I have been using DSLRs for several years, and currently use the Canon 40D and a wide selection of lenses. I bought this camera as a pocket camera that is easy to take anywhere, and for its HD video capability, as I'm currently in Thailand for several weeks doing some geology research for my master's thesis, and it's impractical and annoying to lug around my big camera everywhere. Therefore my expectations may be different - I am not expecting perfect image quality, full manual controls, etc., because I have my other camera for that kind of thing when I want it. I'm not sure that I would want this as my only camera, because the image quality isn't perfect, but if I didn't have a DSLR I don't think I would notice.

In any case, the main thing I have been using this for is taking HD video. This is excellent, and looks phenomenal on a computer screen. I haven't tried playing it on a TV but I assume it would look excellent there too. It is 720p, not 1080p like the new DSLRs will do, but it still looks great - surprisingly great, even, considering the size of the camera and its lens.

Others have apparently had trouble using the AVCHD Lite codec, but I have not. I can import the .mts files flawlessly into the Kdenlive video editor on OpenSUSE Linux 11.2 with KDE 4.2. I'm not sure what the status of this codec's support in the popular Mac and Windows video editors is, but if you're using Linux, don't worry about it because it works great and the quality and file size are much better than using MPEG2. As it's a small camera with a small lens and few manual controls, video is not going to look like that from a professional camcorder or from a new DSLR with HD video, but it's easily as good or better than that from the small sub $1000 HD camcorders that are available. Manual control of exposure compensation and ISO for video isn't apparently possible - a workaround is to use the scene modes, which works decently well. The night scene modes give pretty good high-iso (i.e. grainy) video at night, even in dark bars and clubs (or here in Thailand, riding in the back of a tuk-tuk). I really like that there's a dedicated movie button - you can immediately start recording a video no matter what else you're doing on the camera by hitting the button.

The camera's responsiveness is very good - obviously not like a DSLR, but much quicker than I'm used to from point and shoots, including other recent models that I've handled. You don't get full manual controls, but if you know what you're doing you can almost always get exactly what you want out of it. I usually leave it in "Normal Picture" mode, which gives you the most manual control. All other modes will either default to use the flash if the camera deems it necessary (which, as in most point and shoots, is almost all the time apparently), or will use the built-in LED to aid focusing, both of which are extremely distracting if you want to be discreet (or if you just don't like the look of straight-on flash).

You do have to know what you want to do with the camera if you use "Normal Picture" mode, it's not just point and shoot - but you will get the best results. The "Intelligent Auto" mode works OK - it tries to decide the best scene mode for you based on what it thinks you're taking a picture of. I would suggest just dialing in the scene mode yourself (there are a lot to choose from) as when I was trying that mode it would sometimes choose the wrong thing. That would be the best mode if you wanted pure point-and-shoot action, though.

Image quality is probably about on par with other point and shoots with folding optics. I don't know too much about this as I'm used to my 40D and other DSLR images. It is certainly more than decent for my purposes, though. Impressively, I've been taking high-iso shots without flash in really dark Thai bars and clubs that turn out ok - they are relatively long exposures of 1/2 to 1 1/2 seconds (or more) so I steady the camera on something, and there is motion blur, but I think that adds to the photo. The image noise in these cases is very obvious, but not overly distracting. Don't expect the results you'd get from a DSLR with a fast lens, and you won't be disappointed. Definitely practice your technique in various situations to get the best results with this camera.

Menu navigation is a little strange at first. I am not sure if it is really non-intuitive, or if I'm just used to the excellent navigation on DSLRs. I think users of point and shoot cameras probably have different expectations - most probably won't have a problem with this. Once you get the hang of it it's not really a problem, anyway, but for me it really was strange at first. All the controls you want (all the manual controls available in "Normal Picture" mode) are quickly available by hitting buttons on the back. You don't have to dig through menus to get the the settings you need most often. It's a similar setup to that on the Canon Powershot series, and probably other cameras as well as far as I know. I really like the different auto-focus options they give you - there are more options than on my 40D, and similar options to the professional series DSLRs from Canon and Nikon. Obviously, they aren't going to work as well as on those cameras, but I quite like the "1-area High Speed" and "Spot" focus modes, which are very fast and work quite well. Unfortunately there is no manual focus, and in tricky situations it can be hard to get it to focus on exactly what you want - in those cases try "Spot" focus, but even there it doesn't always give you what you want.

