Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TZ80EB-K Super Zoom Camera - Black

I wanted a carry everywhere camera. It had to provide 4 things: be genuinely pocket-sized; capable of fully manual control; capable of recording raw files and have a good long-length zoom. It turns out there are plenty such cameras on the market and most of the main manufacturers have at least one in their range. I wasn't spoilt for choice.I decided on this one for a number of reasons. Firstly, it met all of my criteria; secondly it was made by Panasonic who have been producing excellent, feature-packed cameras for some time now, so know what they are doing and lastly it was available at a shade under £200 which I felt represented excellent value for money.The camera is a very capable and complex bit of kit. I imagine it would take a novice photographer a good while to get to grips with it so if you are a beginner and thinking of buying this then you will have a lot to learn. Having said that you can just use it as a point & shoot and it will deliver excellent results. But, when you buy a camera like this it seems crazy not to use it to its full potential. I only ever shoot using one of the manual modes and always shoot raw. You have much more creative control over how your final image looks that way. Leaving it to the camera to decide the settings for you is ok for a while but soon you will want to move on and take charge yourself. This camera allows that.The TZ80 is more than capable of producing excellent results. You will need photo editing software that can handle the raw files. If you don't want to spend any money then PhotoScape X, Faststone and Lightzone are all brilliant editors that recognise the files produced by the camera. For people with Lightroom, then the latest version (v6.14) is the one you will need.In terms of operating the camera it feels really quite nice in your hand. The thumb and finger grips give it a secure feeling when you are holding it. Accessing the menus is simple and straightforward as is adjusting the controls if you are using a manual mode. The TZ80 is very much a right-eyed camera, however. If, like me, you are left-eyed then the positioning of the viewfinder (top left corner) means your nose rubs on the screen and can stop you getting your eye in the ideal position. It's no big deal though and all left-eyed photographers are well used to the problem.Overall the camera is lightweight yet feels solid and well made. The impression you get is definitely one of quality. I do have a couple of very minor niggles. Firstly, the positioning of the flash so near to the front finger grip means it is easy to obscure it accidentally resulting in severely under light shots. Secondly, when I am using the menu wheel to change settings (eg. aperture) it is easy to press slightly too heavily and thus inadvertently access either the macro or flash functions. Neither issue is a big deal and I'm sure both are as a result of me not being fully familiar with the camera yet.To sum up. This is a great camera capable of producing excellent results. I think that some of the comments from other reviewers about problems they have had are as a result of inexperience. If you are new to photography this camera will let you start easy and yet give you scope to grow in knowledge and skill. If you are more experienced then there is still enough to keep you interested, challenged and satisfied with the results.NB: The photos that accompany this review have been reduced in size to be 2000 pixels along the longest edge.

After spending a while comparing different cameras, i decided on this one. I am very much an amateur and have only ever taken pictures on my phone. But i wanted to get far better pictures, so i treated myself.Well i was so pleased when it came, i sat down, got it out of the box, and quickly became frustrated at how many different things and menus that were on the screen. As i say I'm a camera amateur. But a couple of hours later, it was actually very easy finding my way around the touch screen. For the moment i have what i need to take a good picture and it which ever style i choose. There is still a few good things i still have to learn about, but overall i have only had it a few days, so many more learning hours to come.I'm 48 and found it easy all round.I love the sleekness of this camera and the grippy bit at front and back, doesn't feel like it can slip out of your hand easily.At the moment i don't think there is anything i don't like.I also found the wifi very easily to use and to transfer from camera to phone, which was something i was concerned about from some reviews.

I bought this camera to replace an earlier version. It is great for the price. Low light performance is excellent and picture quality is very good. It is ideal for taking to family events and as a back-up for my DSLR.My only criticism is that I find it a little over complicated. Whilst it is packed with features, like my car, I am doubtful whether I will ever use a lot of them. Also, the AI program flash is very bright so that close ups are washed out.

Still one of the best "travel" cameras around in this price range. 4K video recording and the excellent 30x optical zoom can't be faulted. Outdoor shots very high quality. Only major flaw in this camera is the lack of a hotshoe to allow the use of a flashgun as the built in flash is far too small and narrow to iluminate anything further than a couple of feet away and even then it is very directional with a very narrow field of illumination. Overall though this camera can put most of the big boys to shame and has a wide range of features that will satisfy the advanced photographers as well.

I got it to replace another Lumix point and shoot ( which I accidentally dropped, and it didn't like that treatment). It is slightly bigger than the previous Lumix but still fits in a pocket for easy and instant use.This new camera is a bit different to the previous one too, so I keep waiting for it to say its ready and focused( with the little icon in the left corner) but that day never really seems to come. So I just wait till it looks focused on the screen and then take the shot. May be one day I will fully understand this. I am not sure if this is a camera problem or if I am more shaky than I used to be or the way the Lumix works has changed. It might be both.There are loads of little icons on the view finder telling you about aspects of the shot and no doubt a Pro would know what they meant and value them, but for me they are just clutter.As my life is not complete with out a camera, I am glad to have this camera, and hope to be far more conversant with it soon.

Honestly i was hesitant buying an expensive camera from Amazon but im so glad I did. I read all the reviews which definitely helped me decide but overall I love this camera. I bought it so I could use it for things such as family holidays, day to day pictures, taking it on nights out with friends and capturing photos. It is definitely a camera that works for all them moments plus it’s so good for ‘professional photography’. There are so many different settings to play about with plus the thing I love most of all, the wifi setting!! You can take pictures and send them to your phone right away via an app. Definitely worth the money if you’re looking for a, what I call “life camera” :)