Verdict
Panasonic takes aim squarely at the pocket-friendly 1.0-inch sensor compact camera market with the ZS100 / TZ100, upping the stakes with a 10x optical zoom, something which other manufacturers haven't yet produced.
Although 1.0-inch sensors aren't particularly new or exciting any more, when you couple one with a 10x optical zoom, the resulting camera becomes a much more flexible option which is bound to appeal to travelling photographers looking for something high quality, but convenient.
The ZS100 / TZ100 produces lovely JPEG images, while the raw format images give you good scope to bring out extra detail should you need it. The sensor happily competes with Sony and Canon, who have so far been the big players in the 1.0-inch sensor market. The large sensor facilitates decent low-light shooting, making it a good all-rounder camera.
It's also an enjoyable camera to use, with a good number of buttons and dials, a very responsive touch sensitive screen and an (albeit small) electronic viewfinder. There's also inbuilt Wi-Fi and a range of creative filters. It would perhaps have been nice to see a tilting or articulating screen, but that may have added extra bulk, and certainly extra cost to the camera.
Panasonic claims that it has created a new segment of the market with this camera, and it's hard to disagree with that claim.