Now, of course, the big thing about this camera that calls for the high price - because let's face it, for the specs on this camera it is pretty expensive - is that it's waterproof. This works great and is really a lot of fun. I took it into the cold Pacific Ocean at Newport Beach and it held up great. Taking underwater HD video is a lot of fun. [...] I will have some more videos, from Thailand, up soon as well. I've also taken it in a hotel pool, and it worked great there too. Even if you don't plan on going snorkeling or anything with this camera, it being tough and waterproof is a great feature - I don't ever worry about just slipping it in my pocket. It's the rainy season here right now and I don't carry an umbrella, so I could easily get soaked at any time - I would be very careful with a non-waterproof camera, but don't have to think twice about always carrying this one with me.

Do be careful, though, and be sure to read the instructions - there are some things you should do to take care of it so that the waterproofing holds up. The waterproof seals really could be better than they are, but if you take care of them I think they should hold up pretty well.

One thing you might also want to watch out for is battery life - when I took it to the beach, I only got about 25 minutes of video recording and a few photos before the battery (which was fully charged beforehand) was completely dead. The Pacific is quite cold, of course, which may have been the reason for the short battery life, but it is something to be careful of. Extra batteries are annoyingly expensive, and I haven't seen a third-party version available yet, but I would have to recommend getting one because so far it seems that the battery life is unpredictable. I left it recording video on my desk with a fully charged battery to see how long it would last, and it went about 2 hours (which is about what you can fit on the 16gb SDHC card I got with the AVCHD lite codec). That seems pretty good, but in real life use you will probably get considerably less life out of the battery.

The zoom range is pretty decent; I usually stay at the wide end and I appreciate that they give you the 28mm equivalent - a lot of other point and shoots are at their widest at 35mm, which is significantly less wide. The lens is not exceptionally fast - which I assume is due to the folding optics design - but it normally is fine, even in dark places as I described earlier. I don't really ever zoom in too much, because with the slow lens it's usually blurry except in bright light. The optical image stabilization works well, and is active during video recording (if you want it to be) to remove some of the jitter, which is kind of annoying in videos, and which you'll get a decent amount of with this camera due to its small size.

Macro images are nice - you can get quite close. Be careful about the "Macro Zoom" mode, though - it is actually a digital zoom! You can get much closer, but the image quality really suffers. This looks especially bad if you use it during video. I suggest simply never using this option. The regular macro mode works fine. You can get closest by zooming to the widest setting, which seems weird, but it works.

The camera is pretty stylish and has a nice feel and heft. It feels really well built, mostly metal, and not all smoothed out and boring like most modern electronics design. If you're into gadgets, you'll really appreciate the industrial styling of the camera, and the weight. The screen is very good; it is bright and visible in direct sunlight and will automatically adjust the brightness depending on where you are (if you set it to - you can set the brightness yourself, too). One problem with the design - and one inherent to this type of camera with folding optics - is that you will often find your fingers covering the lens until you get used to holding it. Kind of annoying, but understandable due to design limitations.

Overall - I think this is great as a pocket camera, for its HD videos, and as a backup for another camera. I personally would not want it as my only camera - I would choose my DSLR. I would not hesitate in recommending it to anyone who isn't interested in a DSLR, though, and who wants a tough, neat little camera, great for traveling. To be honest, I've taken very few shots with my 40D, and quite a lot of them (and a heck of a lot of video) with this in the week or so I've been in Thailand so far.

This camera is great! Here's why I (filmmaker/parent)bought this one instead of others:
1. Wanted to shoot HD video anywhere, any time, without having to lug around my HVX.
2. Shoots on memory cards, unlike the Sony P.O.S. I bought that shoots HDV and if the camera breaks you're up a creek. If the camera croaks, at least I can get the footage/pics off of it.
3. I have kids, so I never know when I'm going to want to shoot it, and this camera is easily small enough to fit into a cargo pocket or pants pocket (I'd recommend getting a body glove neoprene cell phone sleeve to put it in - fits perfect).
4. I have kids, so it has to be waterproof/dusproof/indestructable since I want to take it to the pool, camping, hiking, etc.

