Panasonic brings out ZS15, ZS20 compact superzooms
updated 12:25 am EST, Tue January 31, 2012
Panasonic ZS15 and ZS20 improve shooting at edge
Panasonic used the lead-in to the CP+ show to introduce even more Lumix point-and-shoot cameras past what it showed earlier in the month. The 20X, 24-480mm ZS20 as the flagship hopes to cure some of the problems of compact superzooms with a new internal structure and nano surface-coated lens that hope to cut back on lens flares and ghosting. A new GPS system both handles the usual geotagging and can even load map data from a DVD like one would car navigation, filling in much more information for 82 countries, such as landmarks.
The ZS20 likewise has a 14.1-megapixel CMOS sensor that claims low-light friendliness, burst shots at up to 10FPS, and fast autofocus. The three-inch, 460,000-pixel touchscreen can be toggled either to use fingers to autofocus, to zoom, or to take the shot. Panasonic gives manual controls, a pseudo-3D photo mode, and 1080p, 60FPS video shooting.
A notch down to the ZS15 goes to a 16X, 24-383mm equivalent lens, a less dense but still sensitive 12.1-megapixel sensor, 1080p30 shooting, and no touch.
Both cameras reach stores in March and will cost $280 for the ZS15 and $350 for the ZS20.
