Panasonic's TZ7 Returns to the Face-Off

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This week sees a very special addition to our digital camera face-off: the Panasonic TZ7. 'But it's already in there' I hear you cry, and you're right; this compact was the camera of 2009. And that's exactly why we've decided to bring it back into the face-off with the 2010 test procedure.

As some of you may know, we moved offices at the beginning of this year, and in the new test lab, we couldn't correctly reproduce the standard test scene we'd been using since 2007. So we took the opportunity to shake up our test procedure and put together a new standard scene, which is now more technical, and more likely to show up the weaknesses of a given camera.

Unfortunately, that does make it a bit difficult to compare cameras tested using the 2007 procedure with those now tested under the 2010 procedure. Fear not though! You may remember that when we abandoned our 2005 test procedure, we reintroduced the star compact of the day, the Canon Ixus 850 IS, into the face-off to serve as a point of reference between the two procedures.

This year, we're doing the same with the Panasonic TZ7, which now takes over the role as the reference point between the new and old testing systems. And that's why you'll now find it in our digital camera face-off under the name 'TZ7 (2010 Test Procedure)'.

To see just how different the new test scene is, you can compare the TZ7 (2007 Test Procedure) against the TZ7 (2010 Test Procedure). It's also useful to compare the TZ7, a camera renowned for its excellent quality, with current models. You'll even be able to find out whether Panasonic's new replacement for the TZ7 is just as good as its predecessor Panasonic TZ7 vs Panasonic TZ10.


We've also added a new ISO test to our original TZ7 product test. Comparing the 2007 and 2010 ISO tests really shows up the difference between the new and old test scenes, as the new test scene highlights flaws that were much more difficult to spot with in the old one. For example, you can see noise in shadowy areas at 400 ISO, and smoothing is more noticeable too, particularly in the welding between micro-components on the circuit board.

We'll be testing more older cameras (we notably dug out an EOS 300D) with the new test scene when we get the time. That's not as easy as it sounds though, as over 100 new cameras have been presented since the beginning of the year! We've still got plenty left to test too, some of which look great on paper. Among compact and bridge cameras alone, the Casio FH100, Olympus SP-800 UZ, Fuji HS10 and Samsung EX1 are all high up on our list, we're just waiting for the manufacturers to lend them to us ...

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