Pros:
- Shoots video super-instantly and easily, recording with one button push vs. my wife's olympus which makes you go through menus.
- Video is SUPER-smooth, probably because of the super-wide angle lens. I mean, rediculously smooth.
- Stills look great too.
- Did I mention nearly indestructable.

Cons:
- No lens cap at all - bad design - an indestructable camera where the lens is always exposed? always carry it in something.
- STUPID USB cable that's proprietary and DOESN'T charge the battery when it's plugged in.
- AVCHD Lite looks good, will import into Final Cut Pro like it's a P2 card, but is otherwise kind of a pain to deal with. The Panasonic software blows.
- Expensive battery, but definitely get a spare.
- Took some figuring to get the settings right for shooting with (min. shutter speed, mainly. I'd rather a photo or video be dark than blurry).
- No intervalometer (sp?). That would have been cool.
- Speaker/head phones jack - as a filmmaker, to put videos on this to play back to show people would be cool, but the speaker isn't great.

Overall:
Great camera. The next version will hopefully have a few more improvements.

I went going on a Carribean cruise which was going to include snorkling and scuba in addition to lots of beach time. I wasn't planning to get a new camera but I saw that some new underwater cameras were coming out and thought I would check it out. Now, first of all, I am a huge Canon fan and probably would have bought their underwater camera (DC10 I believe), if it didn't look like a toy.

I didn't test the 3m theory by taking it scube but I did use it extensively on the beach and snorkling. It took some great pics and I had a lot of fun just bringing it in the water and watching people get paranoid for me. One great moment was when we got caught in a torrential rainstorm and I was happily taking pictures while everyone else was trying very hard to protect their cameras.

Couple of notes:
Get a foam floating strap. Keeps the camera relatively close to the surface so it won't sink to the bottom.
Olympus Foam Float Strap, 202212, Red

If you want to take widescreen pics, these won't come in at the full 12M. It gets downsized to 9M.

Outdoor pics were fantastic - much better quality then I thought

Plenty of features to play with including beach mode, food mode, burst mode (easier then I remember my Canon).

For some reason, power on takes a couple of seconds, tough to get used to after my instant on Canon

Battery life good for one day, my Canon would go for a couple days.

HD video came out great although make sure you have a procedure to convert them to friendlier video files.

All in all though, very happy with my purchase!

I bought this camera when there were no review on the internet, so I actually had a hard time to pick out what I wanted. I was comparing to Pentax / Fujifilm / Olympus models. First thing I've noticed, the LCD in the TS-1 isn't 3", but it's the most responsive in the dark, less lagging, and sharper than others. TS-1 is also the one that has 720p HD recording compare to others.

The camera dimension is probably the biggest one among all the models i've been looking around, and it's surely one of the most expensive one as well. However, the face recognition, 720p video, 12 megapixels, the feature list is going on and on, and TS-1 seem to be the best choice.

i am not going to be in detail about image quality or lens quality as a pro review like [...] or some other pro websites, because I don't have those pro equipment to justify enough and accurately reviewing in scientific manner. However, I can review as an user, my words and perspectives.

= Image quality =
Image turns out to be sharp! colors aren't too shabby, but can be washed out if you have high contract scene. Both skin tone and natural shots looks very clean and nice. It's 100 out of 100 score at outdoor especially at day light.

High ISO can be a little noisy, even in the day light you might experiences a little noise. It's not a CANON, but colors are more vivid, things look more lively compare to canon point n' shoots. Over all experiences, I like Panasonic's color system better.

Night shots it uses black fame technique, which means if you take 30 seconds to take the shoot, it will take another 30 seconds to re-process to black out the noises. It works fairly well! Night shots are pretty clean.

