Cautionista takes a deeper look at what other customers found after they purchased their Lumix ZS20's. Let's see if there are any major disadvantages with this camera.
- Picture becomes a bit fuzzy when zoomed to 20x. May get fixed with a firmware update from Panasonic.
- Camera locked up after 10 minutes of use. Even the Off button doesn't work. Worked fine after some time.
- The image processor is a bit slow. The lag between pictures is high even when using Class 6 SD memory cards.
- Some dust seen inside the lens. Since it's inside the lens, it can't be cleaned.
- Picture quality is good for taking 4x6 or 5x7 prints, but not so much for enlargements because the noise in the picture shows at larger sizes.
- Burst picture mode always produced blurry pictures, even in "Intelligent Auto" mode, because of movement of subject.
- Sharp picture in Macro mode, but fuzzy pics in other modes, especially when viewing on large monitors.
- Camera is very compact, which could be a disadvantage if you have large hands.
- Higher pixelation seen with low light.
- Panorama mode shows vertical lines where the camera stitches photos together.
- Minor complaints: The camera doesn't come with any memory card, need to buy separately. Battery doesn't come charged. Need to wait a few hours before you can operate the camera. Battery/Memory door is flimsy. The camera has a proprietary USB connector, hence cannot use generic USB chargers or cables while traveling.
Is the Lumix ZS20 a good camera ?
Based on our research, the complaints from customers appear to be mostly for advanced features of the camera. Besides, Panasonic is rumored to be coming up with (or already have) a firmware update to fix the fuzzy pictures. A normal user of this camera wouldn't be seeing these issues. So, go ahead and buy the
Panasonic Lumix ZS20 14.1 MP Digital Camera with confidence!
Alternatives for Panasonic Lumix ZS20
Some customers say that the older ZS models - Panasonic ZS3 or ZS7 - show no fuzziness in picture when taken with zoom. You may give those models a try, if you are still worried about the issues with ZS20.
