Panasonic SZ7 vs Panasonic ZS60: A Deep Dive into Two Compact Superzoom Cameras

As someone who’s handled and tested hundreds of compact cameras over the last decade and a half, I have a soft spot for versatile, pocket-sized travel companions. Panasonic’s Lumix line has long been a staple in this space, evolving steadily with technology advances. Today, I’m digging into a detailed, side-by-side comparison of two of their compact fixed-lens models: the Panasonic SZ7 from 2012 and the 2016 flagship superzoom ZS60 (also known as the Lumix DMC-TZ80 in some markets). These cameras, though similar in category and brand, represent distinctly different generations and philosophies in compact camera design.

Throughout this review, I'll share hands-on experience, technical details, and practical testing outcomes to help you decide if the SZ7’s simplicity or the ZS60’s feature-rich approach suits your photography needs better. Let’s jump in.

How Big Are They? Handling and Ergonomics in Real Life

Size and grip comfort matter hugely in everyday use, especially for travel and street photography. The SZ7 sports a mid-2010s compact profile, impressively pocketable but modestly equipped, while the ZS60 trades some pocketability for a broader zoom range and more controls.

The SZ7 measures 99 x 59 x 21 mm and weighs a mere 133 grams, making it extremely portable - borderline “throw-it-into-anypocket” territory. It’s slim and light, but I found that during prolonged shooting the slimmer grip could feel a touch less secure, especially with one hand. The minimal controls and non-tilting LCD keep things simple but limit customization and quick adjustments.

Contrast that with the ZS60’s 112 x 64 x 38 mm and 282 grams; almost double the weight - not surprising given the increased lens girth and added features. The grip is chunkier, more molded, and provides reassuring purchase when zooming or shooting in less-than-ideal conditions. The ZS60 feels like it’s meant to be held for longer sessions - making it a better companion for more serious photographers while traveling or tackling events. However, that extra bulk might be a dealbreaker for those prioritizing pocket-dominance.

The View from the Top: Control Layout and Button Experience

Precise and intuitive control layouts can improve your shooting flow tremendously. Both cameras opt for fixed lenses and compact bodies, but their approach to controls diverges - reflecting their generation gap and target users.

The SZ7 keeps it very straightforward: a mode dial with very basic options, no dedicated dials for aperture/shutter priority, and limited buttons around the shutter release. You won’t find custom function buttons or illuminated controls, and the menu system feels somewhat dated to 2020s users accustomed to touchscreen interfaces.

Meanwhile, the ZS60 brings a touchscreen LCD (more on that shortly), shutter priority, aperture priority, and full manual modes - allowing more precise exposure control. Buttons are more numerous but well spaced, with clearly labeled function buttons and intuitive dial placement. This layout enables quicker shifts between shooting modes, making it better suited to enthusiasts who want to experiment beyond full-auto.

If you tend to like simple “point and shoot” ease, SZ7 keeps it minimal. If you demand fingertip control over settings in dynamic shooting situations, ZS60’s top layout will please you with its flexibility.

Sensors and Image Quality: Look Beyond the Megapixels

The heart of any camera is its sensor - here we need a rigorous comparison since both cameras use a 1/2.3" CMOS sensor, but with different resolutions and processing tech.

SZ7 features a 14MP sensor with an effective area of 27.72 mm², while the ZS60 steps up to 18MP with a slightly larger sensor area of 28.07 mm². On paper, this equates to more pixels on the ZS60’s sensor, promising finer detail but historically, higher pixel densities on small sensors can introduce noise and reduce dynamic range.

Panasonic equipped the ZS60 with its “Venus Engine” processor, absent in the SZ7, improving noise reduction and color rendering significantly.

In field tests - comparing outdoor daylight shots and indoor lower-light photos - the ZS60 consistently produces cleaner images with better shadow detail, higher dynamic range, and more natural color gradations. The SZ7 tends to clip highlights or lose detail in shadows sooner, and its noise floor is more intrusive at ISO 800 and above.

Neither camera approaches the image quality of larger-sensor compacts or mirrorless cameras, but between these two, ZS60 is clearly the better choice for image quality aficionados.

Display and Interface: Touch or No Touch?

A good LCD can make or break user experience - especially when shooting at awkward angles or reviewing shots outdoors.

The SZ7’s 3” fixed TFT LCD offers a modest 460k-dot resolution without touch capabilities. Its readability under bright sun is average at best, which can hamper composition and review outdoors. Navigating menus is button-driven - functional but slow.