As we always wanted from point n' shoots, is to be able to compare to our DSLR from the image quality perspectives. The truth is, due to the limitation size of CCD, you just can't get that kind of image quality no matter how advance image chip is. However, comparing to other digital cameras at it's price, TS-1 image stands out! (compared to canon 780IS, canon's image just can't compare!)

Ai modes are somewhat usable but not ideal. They are often pretty dumb. Preset modes aren't necessary smart about when to flashing the flash, or subject is behind or in front of the scene. Shutter speed isn't ideal either! Auto (semi-manual mode) allows you to change settings, but shutter only go as far as 1 second. If you want to do long time exposure like 30s, 60s, you really need to turn into "night landscape mode" and there aren't that many options to choose from these preset modes. In the other word, the manual controls are very limited.

There is a LED autofocus assistance lamp. It's annoying that it will pops up as bright as the flash itself, and there is almost no way to turn it off. Even you turn the lamp off from menus, it will still pop up when it needs to focus in the dark. I wish they've used infrared ray!!!!!!

= Video quality =
720p is sharp! Video recording on TS-1 is a bless! It auto focus on subjects! you can auto-tracking the moving subject. Zoom in and zoom out is quiet fast and quiet. video quality is a little softer than actual video recorder, but it beats VGA! It's probably one of the sharpest video recording I've seen in this price range (on a compact digital camera, not DSLR or delicate video recorder).

microphone on top of the camera isn't perfect, but at least i do love the idea to include noise reduction software in camera. I was on the ferry filming, the noise reduction does take away lots of background noises! This is pretty awesome design!

= Flash =
Flash obviously has issues! It fires inaccurately because it falls to know how far your subject is. It's always full amount blast! If you are too close, things tend to be too bright (especially on macro mode), if you are too far, flash still fires anyway (even flash light doesn't travel that far).

Flash option is hiding under "left" button, is not as easy as other camera where there is a delicate "flash" button to press.

Flash is located nearby the lens. Unlike some other models or DSLR where Flash is above the lens, it tend to create more "red eye" effects. Not only that! Flash also cause reflection on your dirty lens. Due to this camera has no lens cap, when lens is a bit dusty, flash reflects and picks up those dust spots. You will see "SNOW" effect in your image. This is a very annoying issue!! It makes flash almost unusable! However, this issues happens to many compact camera, especially waterproof cameras because you have extra piece of glass in front of your lens for protection, and it often picks up dust.

= camera body =
Solid, heavy, but well built. Since it's waterproofed, I often wash with soap after coming back from the beach. It's very handy and nicely sealed! When I open up the battery compartment, I often hear the air pressure sound! This is not just some silicon rubber cap! The design is very well done compare to many.

Camera body is brush metal look, but scratch easy! Sometimes I almost think, this is suppose to be outdoor camera, why do I need a camera bag?.... After a few weeks of usage, it shows hair thin scratches on the surface, so I guess it's not as tough as I think :(

This is an internal lens focus design! Although lens isn't as big as LX-3, so the image quality might be a little worse. However, because your lens is no longer "sticks" out, it's less mechanical failure, and more comfortable in your jean pocket.

= battery life =
Is not bad, but not great. It will last a day, but not several days. Extra battery would be recommend if you have a long trip. It's sucks you can't charge battery while it's in the camera. Battery is like canon and others, you need to use "THEIR" battery, not just any AA or AAA.

You can't charge through USB when connected, this is kinda stupid too!

= connections / software =
It also sucks that you have to use their "USB" cable, not just any micro-usb port. Their software is just like any canon/nikon/pentax software.. the driver sucks, bundle software sucks, they are pretty useless if you already have picassa, aperture, iphoto, photoshop....

On windows, life sucks a little. You need to install your own driver, and use their own "SOFTWARE" because it's a AVCHD "LITE" codec, not AVCHD spec, so many video editors won't pick up correctly or you will have sync issues on recording time. This camera doesn't come with RAW image format, so no advance editing for photo either.

On the mac, everything is just works. When you turn on the camera while hooking up to USB, it can be a card reader (you can import photos if you want). Better yet! if you run iphoto09, it automatically picks up the camera. You can import images right into your iphoto without extra driver or anything. Video is the same too! imovie09 will automatically picks up TS-1, and ask to import! Import AVCHD Lite is painless in mac, you can basically click on import.. no need to install drivers or anything.

