Travel Photography - Panasonic Lumix TZ7

I'm about to buy a replacement digital camera as the old one is beyond repair.

I've spent a few hours looking around various websites and have narrowed the options down to the Panasonic Lumix TZ7. I'd like to hear any opinions - good or bad - before I click "buy".

I like taking photos when I travel, and it's important for the camera to be relatively quick at starting up, give good quality images (for personal rather than commercial use), take video clips (and preferably in HD quality), and be portable - the benchmark being small enough to fit in my pocket while out and about. It also has to be durable enough to survive my trips abroad :-)

Any opinions on this camera? Or alternatives that are significantly cheaper? The best prices I've seen for this are around £250 GBP.

Scott

Hi,

Have you tried;

http://digitalcameras.kelkoo.co.uk/p-digital-cameras-124901/panasonic-lumix-dmctz7-19595721

for a price comparison website.

I do like cameras that take AA batteries ( otherwise you need rechargable batteries plus an charger and a transformer fro the different US volume)

Regards

TBS

PS- The Panasonic FZ38 looks good ( a bit larger)

I have the Olympus SP590 camera ( 26x optical zoom) which I got via Kelkoo and Pixmania for £230- It takes pretty good pictures.

Regard

Try DPreview.com for a great comparison site - you can select cameras and compare each feature side by side, getting exactly what you want.

This is what I used to get the camera I have now, which I love. I wanted to print out photos to sell, and didn't care about video or size, so the Panasonic Lumix FZ50 was right for me. I've had it over 2 years now, and it was about the same price you are looking for. However, it's not the one you want - rather big and bulky, no real video capability, etc.

Good luck!

Dpreview rates the TZ7 at the top with it's cousin TZ6 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q209grouplongzoom/page16.asp)

I have the original TZ1, and if TZ7 is built like it's uncle, then I wouldn't worry about durability. I have drop my TZ1 from shoulder height onto concrete, and aside from the shell corner being dented enough to see the internals, the camera works fine. The only thing that changed after that is me use the wrist strap now :D.

I think one important question you should ask yourself is the upgrades from the TZ5 worth the extra money. The TZ5 was already a highly rated camera, and just because a new sibling was released doesn't mean the TZ5 stopped taking excellent pictures.