The ZS60 features the same 3” size but doubles down with a very sharp 1040k-dot resolution touchscreen. In practice, this means much more responsive menu navigation, intuitive exposure and focus point control, and a richer live-view experience in video or photo modes. Touch-screen focusing, in particular, is a pleasure when tracking moving subjects.

The ZS60 also includes a built-in electronic viewfinder (EVF) with 1166k-dot resolution, 100% coverage, and about 0.46x magnification. This is a boon for bright daylight shooting or folks who prefer eye-level composition. The SZ7 has no EVF, which limits its flexibility outdoors.

In sum, the ZS60’s interface is a clear step up, offering a more comfortable and versatile shooting experience.

Autofocus and Speed: Tracking the Action

When it comes to autofocus (AF), the SZ7 is serviceable but decidedly basic. It relies solely on contrast-detection AF with 23 focus points, including center and multi-area selection but no specialized tracking algorithms beyond face detection. Continuous AF modes work, but inertia in lens movement and slower processing make it feel sluggish.

The ZS60 improves significantly with 49 AF points, touch AF, and more advanced continuous AF capabilities - even face and eye detection AF modes work better and faster. While it still lacks phase detection AF found on higher-end models, its performance adequates well for casual wildlife, street, and sports photos - as long as the action isn’t super fast.

Continuous shooting mode is matched at 10fps on both, but the ZS60’s buffer size and speed to write images to the card outclass the SZ7, allowing more fluid bursts during rapid-fire shooting.

For fast-paced photography - consider the ZS60 a trustworthy partner, with SZ7 better suited to casual snapshots or still scenes.

Shooting Versatility: Lens and Zoom Range

A centerpiece for compact travel cameras is the lens - especially zoom reach and aperture.

The SZ7 sports a 25-250 mm equivalent zoom (10x zoom), with a maximum aperture ranging from f/3.1 at wide angle to f/5.9 at full telephoto. The focal range is practical for street to moderate wildlife use but somewhat limited for birders or distant subjects.

The ZS60 boasts an impressive 24-720 mm equivalent zoom (a whopping 30x zoom), spanning f/3.3 to f/6.4 aperture. This extra telephoto reach opens many doors for wildlife and sports photography, allowing tighter framing from afar. Sure, the aperture narrows at the longest focal lengths - expected in compacts - but image stabilization combined with high ISO capability helps compensate.

Both cameras feature Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), which I found invaluable during hand-held telephoto shots, reducing blur and improving sharpness.

For travelers and photographers who want one-lens versatility without swapping glass, ZS60 wins hands down. The SZ7 is more limited, but perhaps lighter for casual everyday use.

Low Light and ISO Performance: Night, Street, and Astro Photography

Shooting in low light pushes compact cameras to their limits. I used a combination of indoor, nighttime street scenes, and starfield shooting to assess their low-light chops.

The SZ7’s ISO range tops out at 6400 but noticeable noise creeps in by ISO 800 in my practical tests. The loss of sharpness and color fidelity in dim scenes suggests this sensor and processing combo isn’t intended for challenging light.

ZS60’s improved sensor and processing shine here. Its native ISO maxes at 3200 but supports boosted ISO up to 6400 with better noise control. You gain usable image quality even at ISO 1600 and decent detail up to 3200. Additionally, the inclusion of an electronic shutter capable of 1/16000s helps in bright conditions.

Neither camera replaces dedicated astro or night cameras, but the ZS60’s better noise performance, 4k video, and timelapse modes give it more versatility in nocturnal landscape and night sky scenarios.

Video Capabilities: Moving Pictures and Audio

Both cameras can record video, but their capabilities differ markedly.

The SZ7 captures Full HD 1920x1080 video at 60fps in MPEG-4 and AVCHD formats but lacks newer video features or 4k support. There’s no external microphone input, limiting audio quality and recording options. Video stabilization uses the same OIS as for stills.

The ZS60 ups the ante with Full HD 60fps and introduces 4k UHD 3840x2160 at 30 fps video recording, alongside 4k photo modes, which allows extracting high-res stills from videos - a handy feature I use frequently during fast action events or wildlife shoots.

However, much like the SZ7, the ZS60 has no microphone or headphone ports, so audio is limited to built-in mic quality.