= Operations =
Start up is pretty fast compare to many. Focus is fast and accurate. Face recognition doesn't always work, but it will fall back to other focus mode, so it's always right on the spot.

No manual focus is one let down, but it wasn't too bad. I am mainly using it as a point n' shoot candid camera anyway. However, if there is a manual focus, that would be nice!

= Over all =
It's an excellent outdoor camera. Waterproof works well, image quality is pretty nice, colors are pretty natural (not as washed out as Canon), well body building quality, starts up fairly fast, autofocus is fast and accurate.

=== PRO ===
- fast start up
- fast autofocus
- nice face recognition (need to add more profiles though)
- well balanced color setting
- nice waterproof feature
- solid camera body
- internal focus, it's often better idea than "sticks out" lens design
- pretty nice 720p video recording
- very bright, responsive LCD at back (but why not 3"?)
- just works perfectly without additional software or anything on a mac
- video recording has very accurate auto-focus, you can zoom in / out and still remain focus (lacking this option from many compact cameras)
- Just about right size and right weight (could be even better if they trim some fat though)

=== CON ===
- flash has issues
- noisy on high ISO (expected from small CCD)
- no lens cap, lens can be expose to danger
- brush metal design is awesome but easy to scratch
- wish to have microUSB connection
- hope that USB can charge the battery or in camera battery charge option
- preset modes aren't that easy to access, and often they are more than confusing. Wish for more manual operation options

I high recommend this camera to outdoor lovers, it's a very good all around camera! However, do not recommend if people are looking for DSLR like performance, manual control freaks, or looking for something super cute and compact.

I've been using my DMC-TS1 for over a month now and am quite satisfied with its performance. Those who are real sticklers for image quality in this size-range should really be looking into either the LX3 or the G10, but those aren't waterproof, weatherproof, and shock resistant (which should make up a large part of the reason why you're considering this camera). I looked at sample shots from the other waterproof cameras from Pentax, Olympus, Fuji, and Canon. The only one that proves competitive is the Canon D10. In the center of the frame of wide-angle shots, the image quality of the D10 is clearly better than that of the TS1, but as you move out to the edges (especially toward the right, upper corner of horizontal shots) there is excessive softness in the D10 images and they become worse than the TS1. The TS1 displays some minor softness throughout the image, and is not as sharp as the D10 at the center of the frame, but is consistent in detail and sharpness levels throughout the entire frame.

Here are some TS1 pros and cons based on my experience:

Pros:

* Feel confident using the camera in any weather conditions.
* 28mm at the wide end with only minor barrel distortion.
* Zoom range is suitable for most types of picture taking.
* Some fun and usable settings, like starry night (for time exposures), pinhole, and macro zoom.
* Has an auto bracket feature for bracketing exposures.
* Color reproduction seems natural for the most part (see below), though perhaps not as vivid as the default setting on Canons.
* Can shoot in two types of HD video, as well as regular video if I want that. The HD video looks great and sounds fine. Some complain that AVCHD Lite is not usable with current software on the market, but I've been using Handbrake to convert my AVCHD Lite videos without much difficulty.
* Image quality is about as good as or better than what I'd get in most any other general consumer point & shoot.
* Start up time is fast and shutter lag isn't really noticeable.
* I should list sturdy and waterproof here, but I'm not going to intentionally test the former and haven't yet tested the latter.

Cons:

* Some mild softness in images generally, especially in lower light environments, but nothing really noticeable unless you're looking for it; however . . .
* Noticeable softness at the telephoto end of the lens, though that's not too surprising given the lens design. This mostly occurs in low contrast scenes, so don't go taking any telephoto shots of fir trees off in the distance.
* The color range that is perhaps less faithfully reproduced than others seems to be reds. They're a little washed out.
* The regular Macro setting gets only as close as 5cm (I've been spoiled by the 2cm of my old and reliable Canon SD700).
* AWB has trouble with indoor lighting, but I've never come across a point & shoot that didn't have that problem.
* Sometimes the focusing could be more discerning--which I suspect is not a problem with the Canon D10 (I've owned many Canons in the point and shoot range).

