The Panasonic TZ5 is a mid-range pocket camera from 2008 aimed primarily at people who don't know a lot about Photography. As such its a basic fairly no-frills pocket camera but made with better construction with a metal body over a super cheap camera. TZ stands for Travel Zoom and all the cameras in this range are pocket sized cameras with a decently long Optical Zoom especially for the late 2000s.
The TZ5 has a 10x optical Zoom just like my much newer go-to pocket camera the Panasonic ZS100 (which I will get to in a future review). It has a 9mp 1/2.33" CCD sensor which is a fairly standard size sensor for pocket cameras of this era. Like other CCD sensors, it has the potential to create higher contrast and color saturation images then that of a more traditional CMOS sensor. It tops out at ISO 1600 with a firmware pushed ISO of up to 6400 which was really impressive for a compact CCD sensor.
That said, the noise levels above ISO 400 were abysmal and the camera is pretty much unusable at the higher ISO of its range like most pocket cameras. When I do these reviews I tend to try and get decent shots with the camera so I quickly learn its limits for reasonable photos.
I bought this camera at a local Thrift Store for $20, so it's one of my Bargain Finds. It came with a battery but I had to pay another $7 for a charger. Luckily when I charged the battery it worked fine though the zoom does stick sometimes at around halfway through the zoom likely due to just age and use (but it will power through the sticking spot without effort after a short pause. There's no grinding so its possible it just has some worn teeth)
While this camera has some pretty definite limitations as you would expect, with a lack of priority modes including Full Manual control it was pretty responsive to shoot. It also had a nice solid responsive feel to all of the buttons including the shutter and had a nice weight to it; the camera didn't feel fragile as many pocket cameras can be. Overall I enjoyed shooting it while taking in mind that this camera was made for the average person and not the enthusiast even as far as pocket cameras go.
The Panasonic TZ5 is quick and responsive and did not have a noticeable write delay between shots as some pocket cameras have (especially during this era). It was quick to start up and shut down which even some more expensive cameras have more of a delay then this camera does.
Overall it was responsive, simple and easy to shoot. I enjoyed taking photos with it even if its far too basic of a camera for me to take serious photos with. For casual shots as a backup camera and something I just throw in the car as an alternative to taking photos with a smartphone it would fit this niche just fine.
To end this review here are a few photos I took with this camera during my test week of Jan 1st through 7th.
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