Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS100 Camera Review - 4K Video 

After 6 years, I still have mine and use it almost every day.

You are welcome... thanks for the nice note! FWIW, after more than four years of ownership, I still have this camera and use it almost every day.

Yes, I still have my ZS100 after three years, and I still pretty much use it daily.

What do you like about your other cameras?

Thanks! Did you see my comparison of the ZS100 vs. the LX100? If you haven't seen it, you will probably enjoy it.

You are welcome. I still have this camera and still like it.

The flash on the ZS100 that I have will not stay angled unless you hold it with a finger. It has springs so it always pops to a straight-forward position, unless I physically restrain it.

Thanks!

Thank you for the kind words. Yes, I don't think I had seen a USB-C port when I shot this video. Still, it's handy to be able to charge the ZS100 with a still-common micro-USB charger. I still have the ZS100 that I show in this video, and I still use it frequently. To be honest, its 4K video is best shot at ISO 200, which is not going to give you great low light performance. I never shoot video at a higher sensitivity than ISO 400... there's just too much noise for my taste. It *will* work, but it doesn't look pretty. If you have enough light for ISO 200, then the video is pretty. Another feature I have used a lot over the years with this camera is its ability to do 120fps at 1080p. One feature I wish the ZS100 had was a mic jack. Otherwise, it is a pretty good photo/video camera that you can carry in a roomy pocket. I still recommend it after all these years.

@@BobKovacs Calling Micro-USB "still-common" is such an understatement! I have, like, a million Micro-USB cables that I don't know what to do with 😂 Thank you very much for the tips! It's cool to see how such an old camera can still be so useful all these years later!

​@@BobKovacs so garbage after 800 iso for photo and video?

@@Rorensuwl8 I wouldn't call it "garbage," but there is definitely noise at ISO800 and higher. If low light is your requirement, the ZS100 is not a great low light performer.

@@BobKovacs thank you so much for your response

No, I don't think so. I just looked at my ZS100 and did not quickly find such a setting. It's possible that if you have the mode dial set to "M" and press the video button that it will allow you to set the iris and shutter speed, but I don't have a minute to try that out right now.

Thanks!

4K runs s-l-o-w-l-y on a 10-year-old Win 7 laptop with a 4th-gen i7 processor. It runs fine on a 2-year-old Win 10 laptop with a 7th-gen i7 processor.

I think the EVF resolution is pretty good. There are newer cameras with more resolution in the EVF, but some newer cameras (Sony ZV1) have no EVF.

Thanks... glad you liked it!

Thanks!

I will check later today about the clean output. However, my experience with the ZS100 is that it will shut itself off in 15 minutes if not touched. I set it up on a balcony in the back of a church to capture a memorial service, then went back to the front of the church to run a different camera. When I checked on the ZS100, it had shut itself off. I re-started it (there was plenty of battery), and again it shut itself off. It will stay on if you touch the focus button or zoom in/out, but will shut itself off if left alone.

@@BobKovacs Thats exactly what I want to use this for is church service. I use my Canon DSLR for the same reason but I go into the menu and make it so the camera stays on and doesnt go to sleep. Im wondering if this camera has that setting... Thank you for looking into it.

@@MichaelDaviesMusic I looked all through the settings but did not see one that said it would keep the camera on indefinitely while recording. There might be such a setting, but I could not find it. Panasonic's sales page for the ZS100 has a live chat (at the top on the right), so you might try asking there: shop.panasonic.com/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/point-and-shoot-cameras/dmc-zs100k

@@BobKovacs Thank you Bob for spending your time looking into this... I really appreciate it!

The larger the sensor, the better the performance in low light, overall clarity and depth of focus. Sure, a camera with a smaller sensor can get good 4K video in many conditions, and they will be increasingly good as technology progresses. But so will larger sensors. There's just no way around the physics -- all other things being equal, a bigger sensor will always outperform a smaller sensor. Of course, cameras with larger sensors will require larger (and more expensive) lenses than cameras with smaller sensors. Ultimately, it is about price.