Finally, I did knock one star off of my review for image quality, but that's in comparison to what I think the ideal should be, and currently nothing on the market matches that ideal. So, compared to what's on the market in waterproof cameras, I'd give this a 5-star review.

I purchased this camera for my wife to keep in her purse so she can capture those "kodak moments" of the kids wherever they are especially during family vacations at the beach. Here are my brief pros and cons:

PROS:
> Water Resistant - Took decent pictures even when wet.
> Rugged - All orifices are sealed with gaskets.
> Manual Controls - User can customize settings to best fit their situation.
> Ergonomics - Lightweight and small. Can fit in shirt pocket or purse.

CONS:
> Picture Quality - Surprisingly grainy pictures for a 12MP camera even in low ISO's.
> Battery Life - Battery runs down too quickly compared with Canon Powershots.
> Video Quality & Sound - OK video quality for a HD camera. Sound is even worse.

I purchased this camera for a snorkeling trip to Australia's Great Barrier Reef. To make a long story short, we were not disappointed. As somewhat of a film/slr/dslr junkie, I have quite an arsenal of equipment (Nikon D70, D90, D700, FM2). Besides this camera, I brought a point and shoot Canon SD1200, and a D70 on the trip.

- It's really nice that the strap cinches and locks around your wrist. Waterproof cameras usually do not float and the TS1 is no exception. If you let go of the camera over a stretch of deep reef, it is gone. Cameras are lost in the reef all the time. The cinching, locking strap prevents this from happening.

- The camera body does an extremely good job of resisting salt build up. We had the camera in the water for a good two hours in heavy 30 knot winds and stronger than usual current. The salt build up cleared up after soaking in fresh water for 30 minutes (I wish I could say the same for my hair).

- Water/salt does not stick to the hardened lens which is very important because water droplets usually cause focusing difficulty. Furthermore, as most peope know, when you have a snorkel mask on and are in ocean water, it's impossible to see any LCD on any camera under water. Regardless of the camera, I often find myself shooting video underwater blind at the widest angle. The same is true for the TS1. However, the difference is that the TS1 is reliable enough in terms of color, exposure, and focus that I don't need to see the LCD underwater.

- When you bring the camera out of the water, the TS1 has reed-thin drainage lines that move water away from openings. I found that it is best not to open the camera until the pooled water near the buttons has drained to the bottom of the camera and the exterior is completely dry.

- The still pictures underwater were sharp, in focus, and exposed properly. The AVCHD video underwater was stunning. When I look at the high definition videos, I am still in awe of what this camera is capable of. The video is extremely smooth. In fact, it's a lot less choppy than my high def Panasonic SD5 camcorder.

- In daily usage, the camera performs well. In fact, well enough, that for daylight photos, I left my DSLR in the hotel room and just kept this camera in my pocket. Of course, (as with any compact) I cannot say the same for night photos.

Having a tough, waterproof compact allows you to focus on enjoying your vacation instead of protecting your equipment. Also, as of this writing, this is the only compact that does AVCHD lite video that is also waterproof. This turned out to be one of the better camera purchases I have made.

The camera is an extremely good value, especially when you consider what it would cost to get an AVCHD camcorder and a waterproof housing (and the larger size).

I bought this to upgrade from a Pentax Optio W30 that I carried everywhere for a couple of years, including about a hundred dips in the river. The Pentax was very reliable and still works perfectly well, but this camera is the only one I'm carrying now.

