- 12.1-megapixel resolution
- 25mm wide-angle Leica DC Vario-Elmar lens; 8x zoom, Power O.I.S.
- Capture HD video at 1280×720, 30fps
- 2.7-inch TFT LCD screen
- Capture images to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)
Product Description
The compact body of the ZR1 houses a LEICA DC Vario-Elmar lens that ranges from 25mm wide-angle all the way to 200mm telephoto. In addition to its superb image rendering, the Leica DC lens lets you capture photos clearly without having to worry about hand-shake in all kinds of travel situations, thanks to the double corrective power of POWER O.I.S. as compared to previous models.Enjoy high-speed 1.1-second start-ups, AF speeds of approximately 0.27 second, and up to… More >>
Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 12.1MP Digital Camera with 8x POWER Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD
Tags: 12.1MP, Camera, Digital, DMCZR1, Image, inch, Lumix, Optical, Panasonic, Power, Stabilized, Zoom
Categories: Panasonic Lumix
Like one of the other reviewers said, this camera looks good on paper, but the picture quality doesn’t come close to other P&S cameras. I’ve used Casio and Canon before and they both took good pics. I still have an SD550 (7.1MP) and it takes much better shots than this Panasonic.
The noise and lack of sharpness in the panasonic pictures was more than I could handle.
If I could, I would post the two pictures I took (one with SD550 and one with DMC-ZR1). If it wasn’t for the smaller size of the Canon pic, you’d swear it was from the newer camera.
I just printed out the return shipping label.
Rating: 2 / 5
I was initially planning to buy DMC-ZS3 because of its awesome reviews however decided to purchase this one because of small size and almost similar features. This is a feature packed camera for its price however its performance let me down. Almost all the pictures I took indoor came out very grainy and blurry. Even though this camera can shoot HD videos but the results are nowhere close to the quality you would expect from a HD video. Videos had some sort of noise even on a bright day. Pictures above ISO 200 came out very bad especially when I compared them to my four year old 5 Megapixel Nikon camera.
I borrowed Canon SD780 from one of my friend and compared the picture and video quatity in similar settings and Canon was far better in all respects. Initially I thought I might have received a bad piece. However, after reading few other reviews from other users who had similar issues I promptly returned it to amazon.
Rating: 3 / 5
After reading the reviews of both Panasonic ZS3 and Panasonic ZR1 and I decided to check out the ZR1 as it was supposed to have the newer/better image stabilization and smaller in size. The size was definitely small enough and image stabilization was decent. The picture quality was quite good in bright light conditions but lower in low-light conditions, but this seems to be an issue with any of the digital cameras at this price point.
But where it really disappointed was in the video mode. I noticed that when I switch the mode dial to the video mode the brightness of what was displayed on the camera’s LCD screen became much lower compared to the photo mode. First I thought that this may be just an issue I’m seeing on LCD screen but when I transferred the video and watched it on my laptop and my TV I saw that the videos in fact looked dulled out compared to the photos. So pretty much any video that is shot indoors looked dull and kinda of poor quality.
I then decided to try out the ZS3 also and immediately saw that this issue isn’t there in the ZS3. To capture video on the ZS3 you don’t have to change the mode dial but simply have to press a “record” button and I don’t know if this has anything to do with this, but the videos were as bright as the photos on the ZS3. So the videos shot indoors are much better, both brighter and better quality, with the ZS3 compared to the ZR1.
I also did comparisons of photos taken by the two models and surprisingly I felt the ZS3 was better there too (despite the fact that ZR1 boasts 2MP more). Also, I didn’t find the image stabilization of ZS3 in anyway inferior to that of ZR1.
So after all my side-by-side comparisons I found the ZS3 to be definitely a better camera which I have kept and returned the ZR1. The ZR1 is definitely more compact than the ZS3 and does have quicker start up times (and possibly even faster zoom times). But, at the end of the day, in my opinion the ZS3 is a superior camera when it comes to videos and even photos, with the additional zoom capabilities (12X of ZS3 vs 8X in ZR1).
Rating: 3 / 5
Whats so good about this camera? Its one of the best “ALL IN ONE” cameras you can find. Why?
1) You can take very good 12mp photo’s with it. Not only does it have a very wide angle (25mm!), but the 8x zoom and Image Stabilization allows for a lot of flexibility.
2) You can take HD video’s with it.
3) Its very small. Yes, there are 12mp 10x-12x, HD capable zoom cameras out there (Canon SX200, Panasonic ZS3,…), but they are much larger.
4) It also has a lot of fun modes to take photo’s with (pincushion effect, high dynamic range effect, stretch effect, etc..)
I was hard pressed to find anything bad to say about it, BUT, after 2 weeks of taking photo’s with it, I did have to return it. I noticed a dark spot on the bottom left of the pictures (also visible on the LCD). I tried to clean the lens, but now I think its a dust particle on the inside of the lens or the sensor. Now, I think I got a defective one, and probably most of the ZR1′s out there are good, but since I did have to return it, I can only give it 4 stars and not 5. If I had to be really really picky, I didn’t like the menu interface either or the top scrolling wheel. I wish it could have been more like Canon or Nikon, but that may be just my personal preference.
Rating: 4 / 5
I anxiously awaited this camera after having sat in front of my computer for 3 days reading review after review. I can’t say that my time was wasted because although I think I take great pics I learned a lot of the terminology that I didn’t understand previously. That being said I thought I had narrowed it down to exactly what I wanted. The zoom was important to me and the fact that this camera had 8x optical was great! However every single picture I took indoors that I zoomed in on was horribly grainy! In fact a lot the indoor shots I took turned out grainy and or blurry! I was able to get great outdoor shots but since at least 50% of my pics will be taken indoors this camera just doesn’t do it for me. The flash also seemed to go off excessively even when I was outside unless I was standing in direct sun light. I also did what I call the “jump test” I have my kids jump in front of the camera indoors on the auto setting and I take a picture of them to see if it turns out blurry. This camera failed miserably. I tried every setting and uploaded pics 2 separate times then gave up and shipped it back to amazon. I then went out and bought a canon sx110is, which I love so far, and I also bought the Panasonic Lumix FS8. The FS8 cost me $100 at Wal-mart and preformed great! It even surpassed my expectations on the “jump test”. I have owned a couple of Panasonic Lumix cameras but the Lumix DMC-ZR1 sadly fell short.
Rating: 3 / 5