Both AVCHC and MP4 use the same underlying H.264 compression, so I don't think that will make a difference. The highest quality AVCHD setting is 1080p/60 at 28 Mbps, which does result in a pretty nice HD image with excellent motion charactistics. It doesn't compare to the detail in the 4K/30 MP4 at 100 Mbps, however. I hear what you're saying about the smaller sensor with fewer pixels. It is possible to make a somewhat smaller sensor with decent low light performance. But the reality is, the bigger the sensor, the more likely it is to have better low-light performance. Not a guarantee, of course... just more likely.

Very welcome! I still have this camera after more than 5 years, and use it almost every day. It is a fine little camera.

@@BobKovacs I’ve just bought this camera to replace my TZ70, which I’ve had for years and dropped twice but it’s still going well! I just wanted a touch screen - not at all bothered about a flip screen. It was this or the TZ200, but this gets better reviews and was £200 cheaper. Thank you for your review. I’m picking the camera up this afternoon , looking forward to trying it out.

I'm not familiar with the Sony RX100, but know that a lot people like it. The RX100 is less expensive than the Panasonic ZS100, but the RX100 does not do 4K video. The Panasonic ZS100 does beautiful 4K video. The Sony RX100 has a 3.5x zoom lens, while the Panasonic ZS100 has a 10X zoom lens. The Panasonic ZS100 costs $200 more and that's a lot of money, but the 4K and longer zoom were must-haves for me.

Michael, I don't do photography much with the ZS100 (a little, but not a lot), so I'm not extremely knowledgeable of its photographic modes. I just looked at the camera and could not find a shutter speed slower than 1 second, so I do not know if the ZS100 has a bulb setting. Sorry.

Hmmm... I thought I answered this question but now don't see the answer. I have no experience using any cell phone app with the ZS100, so I really can't help you there.

Sadly, no. You can plug a USB charger in, but it only charges the battery when the camera is off. When the camera is on, the charger does not power the camera -- that's my experience, anyway.

Also, no flip-out viewfinder and the HDMI port goes dead when recording. But I still REALLY like the ZS100.

the flip out viewfinder is no concern since its small and bad. a flip out screen would be much more important at least for my needs for waist level shooting the hdmi live output? ok who is going to buy a atomos to record with a zs100?

also a full sensor 4k readout would offer better high iso in 4k video. sony has it. panasonic is still cropping to create 4k video. its like having a smaller sensor and thats pity. you are losing your wide lens AND high iso is worse with cropping instead of using full sensor readout for 4k.

Yes, I was thinking "flip-out screen" when I wrote "flip-out viewfinder." I'd like to use the ZS100 (and the GX8, which I also have) with my external monitor to confirm focus. But both cameras turn their HDMI port off when recording. I agree about the full-sensor 4K readout point. Still, the ZS100 makes lovely 4K, especially when set to ISO 125 or 200. The ZS100 also makes lovely 120 fps 1080p video when it is set for ISO 125 or 200. Which brings up another point: Why is there no stabilization when shooting 120 fps?

generally high fps (slow motion) need less the stabilization as time goes by slowly!!. I would prefer a 4k stabilization that is as good as 1080p stabilization. 5axis is only available at 1080p. and although there is optical stabilization available it still crops the sensor! from 26 with ois off it goes 28 with ois on and 31 with level on. still electronic stuff going on and crops that they need.

Hi! That is an interesting question but I can't give you an answer. I have read files from the ZS100 using the micro-USB port, and I charge the camera all the time through the same port, but I have never tried to control it through that port. I just do not know if the ZS100 can be controlled through the micro-USB port.

I have not used either Sony camera. The RX100 IV is supposed to be particularly good in low light, but I only know what I've read about it. The Panasonic ZS100 is considerably less expensive, so I would probably stick with the Panasonic for cost reasons. If you haven't already seen it, I have a video comparing the Panasonic ZS100 and LX100... interesting stuff. And in a different video, shot at Central Park in NYC, most of the early scenes were shot with the Panasonic ZS100, while the later scenes were shot with a Panasonic GX8. Here's that video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oI8sbv0rn3k.html

Yes, with the camera NOT recording, you can plug in an external device and get the signal. I don't have a recorder, but my monitor works when plugged into the ZS100's HDMI port -- as long as I'm not recording. You can push the DISP button to clear the operational info from the display and just get the image. I haven't tried using an external recorder but I have used an external monitor.