What's good about the Panasonic Lumix TS1 as compared to the Pentax Optio W30:
+ 28mm equivalent wide angle. I found I was shooting 95% of my pictures at the widest end of the Optio (about 35mm) and still often wishing for a wider angle. The TS1 finally delivers a wide angle.
+ Much better image quality than the Pentax. ISO400 is actually usable now, and I can leave auto ISO on!
+ Optical image stabilizer. Every modern camera has this.
+ 720p HD video. The Pentax only does 640x480 MJPEG that turns into a muddled mess with sensor noise and JPEG artifact. 720p from the TS1 looks great.
+ Quiet autofocus and zoom. The motor can barely be heard in videos if there's no other sound. Underwater, these sounds are magnified, and you can even hear the image stabilizer working in a quiet spot, but when do you need the sound in an underwater video?
+ Quick bootup, fast focus.
+ Zoom review option. This is great--it shows you a zoomed-in view after each photo so you can see if it's actually in focus.
+ Separate photo trigger/movie record buttons.
+ Good exposure and color balance control. I can leave everything on auto, with iExposure enabled to help with high dynamic range scenes, and images almost always come out fine.

What's not so great:
- Lens not very fast, with a maximum aperture of f/3.3 at the wide end that falls off quickly to f/5.9 at the tele end.
- Image quality okay, but not great. 12MP is excessive for such a tiny sensor; the lens can't resolve detail at that level anyway--with a 6MP sensor of the same size, this camera could take awesome photos.
- No pan focus mode. I liked that option for underwater shots on my Pentax. This can be sort of worked around by using autofocus lock, but it's not quite the same thing.
- No manual focus at all!
- Macro mode has trouble focusing on close-up objects and seems to prefer the background, even with spot focus enabled. With lack of manual focus, this can be a problem.
- No manual aperture/exposure time setting or raw image recording. I don't believe there's an underwater camera currently made that has these.
- Minimum macro range not as good as the Pentax.
- Have to hold power button down for one second for camera to power up, needlessly doubling bootup time.
- No manual "turn display on/off" function. This is a shame, since the display powerup is very fast. Automatic power saving choices are limited.
- Holding down buttons to scroll a picture has the usual 1-second delay before the key starts repeating that's been in digital devices since forever. It's almost 2010 now and we're all used to pressing keys, can we maybe get this down to a quarter-second like on our computer keyboards?
- There's a bug or incompatibility that causes HD video recorded by this camera to be played at double speed by some software. In Windows, at least Media Player Classic Home Cinema (MPC-HC) plays the videos perfectly.

The camera also has tons of "scene modes" which I haven't gotten around to playing with. All in all, it feels like a modern point-and-shoot that performs adequately on land as well as under water. And takes awesome HD video without focus/zoom noise.

I really wanted that one feature in my next pocket-sized camera: WATERPROOF. But I was very concerned after reading many negative tests & reviews about waterproof cameras in general. It seems like - finally - one manufacturer got it right with this piece of equipment.

Most important to me were the following criteria:


1. Waterproof
- 10FT is plenty for my purposes

2. Picture quality
- Beats the competition, except for the Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD, however, the D10 is twice as thick, offers only 3x optical zoom and no HD-video recording.

3. Shutter-lag
- What good is a point and shoot camera, if you can't get the shot you want due to a 1-sec "waiting-period"? Something which you may experience with other "waterproofs". No annoying level of shutter-lag with the Lumix TS1.

4. Size/Style
- Really like the looks... not as thin as my Casio Exilim, but the Exilim won't make it out of the pool - undamaged.

5. Zoom
- 4.6x optical zoom; starts at 28mm and goes up to 128.8mm (35mm equivalent). Great range (since my Canon Rebel XSi standard lens reaches 18mm-55mm).

6. Adjustable screen-brightness
- Sufficient; really helps in bright sunlight by the pool or at the beach (since there is no viewfinder).

7. HD-Video
- HD-Recording: 1280x720 pixels, 60p - AVCHD Lite (SH: 17Mbps, H: 13Mbps, L: 9Mbps)... or... 1280x720 pixels, 30fps Motion JPEG. It has a mini HDMI-exit for direct HD-TV hook-up.
- You can also switch to... 4:3: 640 x 480 pixels, 320 x 240 pixels @ 30 fps ... or ... 16:9: 848 x 480 pixels @ 30 fps Quick Time Motion JPEG for easy file transfer between camera and computers

8. Lens-quality
- Thank you Leica!


Verdict: Great product for a fair price (paid $300).

Like you, I read the other reviews on the TS1 and wasn't sure what to think. After now having the camera for a few days, and taking lots of photos I can say that this camera offers some great features in a very well made camera that makes this one stand out.