For casual video use, the ZS60 delivers the goods with higher resolution footage and more flexibility, making it a better hybrid photo-video tool.

Battery Life and Storage: Staying Powered on the Go

Battery endurance and storage formats impact off-the-grid usability.

The SZ7 uses a proprietary battery pack rated for about 220 shots on a full charge. With small sensors and fewer features, this isn’t too surprising but can require carrying spare batteries on longer trips.

ZS60 improves with a 320-shot rating, helped by efficiency of its newer Venus Engine processor. Also, the touch screen and EVF do pulse power consumption, so real-world endurance might vary.

Both cameras accept SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, with one slot each, but the ZS60 supports more modern and larger capacity SDXC cards, future-proofing your file storage.

Build Quality and Weather Sealing: Durability in the Field

Neither model offers weather sealing or ruggedized construction. Both are purely compact cameras meant for casual or travel use without specialized environmental protection.

If you shoot tucked away indoors, in urban environments, or on well-planned trips, this won’t be an issue. But for adventurous, all-weather photography, you’ll want to consider more rugged options.

Lens Ecosystem and Compatibility: Fixed Lens Pros and Cons

Both cameras feature fixed, non-interchangeable zoom lenses. This simplifies operation and reduces bulk but locks you into the camera’s optical system.

The SZ7’s 10x zoom is modest and versatile for snapshots, but you can’t expand your focal range further.

The ZS60’s 30x zoom covers wide to extensive telephoto ranges, giving more flexibility to frame and capture diverse subjects without hauling lenses.

For travellers or hobbyists seeking “one camera, one lens” simplicity, these systems shine. Pros wanting lens swaps or higher optical quality should look beyond fixed-lens compacts regardless.

The Final Score: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Who Should Choose Which?

To wrap our detailed examination, here’s a side-by-side scorecard consolidating all performance facets.

And for those curious about genre-specific viability, here’s a breakdown of how each camera holds up across photography disciplines based on real-world testing:

• Portraits: ZS60 edges out with better face-detection AF and higher resolution for detail retention in skin tones.
• Landscapes: ZS60’s higher resolution and dynamic range offer more richness; SZ7 suffices for casual use.
• Wildlife and Sports: ZS60’s 30x zoom and faster AF make it suitable for casual telephoto work; SZ7 is limited.
• Street Photography: SZ7 wins for compactness and discretion; ZS60 slightly bulkier but offers touch focus benefits.
• Macro: ZS60’s 3cm minimum focus distance and touch AF aid close-up work better than SZ7’s 4cm.
• Night/Astro: ZS60 provides better noise control and longer exposure capability.
• Video: ZS60 supports 4k and 4k photo extraction beats SZ7’s 1080p max.
• Travel: ZS60 strikes balance of versatility and size; SZ7 ultra-portable but more limited.
• Professional Work: Neither replaces professional interchangeable lens systems but ZS60 is more capable for casual pro backup.

Sample Images: Seeing Is Believing

Nothing substitutes for actual image comparisons:

Panasonic SZ7 front Panasonic SZ7 screen back Panasonic ZS60 front Panasonic ZS60 screen back

You’ll note the ZS60 produces cleaner, sharper images with more color depth - especially in complex or low-light scenes.

Closing Thoughts: Which Panasonic Compact Should You Buy?

The Panasonic SZ7 serves as an ultra-affordable, ultra-compact point-and-shoot that’s great for beginners, travelers seeking a lightweight camera, or those who prioritize simplicity and pocket-friendly size. It’s a competent everyday shooter but limited by sensor performance, zoom reach, and lack of manual controls.

The Panasonic ZS60, on the other hand, is a more advanced, feature-packed compact superzoom that, while larger and pricier, offers excellent optical range, better sensor and image quality, a richer shooting experience with touch controls, an electronic viewfinder, and 4k video. For enthusiasts and travelers who want one camera that does a bit of everything with reasonable quality, this is a versatile, dependable choice.

If price weren’t a factor, I’d lean toward the ZS60 as the more future-proof, flexible camera. However, budget buyers or those prioritizing pocketability will find the SZ7 charming.

I hope this comprehensive comparison assists in your decision-making. Both Panasonic models illustrate thoughtful design tailored to differing user needs and eras of camera technology. As always, I recommend hands-on testing where possible to get a personal feel beyond specifications - because the “best” camera is the one that fits your shooting style and sparks your creativity.

Happy shooting!