An underrated Digicam with a Leica lens

"The cool cameras" get all the attention but this one is better by far!

One thing I love about having my little corner of the internet is sharing some of my favorite cameras and giving credit to overlooked and undervalued cameras that deserve love and appreciation. Today, I want to share one of my favorite digicams with you—the Lumix DMC-TZ5.

When I sold Digicams on Etsy, the most rewarding part of running the shop was matching people with the best camera for them. Many customers came to me wanting a Sony Cyber-shot or Canon PowerShot—because that’s what all the “cool kids” were using. I'd offer alternatives if I didn't have what they wanted in stock or if what I had available was beyond their budget. One camera I consistently recommended was the Lumix DMC-TZ5, an unassuming camera with an exceptional Leica lens. 

Even though I don't use mine as often as it deserves, it's the best compact-ish digicam I've tested and used, from a technical and photo quality perspective. 

The Leica DC Vario-Elmar optical zoom lens captures light beautifully and produces magical images. Every time I go out to shoot, I have a vision in my head of the story I want to tell through my photos—this camera helps me tell that story by capturing the scene so impeccably. 

While it may not be the most compact or aesthetically pleasing option, I have yet to find another point-and-shoot like it. It's definitely one of the most underrated digicams on the market. 

Its two superpowers are: 1.) Taking gorgeous macro photos with beautiful rendering of texture and color and 2.) Taking sharp photos at max zoom(see last two photos).

I recently took the TZ5 to Longwood Gardens. Although the memory card wasn't working, I was able to take a few pics that saved to its internal memory. The internal memory is very generous compared to most digicams--you can store up to 50MBs worth of photos in it. I had my settings to the highest quality, and I was able to store 15 images.

This camera comes in black, navy, and silver. At the time of writing this post, it sells on eBay for around $50-$60.

The photos below were ones I took for previous Etsy listings. I always created a couple of slides in each listing that showcased the capabilities of each camera.

The photos below are random product shots taken with the TZ5 in natural and artificial light. During the winter, when I had nothing else to photograph for my Etsy listings, I’d create random scenes to give customers an idea of how the camera captured light, shadow, and color.

These pictures were from a trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania, where I tested a Lumix TZ5 for the first time. The zoom on this lens absolutely blew me away. Most Digicam lenses don’t perform well at max zoom, but the clarity in these pictures made my jaw drop.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about another little digicam that deserves more love than it gets. I’m taking mine to Hawaii next week along with two film cameras. So, stay tuned for that adventure!