Panasonic ZS30

Panasonic ZS30 is Panasonic's Small Sensor Superzoom camera originally announced on January of 2013. It has a 18 MegaPixel, CMOS 1/2.3" size sensor with a peak resolution of 4896 x 3672. The camera is referred to as "Lumix DMC-TZ40" in certain countries.

Panasonic launched this camera in order to upgrade the older Panasonic ZS25 (Read Full Comparison) and afterwards launched the more recent Panasonic ZS35 (Read Full Comparison) to upgrade this camera.

The ZS30 places at #69 out of 244 in Small Sensor Superzoom cameras and all round #551 out of 1465 for cameras in our database. You can use our Smart camera filter to see camera listings based on your personal factors.

Below is a diagram of various criteria used in the scoring system.

The Panasonic ZS30 comes with a history of related cameras. Underneath, you can view all previous and more recent models as well as key specifications.

You can view the ZS30 from several angles in the gallery underneath.

Here is a shortlist of pluses and minuses of the Panasonic ZS30 based on aspects that are usually seen as necessary in a camera.

The spec of the sensor in the Panasonic ZS30 is 6.17mm x 4.55mm (1/2.3"). The 28 mm² sensor has the ability to resolve 4896 x 3672 pixels with aspect ratios of 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9. The camera includes Image Stabilization (Optical). Optical stabilization is more desirable than digital stabilization as the latter can easily lead to cropping.

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The CMOS sensor boasts 18MP and has a native ISO range of 100 - 6400. Sadly, RAW photos are not supported so you have less margin for error.

The picture below shows the ZS30's sensor size when compared to other common sizes. The ZS30 sensor comes with a crop factor of 5.8 and is showcased in green.

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To get an idea of specific aspect ratios, you should refer to the visual below.

Panasonic ZS30 weighs about 0.44 lb (198g or 6.98 oz) and the size of the camera is 105mm x 59mm x 28mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 1.1"). The weight of general Small Sensor Superzoom camera is 387g so the Panasonic ZS30 is lighter compared to its competitors.

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Below is a visual of the Panasonic ZS30 besides a softdrink to help you have a feel for its size.

The top view directly below will highlight the button design on the ZS30.

The ZS30 houses a fixed lens giving a focal range of 24-480mm making it a 20.0 x zoom which is amazing and could let you zoom right in.

At it's widest 24mm, the lens offers an aperture of f3.3 and that's quite sluggish and not great in low light circumstances and you might find it hard to capture good bokeh. You will also have to up your ISO setting which results in noisy pictures. For the long end, 480mm is brilliant zoom and comes at f6.4 making it fairly sluggish and you may have to use slow shutter speeds.

The ZS30 has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• Wireless Yes
• HDMI Yes
• GPS Yes

Cameras that contain NFC or Bluetooth connectivity are able to be used wirelessly by smartphones. You are able to copy photos and usually alter settings without connecting straight with the camera.

Some apps also enable a Liveview and press the shutter whenever you aren't close to the camera. If the camera includes a HDMI out, it can easily be attached to an external screen. A lot of cameras will allow you to charge the battery through the USB socket.

The highest video resolution in the Panasonic ZS30 is 1920 x 1080 and it can save in MPEG-4 and AVCHD format. 1080p resolution gives a great balance between quality versus file size but FULL HD won't give you much room to downsample. The body doesn't include a mic or headphone jack so you have zero control over your sound. It is probably a better idea to get another camera in case you need better sound in your video clips.

There is no weather proofing on the Panasonic ZS30 so you have to be cautious in rainy or dusty situations.

The Panasonic ZS30 has a 3" fixed display screen with a resolution of 920k dots.

Moreover the display screen is touch friendly so you can easily change focus point as well as adjust settings using your fingertips.

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The View Finder specifications regarding Panasonic ZS30 are the following:

• ViewFinder None

In those bright outdoor situations that make the camera screens washed out and challenging to view, viewfinders are particularly useful.

Panasonic ZS30 has the ability to shoot continuously at 10.0 frames per second. The highest shutter speed is 1/1200s.

Panasonic ZS30 includes just inbuilt flash lacking external flash ability.

Panasonic ZS30 includes only Contrast Based Auto Focus and doesn't have Phase Detect Auto Focus. Phase Detection autofocusing is a lot quicker and accurate compared to Contrast Based autofocusing.

The Sensor has 23 focus points to pick from. Panasonic ZS30 has touch to focus. You can use your fingers in order to shift focus points. It also features Tracking Auto Focus for objects on the move. Panasonic ZS30 lacks manual focusing. Manual focusing is good during low light occasions or you want more precise focusing control.

The battery power on the Panasonic ZS30 is fashioned to last for 260 photographs based on the CIPA specifications making it lesser as compared to its competitors. The typical Small Sensor Superzoom camera battery life is 316. Fujifilm HS35EXR offers the highest (600) battery life within this group of cameras.

Here is a collection of Small Sensor Superzoom cameras that come with the strongest battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Fujifilm HS35EXR
ZS30 vs Fujifilm HS35EXR600 yesnono

Nikon B500
ZS30 vs B500600 nonoyes

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Nikon L840
ZS30 vs L840590 noyesno

Panasonic FZ200
ZS30 vs FZ200540 yesnono

Leica V-Lux 4
ZS30 vs V-Lux 4540 yesnono

The following bar chart shows a overview of the Panasonic ZS30 for various styles of photography. To find out more, visit the specific paragraph below.

The Panasonic ZS30 has a points total of 33 which is low, meaning that it is not really acceptable to use for portraits. Photographing portrait photos leans heavily to sensor specs, support for RAW photos and option to work with external lighting.

Getting a above average points tally of 66, the Panasonic ZS30 is a very decent fit to buy for street photography. A decent street photography camera features a perfect balance of picture quality and portability.

A modest sports photography points tally of 46 suggests the Panasonic ZS30 is somewhat suited for shooting sports. A camera needs good tracking and continuous shooting for sports photography.

Size is extremely important in picking a camera for travel. In general, the Panasonic ZS30 gets a very good 69 for a travel camera which makes it a very decent option to take on your trips.

In case you're looking to purchase a camera for landscape photographs, the biggest aspect is going to be image quality. The Panasonic ZS30 at it's low rating of 44 for a landscape camera is not really acceptable within the current market.

A vlogging camera preferably should come with a moving display screen, microphone port and ideally image stabilization. Taking everything into account, the Panasonic ZS30 is not really acceptable for vlogging as it comes to a low rating of 35.

If you are in the market for alternatives to the ZS30, here is a list of the highest rated cameras which fall under the class of Small Sensor Superzoom.

The line graph down below shows you a bird's eye view of the ZS30 versus it's top rated rivals shown above.

Here are a handful of other cameras you might have a look at as alternate options. To check out a detailed comparison, simply click on the "compare" link.