Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 Performance
Timing and Performance
Overall good speed for a consumer camera.
| Startup/Shutdown |
||
| Power on |
1.0 second | Time it takes for LCD to turn on and lens to deploy and capture a picture. (Very fast for a camera with a telescoping lens.) |
| Shutdown |
1.4 seconds | How long it takes to retract lens. |
| Buffer clearing time |
3.5 seconds* (2 seconds buffer clearing in LF JPEG) |
Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared. |
|
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme III SD memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity also affects cycle times and burst mode performance, with higher ISOs generally increasing cycle times and reducing burst performance. |
||
About average times here, but startup is faster than average.
| Mode switching | ||
|---|---|---|
| Play to Record, |
0.9 second | Time until first shot is captured. |
| Record to play |
0.9 second | Time to display a large/superfine file immediately after capture. |
| Display |
1.3 seconds | Time to display a large/superfine file already on the memory card. |
Mode switching times are better than average.
| Shutter response (Lag Time) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Autofocus Wide |
0.42 second | Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position. |
| Full Autofocus Tele |
0.45 second | Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position. |
| Prefocused |
0.011 second | Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button. |
| Continuous AF |
0.51 second |
This mode usually
shows no speed increase with our static subject; we have no way to
measure performance with moving subjects |
Shutter response is better than average at both wide angle and telephoto, at 0.42s and 0.45s respectively, and "prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in a lag time of only 0.011 second. Great results here.
| Cycle time (shot to shot) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Single Shot mode Large SuperFine JPEG |
1.39 seconds | Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots. |
| Single Shot mode |
1.26 seconds | Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots. |
| Early shutter |
Yes | Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer. |
| Continuous mode |
0.54 second (1.87 frames per second); 3 frames total; 1.5 seconds to clear* |
Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 3 frames. |
| Continuous mode |
0.53 second (1.88 frames per second); 6 frames total; 2 seconds to clear* |
Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 6 frames. |
| Continuous mode |
0.17 second (6.01 frames per second); 20 frames total; 3.5 seconds to clear* |
Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first. |
| Continuous mode |
0.40 second (2.50 frames per second); 5 frames total; 1 second to clear |
Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 5 frames. |
| Continuous mode |
0.53 second (1.87 frames per second); 20+ frames total; 1 second to clear |
Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first. |
| Flash recycling |
4.5 seconds | Flash at maximum output. |
| *Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme III SD memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity also affects cycle times and burst mode performance, with higher ISOs generally increasing cycle times and reducing burst performance. |
||
Shot-to-shot cycle times are pretty good, at about 1.39 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, and the camera does capture frames continuously at this rate. (That is, given a fast enough memory card, it doesn't have to pause every few frames to wait for the card to catch up.) The DMC-TZ5 offers an almost dizzying array of continuous shooting options, with about average performance in the Burst and Unlimited modes (just under 2 frames per second for large/fine JPEGs). However, the Hi Speed Burst mode (accessed through the Scene2 mode) is quite impressive for two-megapixel JPEGs at about 6 frames per second for 20 frames. The flash takes 4.5 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is also better than average.
| Download speed | ||
|---|---|---|
| Windows Computer, USB 2.0 |
2,739 KBytes/sec | Typical Values: |
Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are very good.
Bottom line, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 is pretty fast overall, with good timings just about across the board. It can handle average shooting conditions very well, and its Hi Speed Burst mode should keep up with fast-paced action, albeit at a reduced resolution of roughly two megapixels.
Battery and Storage Capacity
Battery
Average battery life for a Lithium-ion design.
| Operating Mode | Number of Shots |
|---|---|
|
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery,
(CIPA standard) |
300
|
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Although battery life is pretty good, we recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.
The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.
(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))
Storage
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 accepts SD/MMC memory cards, and includes
about 53MB of internal memory.
| Image Capacity with 53MB Internal Memory |
Fine | Normal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3,456
x 2,592 |
Images |
11 |
22 |
| File Size |
4.6 MB |
2.3 MB |
|
| 3,264
x 2,448 |
Images |
14 |
28 |
| File Size |
3.6 MB |
1.8 MB |
|
| 2,560
x 1,920 |
Images |
20 |
41 |
| File Size |
2.5 MB |
1.3 MB |
|
| 2,048
x 1,536 |
Images |
32 |
62 |
| File Size |
1.6 MB |
843 KB |
|
| 1,600
x 1,200 |
Images |
51 |
97 |
| File Size |
1.0 MB |
546 KB |
|
| 640
x 480 |
Images |
246 |
400 |
| File Size |
215 KB |
132 KB |
|
We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SDHC or SD memory card at least a 1GB card, preferably a 4GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings and video. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)
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