Panasonic DMC-ZX1

When Panasonic first unveiled the new Lumix ZX1 two months ago, it produced cries of hysteria amongst photographers everywhere.  Here's the premise: just 4 mm thicker than the erstwhile FX40--and therefore more or less just as portable--it has a 25-200 mm zoom, which even works while filming video. 

We've finally been able to test it, but one question kept coming back to us: is it possible to cram such a powerful zoom into such a thin body without sacrificing quality?

Handling

Anybody familiar with Panasonic's other 'mega zoom' cameras won't feel out of place here: the ZX1 really is a mini-TZ6.  In fact, that's actually our principal objection to it: this camera doesn't really have an identity of its own that stands out.  Instead, it follows the general lines of earlier TZ models, slightly scaled up: it's 7 mm thicker and longer, and 5 mm higher, differences that you can feel in your hand … and in your pocket.  So, it's small and classy, but it's neither sexy nor unique.


The build quality matches up to that of its predecessors: an absolutely faultless finish with flaps that shut firmly.  Nevertheless, we noticed that the lens wobbled slightly at the very longest focal lengths.  The interface is resolutely traditional, a carbon copy of other Panasonic cameras.  The E.Zoom button, which we have seen on some models, but not the FX60 or the TZ6, is worth mentioning as it allows you to switch directly from wide-angle to telephoto.  It all makes for a simple, refined camera that's a treat to use, and the iA takes charge of just about everything with remarkable efficiency.  The 2.7'' screen doesn't have a great resolution, but it has wide viewing angles, and it's entirely possible to hold it above a crowd and still see what you're photographing.

Using the ZX1 is relatively painless.  The camera is ready to start taking photos less than two seconds after you switch it on, and the autofocus is fast at all focal lengths, even when light levels drop--although occasionally it lacks accuracy when zooming.  Only the time you have to wait after taking a photo, which is over two seconds, could prove to irritate the most demanding of users.

As with other compacts from Panasonic (apart from the LX range), the emphasis here is on automatic features: there are no manual modes for exposure or focusing, but the camera handles both automatically without fault.  It's excellent for anybody who isn't too technical, but more advanced users might feel a little held back.

Image Quality

This is the area where we wanted to test the ZX1.  Although we knew we had nothing to worry about with the electronics, as the sensor and image treatment circuits are the same as those on the FX60, the lenses remained something of a mystery.

So let's start by taking a a look.  At the lowest sensitivity and in wide-angle, we found an excellent surprise: the ZX1 is at least as good as the FX60 in every aspect we checked, and in some, even better, especially around the edge of the frame.  You can look long and hard for chromatic aberrations but you won't find any--getting rid of them has been one of the Venus Engine's specialities for several generations now--and even purple fringing is reserved for the most heavily contrasted areas.  The only small disappointment was that very fine details, like hair or foliage, can look a little artificial because of the image treatment.


We found identical results at medium focal lengths, but at 200 mm, things were spoilt by a fall in sharpness.  It's nothing that will prevent you from making A4 prints, but when seen at 100% on a computer screen, the lack of detail is all too obvious.

As we mentioned earlier, there's nothing new about the electronics inside this camera.  The Venus Engine V chip is well known, and, over the years, Panasonic has managed to get things right.  Things start well, with sharp photos at sensitivities up to 800 ISO, despite a little visible blurring.  At 800 ISO, you can see the first signs of purple zones that are typical of this sensor, but it's only at 1600 ISO that things really turn bad with a very noisy image, even when printed at A4 size.  We advise you to steer clear of this sensitivity, which the automatic features of the ZX1 avoid in all but the most extreme conditions.  Like the FX series, and all the others, the image stabilisation system is slightly less powerful than on the TZ7. 

Overall, the ZX1 performs like the majority of compact cameras at the moment, but would do well with a better sensor--let's hope that Sony doesn't take too long too long to sell its Exmor R sensors.


The 720p HD video mode is great, with a sharp, detailed image, which is only marred by a little blurriness at low light levels.  The zoom is available--and quiet--but the sound input is a shame, with only a mediocre mono microphone, the sound quality is a long way behind that of the TZ7.