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It’s been months since I started to want to replace my Pentax Optio S5Z. I’ve had it for more than 2 years now and in my disk I have almost 30,000 photos and videos taken by. It was a camera with good features and satisfactory image quality, but recently it’s photos have started to deteriorate. The camera repair shop told me there’s moisture on its sensor and fungi on the lens. They’re charging me P2,500 to clean it! I guess it’s time to get a new camera.

My mother gave me a new one on my birthday (Thanks!) and I was never expecting it. Very few people in the world have this camera. It is very unique because it has no lens and has a very small aperture. Actually, it’s a pinhole camera which, simply put, is a light-proof box with a small hole in one side.

My new pinhole camera

It’s a very simple contraption. No fuss. This one is made up almost entirely of plastic. The pinhole camera requires film so it can be expensive if you intend to take a lot of photos. There’s also no preview so you won’t know how your images look until you develop the film.

What makes up a pinhole camera?

Taking photos with the pinhole camera is pretty much a trial-and-error thing. On my first try, I got myself a 12-exposure ISO 100 film and started shooting at home and downtown. Out of the 12 or so exposures, three of them were usable while the rest were underexposed. Photos came with an interesting blur and vignette effect. Below is a sample photo (only auto-color and contrast were applied). Next time I’ll try making a smaller hole to increase sharpness and keep it open longer during exposure.

Iloilo Provincial Capitol through a pinhole camera

Now, more seriously…

I finally received the camera I ordered from my first ever eBay transaction. Good thing I didn’t encounter any problem. The delivery was fast! I ordered on a Monday afternoon and I got it Friday morning. My seller agreed to deliver it by DHL since Express Mail Service (EMS) will be too much trouble for me. I just had to face all the import taxes and charges though…  some P2,606 of it. That’s fine with me. Besides, this model isn’t available in the Philippines yet and, in the US, it will still be available around next month (as far as I know).

So here it is, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 aka TZ6!

Panasonic Lumix ZS1/TZ6

Why this model? First, I’ve decided DSLRs are too bulky for my lifestyle. After some research I was leaning towards the prosumer Canon Powershot G10. It was P23K in Quiapo, too expensive. Then I went to the compact superzoom category and opted for the Canon  SX200IS. Build was not solid enough and the price a little high. Instead,  reviews were pointing me to the Panasonic Lumix ZS3/Tz7 and Zs1/TZ6. Indeed, they were smaller, cheaper, and everyone appears to be astounded by the quality of the images they take.

I chose the ZS1/TZ6 model since I didn’t need any HD video recording and I could easily sacrifice 0.3 inches of LCD screen to save about $100.

What's in the box of the Lumix ZS1/TZ6?

So what’s with this camera that my very thorough research convinced me to grab one immediately? Here are my favorite features in descending order of my personal fondness.

• 25mm-300mm Leica lens (read: ‘ultra’ wide angle to a whopping 12X zoom!)
• very excellent image quality (hardly any barrel distortion and no purple fringing!)
• optical zoom during moview recording (can substitute a videocam)
• 103.3 x 59.6 x 32.8 mm (ver small for its zooming capability)
• 848 x 480 pixel movies (not HD but still good resolution)

I think I will write a more comprehensive review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1/TZ6 sometime.

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