The worst camera for 2025 was this Lumix compact — it was a backwards step from a dated predecessor

The worst camera for 2025 wasn't the quirky Fujifilm X half – anyone putting forward that barrel of fun point-and-shoot camera misses the point. No, it was the Lumix ZS99 (known as the Lumix TZ99 outside the US) that left me most unimpressed this year.

Not that the Lumix ZS99 / TZ99 is a bad camera per se, and to be fair no other leading brand released a new camera this year like this, at such a low price point. It sits in my best point-and-shoot cameras guide, too.

However, the point is that the Lumix ZS99 really isn't a new camera at all, just a tiny update of a six-year-old model, now with USB-C charging. Worse still, Panasonic removed the electronic viewfinder from the older model – presumably to keep costs down – taking what feels like a backwards step.

It's a sad reality that a point-and-shoot camera for 2025, with a 30x optical zoom, flip up screen and huge potential, could be worse than in 2019, rather than reaping the benefit of its maker's latest features in what could have been a tasty upgrade.

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Is there really no business case for new point-and-shoot cameras?

I'm no business expert, but it feel as though the trending point-and-shoot and compact camera markets are worth exploring, yet it's a space that Panasonic, Sony, Nikon and others continue to ignore.

And like Sony, Panasonic feels particularly well placed to take advantage of the surge in interest – after all it made some of the best point-and-shoot cameras from the last decade, such as the Lumix LX100 II and Lumix ZS200 / TZ200.

Since the Lumix ZS99 / TZ99's predecessor, the Lumix ZS80 / TZ95 from 2019, however, Panasonic has invested heavily in hybrid full-frame cameras instead, plus a little in Micro Four Thirds (MFT), making some of the best video cameras in each format, such as the Lumix S1 II and Lumix GH7. It hasn't brought any of that tech into new and improved point-and-shoot cameras.

Instead, we get a rehashed Lumix ZS80 / TZ95, whose only improvement is the admittedly useful addition of USB-C charging, offsetting the backwards step of removing the viewfinder from the older model. Besides it having a 30x zoom, a decent camera phone will likely take better pictures than the ZS99.

True, you won't find many other new cameras like the ZS99 from leading brands at this price point, and I was happy that Panasonic kept its series also known as travel zooms alive, but I still don't think it's unreasonable to expect better upgrades.

Canon, on the other hand, is to be commended for its new PowerShot V1, which is a fabulous point-and-shoot for vlogging, with a new sensor, Canon's best autofocus yet in a (PowerShot) compact camera, and other upgrades.

If I was in Panasonic's shoes, I would be diverting some attention to affordable point-and-shoot models. There are even growing calls from Lumix fans for the return of Panasonic's smallest MFT mirrorless cameras, as powerful everyday cameras for 2025, since Fujifilm popularized such cameras.

Should Panasonic be doing more in this space? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

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The best compact cameras

➡️ Read our full best compact cameras guide
1. Best overall
Fujifilm X100VI
2. Best with zoom
Sony RX100 Mark VII
3. Best small
Ricoh GR IIIx
4. Best full-frame
Leica Q3