Panasonic TZ40 review

Travel compact camera gets an upgrade - but how does it fare?

Panasonic TZ40 review
We take a closer look at Panasonic's latest long zoom compact

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We shoot a specially designed chart in carefully controlled conditions and the resulting images are analysed using DXO Analyzer software to generate the data to produce the graphs below.

A high signal to noise ratio (SNR) indicates a cleaner and better quality image.

For more more details on how to interpret our test data, check out our full explanation of our noise and dynamic range tests.

Here we compare the Panasonic TZ40 with the Samsung WB850F, Canon PowerShot SX280 HS, Sony HX50V and Nikon Coolpix S9500.

JPEG signal to noise ratio

Panasonic TZ40 review

As we can see from this chart, the Panasonic TZ40's JPEG files have a weaker signal to noise ratio than those from the Samsung WB850F, Canon PowerShot SX280 HS and Nikon Coolpix S9500 at every sensitivity setting. The Panasonic TZ40's JPEGs also have a weaker signal to noise ratio than the Sony HX50V's, at every sensitivity setting except ISO 100.

JPEG dynamic range

Panasonic TZ40 review

The Panasonic TZ40's JPEG results for dynamic range are a little better than the signal to noise ratios, coming out stronger than the Nikon Coolpix S9500's JPEGs at every sensitivity setting, stronger than the Samsung WB850F at ISO 200 and 1600, and stronger than the Sony HX50V at ISO 400-1600. Only the Canon PowerShot SX280 HS's JPEGs contain greater dynamic range than the Panasonic TZ40's at every sensitivity setting.

Amy Davies

Amy has been writing about cameras, photography and associated tech since 2009. Amy was once part of the photography testing team for Future Publishing working across TechRadar, Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, N Photo and Photography Week. For her photography, she has won awards and has been exhibited. She often partakes in unusual projects - including one intense year where she used a different camera every single day. Amy is currently the Features Editor at Amateur Photographer magazine, and in her increasingly little spare time works across a number of high-profile publications including Wired, Stuff, Digital Camera World, Expert Reviews, and just a little off-tangent, PetsRadar.