I am an avid DSLR user, and this camera does all the things that my Nikon DSLR doesn't:

1. Shoot 720p video (or any video at all for that matter). The video is stunning. If you are looking at low end "flash camcorders" forget it, get this.
2. Take it underwater or shoot in the rain.
3. Throw it a bag and take wherever you go, or stick it in your pocket (Put it in a camera case to protect expose outer glass over lense)
4. Can bang it around (shockproof), though I don't recommend using that feature, just good to know it can take a lick...
5. Option to record a 5 second audio clip to accompany your still photos (I love this feature, especially when shooting photos for work)
6. Record to internal memory (called the "clipboard"). Good for not mixing those "photo documentation" shots with your normal recreational photos
7. Hook up directly to HDTV via HDMI cable (sold separately). See more on this feature below.

The only cameras that I found to compare to this in the $300 range were the Sanyo Xacti CA9 (HD), the Canon D10 (non-HD), and the Olympus Stylus 8000 (non-HD). I decided that the Sanyo CA9 was going to be a junkier unit than the Panasonic, with lesser image quality and features. The Canon and the Olympus don't shoot HD video (which was a deal-breaker for me). The Canon is a lot bulkier due to its better waterproofing than the TS1 (10m vs. 3m). I was just looking for a snorkel cam, not a diving cam, so I'd rather not have the bulk. I have never been a fan of Olympus, especially due to their proprietary memory cards (xD). The zoom range on the Panasonic is, I think, superior to these other cameras, especially due to its true wide angle capability. I also have owned Panasonic and Canon digital cameras, and find the Panasonic beats the Canon in ease of use. The TS1 allows optical zoom while shooting video, Canon's typically do not.

The AVCHD format for the video seems very good. I think Sony and Panasonic developed this format so that you could fit a good amount of HD video per stored gigabyte of memory space. A lot of users seem to have trouble with this format since it is not well supported on the PC, and you'll have to use the included Panasonic software, which probably isn't all that great, or buy a software like Sony Vegas. I use a Mac which is fully compatible with the AVCHD format without loading any other software. Just attach the camera, and iMovie imports the videos quickly and it ready to edit them, and convert to post to the internet. If you area PC user, you probably have to figure on buying Vegas in order to manage the videos off this camera. This camera can be your camcorder - easily. I know it's not 1080p, but I am of the opinion that 720p is way better than 480p, and not much less than 1080p. Keep in mind that the higher the resolution, the bigger the hard drive and more computing time you're going to need to deal with it. 720p hits the sweet spot, at this time.

And as I mentioned earlier, the hookup to an HDTV is accomplished via a separately sold mini-HDMI to HDMI cable. This is a non-proprietary cable, so you can easily pick one up at Amazon for less than $10. A really cool thing that I found out by surprise was whenI plugged it into my Panasonic Viera Plasma HDTV. Once plugged in, you actually operate the camera to play photos, movies, etc. using the TV remote (that's right, the TV remote, right from the comfort of your couch). No one else has this type of a feature on a digital camera.

Also, it was great that Amazon included a FREE 4GB Class4 memory card with the purchase, which I will now use with my Nikon D40 (sorry, Amazon!) to replace a slow 1GB card I had in there. I'm using a Transcend 16GB Class 6 card I purchased for the TS1, which can store a little more than 2 hours of 720p HD video on the single card.

So if you're looking for a great hybrid HD movie camera, the TS1 will not disappoint. The controls are well built and easy to operate. If you don't have a pocket cam to complement your DSLR, you should, because you're missing out on a lot of photo opportunities. And if you're going to get a camera or camcorder, you should be looking for one that offers the quality of HD video. And when you can get all this and take it in the water with you, you have a VERY versatile camera that will do so much more than your old cameras did.

I do have one negative item to point out on this camera. With most cameras, when you review the shot you took, you can quickly hit a button or two and delete the photo while still in shooting mode. Not so, with the Panasonic. You have to go into review mode, and then hit three buttons to delete the photo. A bit annoying. Other than that, I really don't find any other problems with the camera yet.