Saturday, August 11, 2012

Neither waterproof nor tough - Panasonic Lumix TS20 16.1 MP TOUGH Waterproof Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom

Panasonic Lumix TS20 16.1 MP TOUGH Waterproof Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom is advertised by Panasonic as waterproof to a depth of 16 ft and shockproof upto 5 ft of drop. However many customers have found that their cameras started malfunctioning even though they were not subject to such extreme depths or heights. Cautionista takes a detailed look at the issues with the camera -


  • Camera turns on intermittently and takes only unfocused pictures after occasionally using in a shallow pool for a few weeks. Moisture was seen inside the LCD indicating that water got in and damaged the camera.




  • Flash stopped working after using the camera for around an hour in the ocean for taking snorkeling pictures. Haziness seen on the LCD screen and lens.
  • Bubbles seen coming from the camera while underwater indicating leak. The Lumix TS20 stopped working soon after.
  • The camera leaked when taken to around 10 feet depth during the first use.
  • The Panasonic Lumix TS20 camera doesn't seem to be compatible with Mac. Unable to download pictures or videos by plugging the camera into Mac's USB port. Panasonic support unable to help.
  • Camera turned on fine at first, but the very second time it kept repeating the caution screen after turning on. Panasonic support never responded.
  • The LCD screen cracked after the camera was dropped in a parking lot from a height of around 4 ft.

The verdict, and alternatives


So many customers cannot be wrong. There seems to be some design flaw with the Panasonic Lumix TS20 camera that leads to water leaking into the camera even when taken to depths much less than the rated 15 ft. The device also doesn't appear to be as shockproof as advertised. We think the best option for underwater photography is to place your regular digital camera in a DicaPac Waterproof Digital Camera Case. As for the incompatibility of this camera with Mac - you could work around it by taking the SD card out of the camera and inserting it to any card reader compatible with Mac, like the Sandisk Micromate.