, and it works perfectly. Have fun!