Panasonic ZS50

Panasonic ZS50 is Panasonic's Small Sensor Superzoom digital camera initially revealed on January of 2015. It houses a 12 MegaPixel, CMOS 1/2.3" sized sensor and has a maximum resolution of 4000 x 3000. The camera is referred to as "Lumix DMC-TZ70" in certain countries.

Panasonic introduced this model in order to improve the earlier Panasonic ZS45 (Read Full Comparison) and subsequently brought out the fresher Panasonic ZS60 (Read Full Comparison) in an effort to improve this camera.

The ZS50 is rated #54 out of 244 in Small Sensor Superzoom cameras and all round #519 out of 1465 for cameras in our database. Remember to test our Advanced camera finder to see camera ratings based on your personalized factors.

Here is a chart of multiple criteria used in the scoring system.

The Panasonic ZS50 comes with a history of related cameras. Below, you can view all older and latest models alongside main specs.

You can see the ZS50 from different angles in the gallery here.

Below is a collection of positives and negatives of the Panasonic ZS50 based on aspects that are oftentimes viewed as essential in a digital camera.

The sensor size in the Panasonic ZS50 is 6.17mm x 4.55mm (1/2.3"). The 28 mm² sensor has the ability to resolve 4000 x 3000 pixels at aspect ratios of 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9. The camera boasts Image Stabilization (Optical). Optical stabilization is better than digital stabilization as the latter can easily produce cropping.

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The CMOS sensor boasts 12 megapixels and delivers a standard ISO range of 80 - 6400. RAW format is saved therefore the user has wider room to maneuver in post.

The graphic below illustrates the ZS50's sensor dimensions compared to other popular sizes. The ZS50 sensor comes with a crop factor of 5.8 and is pointed out in green.

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To get an idea of different aspect ratios, you should refer to the graphic below.

Panasonic ZS50 has a weight of 0.54 lb (243 grams or 8.57 ounces) and features outer size of 111mm x 65mm x 34mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.3"). The weight of normal Small Sensor Superzoom camera is 387 grams so the Panasonic ZS50 is lighter compared with other rivals.

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Listed below is a pic of the Panasonic ZS50 besides a soft drink to help you have a sense of its scale.

The top view here will highlight the button arrangement on the ZS50.

The ZS50 is equipped with a fixed lens and a focal range of 24-720mm giving it a 30.0 x zoom which is outstanding and would enable you to zoom right in.

At the widest 24mm, the lens will have an aperture of f3.3 which is rather slow and not ideal in low light circumstances and you will find it hard to capture good bokeh. You will probably also have to raise the ISO setting resulting in noisy images. At the tele end, 720mm is superb zoom and comes at f6.4 which is fairly slow and you may need to use slower shutter speeds.

The ZS50 has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• Wireless Yes
• NFC Yes
• HDMI Yes

Cameras that feature NFC and Bluetooth connectivity can easily be used wirelessly through smartphones. You can copy files and usually change settings with no need to connect straight to the camera.

A few applications even allow a Liveview and click the shutter whenever you aren't near the camera. If the camera features a HDMI out, it could be attached to an external monitor. Nearly all cameras will allow you to recharge the battery through the USB port.

The maximum video resolution in the Panasonic ZS50 is 1920 x 1080 and it can capture in MPEG-4 and AVCHD file format. 1080p resolution offers a decent balance for video quality and file sizes but FULL HD is not going to give you much room to downsample. The camera doesn't feature a mic and headphone jack which means that you get no control over your sound. It is perhaps a better idea to look into an alternative camera should you need good sound in your videos.

There is no weather sealing for the Panasonic ZS50 so you need to be cautious in rainy or dusty situations.

The Panasonic ZS50 is equipped with a 3" fixed display boasting a resolution of 1,040k dots.

Sadly the display isn't a touch screen.

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The View Finder specs regarding Panasonic ZS50 are below:

• ViewFinder Electronic
• ViewFinder Resolution 1,166k dots
• ViewFinder Coverage 100 percent
• ViewFinder Magnification 0.46x

Viewfinders can be rather helpful for bright outdoor situations which will make the camera screen washed out and difficult to view.

Panasonic ZS50 has the ability to shoot continuously at 10.0 frames/s. The max shutter speed is 1/2000s.

Panasonic ZS50 boasts only built-in flash lacking external flash ability.

Panasonic ZS50 boasts just Contrast Based Auto Focus and lacks Phase Detect Auto Focus. Phase Detection focusing is more snappier and precise compared with Contrast Based focusing. The camera supports Face detection making it valuable for people photography.

The AF system supports 23 focus points to select from. It also comes with Tracking Auto Focus for things that move. Panasonic ZS50 supports manual focusing in case it is needed for low light occasions or you want to have more precise focusing control.

The battery for the Panasonic ZS50 is built to last for 300 clicks as per the CIPA measurements which is about the same as its competition. The general Small Sensor Superzoom camera battery life is 316. Fujifilm HS35EXR has got the highest possible (600) battery life for this category of cameras.

Below is a number of Small Sensor Superzoom cameras having the best battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Fujifilm HS35EXR
ZS50 vs Fujifilm HS35EXR600 yesnono

Nikon B500
ZS50 vs B500600 nonoyes

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Nikon L840
ZS50 vs L840590 noyesno

Panasonic FZ200
ZS50 vs FZ200540 yesnono

Leica V-Lux 4
ZS50 vs V-Lux 4540 yesnono

The following bar chart indicates a summation of the Panasonic ZS50 for specific styles of photography. To read more, have a look at the specific section below.

The Panasonic ZS50 gets a score of 42 which is dreadful, meaning that it is not really good to use for portrait photos. Shooting portraits leans heavily to sensor resolution, RAW support together with the option to work with off-camera lighting.

Coming in at a above average rating of 68, the Panasonic ZS50 is a respectable fit to buy for street photography. A good street photography camera offers a good balance of picture quality plus portability.

A dreadful sports photography rating of 43 suggests the Panasonic ZS50 is not really good for shooting sports. A camera should have excellent autofocus plus continuous shooting for sports photography.

Size is extremely critical when selecting a travel camera. All round, the Panasonic ZS50 gets a nice 66 as a travel camera which is a fine option for your travels.

If you are looking to purchase a digital camera for landscape photographs, the most important factor will no doubt be image quality. The Panasonic ZS50 with it's decent score of 51 as a landscape camera is reasonably appropriate in the current marketplace.

A camera for vlogging ought to come with a moving display screen, mic port and if possible IBIS. Considering all things, the Panasonic ZS50 is not really good for vlogging as it comes to a dreadful rating of 34.

If you are interested in alternatives to the ZS50, here is a range of the top rated cameras which fall under the class of Small Sensor Superzoom.

The line chart followed below will give you a bird's eye view of the ZS50 vs it's highest ranking rivals mentioned previously.

Here are a handful of other cameras you might take into account as alternatives. To check out a detailed comparison, go to the "compare" link.