Thanks Bob...One more question since watching your LX vrs ZS video...Can I also come out of the LX100 4k the same way to external monitor/recorder? Since from your video the LX has much wider lense when up close which what I would use recording mode with plus more manual controls at the ready( less button switch), and able to screw nd filter (or 3d party zoom?) I was leaning more to this but didn't know about 4k out......if not lean to the ZS..... I wish the LX had the after shoot focus. Really I want an inbetween model not so much zoom though lol.

The LX100 I have seems to be flaky with HDMI out. With the LX100 I have, I can only get HDMI output when the camera is in playback mode, and even then it is intermittent. If the camera is in live mode (but not recording), my monitor says "No Output." The same is true when I'm recording: The monitor says "No Output." Yeah, I wish the ZS100 had a 6x lens that was F2-4.5 and went to 28mm at the wide end. Still, I like having the long reach for the zoom. I still like the ZS100 a lot, especially for 4K video.

A TZ90-nek (az USA-ban a ZS90-nek) van egy úgynevezett "kis érzékelője", míg a TZ100-nak (az USA-ban ZS100-nak) sokkal nagyobb az érzékelője. A kis szenzoros kamerákkal az a tapasztalatom, hogy egyszerűen nem készítettek képeket az én megelégedésemre. Az 1 hüvelykes érzékelővel ellátott ZS100 jó képeket készít - és még mindig mindig ezt használom. Jó lenne egy 30x-os objektív, de nem, ha a képminőség csorbát szenved.

+John Donaldson You can tilt the flash back and hold it with a finger, but it has to be held in that position. It will fire that way -- I just tried it and it did fire.

+RedFox Yeah, I thought this was WAY too long. I actually shortened my first edit by three minutes. Next up for me is an LX100 vs. ZS100 video, but I like your idea of a really short review.

+Bob Kovacs it is a little long. Although it is long I like it. You explain almost all the function and abilities of this camera. I sold my Lx100 for this camera and I gotta say I miss the low f stop and the image quality.

+RedFox I like the length of the review. It could be trimmed a bit by cutting out some redundant speech though. This review was more user friendly, not so technical, which I was looking for. It's more a practical view of the camera. With the delivery of my ZS100 a week away anything like this video is appreciated.

+John Donaldson Thanks!

The simple way to transfer is to pop the SD card out of the camera and pop it into the SD slot on a Mac. You can also get SD readers for iPads and iPhones... at least I think you can. If your Mac does not have an SD slot, then I highly recommend getting an SD reader for your Mac. You can probably get one at Walmart for $10, and even less from Amazon -- here is a Mac-compatible SD reader with both an original USB plug and USB-C, for $8: smile.amazon.com/SmartQ-MicroSDXC-MicroSDHC-Windows-Android/dp/B07ZHNGM3G/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=sd+reader+for+mac&qid=1617144257&sr=8-6 Good luck!

I have a video that compares the ZS100 (TZ100) with the LX100. I'm not familiar with the LX10, but just in case you meant the LX100. Here is the ZS100 vs. LX100 video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fMTUG8sem0M.html

Amazingly, I am still using this camera today. In fact, I took photos with it today. I have now had the ZS100 for 6 years, and although it's showing signs of aging, it still takes good photos and videos. I wish it had a 3.5mm audio input, and I wish it had a hot shoe for an external flash, and I wish it would record video for more than 15 minutes. Otherwise, I still really like it.

You are welcome! I owned the ZS20 for a couple years and it is not a good camera. Photo quality on the ZS20 is fair, at best, and video quality is nothing special. On the other hand, I've had the ZS100 for nearly three years, and it takes very good photos and excellent video. With the ZS100, video is particularly good if you set the sensitivity to ISO 200 or less -- by ISO 800, video is noticeably noisy. I love the 4K video from the ZS100 at ISO 200 or less, though... really nice. Between the ZS20 and the ZS100, there's no question: The ZS100 is far better. And far more expensive. There is a ZS200 out now, which does everything the ZS100 does and has a 15x lens instead of the ZS100's 10x lens. The ZS200 is supposed to be a bit more compact than the ZS100, too, making it a better pocket camera. I have not used (or even seen) the ZS200, so I can't tell you my personal feelings about it. But if you can afford it, maybe you should take a look. I do have another video on the ZS100: a comparison between the ZS100 and LX100. It will give you more info on the ZS100.

I see that I didn't really answer your questions about low light. The ZS20 is a terrible camera in low light. The ZS100 is better, but you lose a lot of light if you zoom in. If you can keep the lens wide, you will have better results in low light. I don't know if you are more interested in photography or video, but low-light photography with the ZS100 is better than low-light video. The ZS100 will take decent photos up to ISO 1600, while its video starts to degrade quickly at speeds above ISO 400. By ISO 1600, video with the ZS100 is pretty noisy. Hope that helps!

@@BobKovacs thank you very much. It helps a lot. I currently have a canon eos rebel t3 but I want something compact.

I've taken 200,000 photos with the ZS100/TZ100, and do not know the difference between "digital zoom" and "i-zoom." I never use features like that now -- I use only the optical zoom lens, and I'm leery of using that at full zoom. I have not tried the WiFi connectivity, although it is an interesting feature. I still like the camera a lot, however.

@Bob Kovacs To get to the i-Zoom. Into the Menu/Setup. Chose the top camera/Rec icon. Both the i-Zoom and Digital Zoom is on page 7/8. According to manual you can use the camera’s Intelient Resolution technology to increase the zoom ratio up to 2x higher than the original zoom ratio with limited deterioration of picture quality

Thanks for the explanation. I have never had good results with pushing beyond a camera's optical zoom capability. I may experiment with i-Zoom but have low expectations for it. I mostly use the camera to shoot 4K video and I'm pretty picky about it, so i-Zoom will probably not be much use to me.

@Bob Kovacs You can also get a 52mm filter adapter for the Lumix TZ100. Herelensmateonline.com/collections/panasonic-lumix-dmc-zs100-tz100/products/lensmate-panasonic-lumix-dmc-zs100-tz100-quick-change-adapter-kit-52mm?variant=22696411590

Interesting. I have seen a UV filter for the ZS100 that was glued on, and that didn't appeal to me. This also glues on -- so I'm squeamish about that -- but at least it has the option for interchangeable filters. That's what's interesting. It's cheap, too.

Thanks! Information on the zoom range (focal length) is actually on the display as you shoot. In 4K video mode, the on-screen display shows that the range is 37-370mm, and it shows you where on that scale you are. Likewise, the focal length changes in HD (1,920 x 1,080) mode to 31-310mm. And yes, manual focus in 4K mode works good. I have the "Peaking" setting on, which puts a blue fringe around whatever is in focus. That makes it easy to see what is in focus.

Understand and thanks for your quick answer... cant wait to have this in my hands :) ! and shot 4k next week at concert .. The processing in FCP is nice though

One question still. What kind of card would you recommend? Is a SANDISK Extreme PRO SDXC, 128 GB, 95 MB/s, U3 OK ?. Or we need a higher write speed?

That Sandisk card will be fine. I have a PNY 128 GB U3 95 MB/s card and it has worked perfectly -- no glitches at all. Amazon sells the PNY 128GB card for $45.

I still have my original ZS100 that I reviewed in this video, and I still use it all the time. It is now 6 years old, and it still takes good photos and excellent video. We keep it on the kitchen table and grab it whenever there is something in the yard to photograph or capture on video. The 4X slo-mo feature gets a lot of use. Here's a 4x slo-mo video that I shot with this camera last fall: facebook.com/bob.kovacs.100/videos/1436917396692485

Yes, you do have exposure control in both video and photography mode. It's really easy, actually: One of the positions on the control dial on the back of the ZS100 is for exposure. Press it and you can can select exposure up or down by 1/3 increments. I use this control all the time.

@@BobKovacs Somehow I knew you would respond. You sound like the real deal, Bob. Quality merchandise. Thanks. Digital compensates for itself in many ways differently than film. Overworked in some areas, jazzed up to hide limitations of the sensor. One inch sensors in pocket cameras aren't one inch. "Micro four thirds..." gimme a break....

Good question. I do not plan to get the ZS200 immediately. My ZS100 still works great, and I see very little difference in the specs between the ZS100 and ZS200. If my ZS100 breaks or gets lost, then I will consider the ZS200.

+Ryan Darcy Ryan, I think this is the TZ100 outside the US.

+Bob Kovacs Thank you kindly for the speedy reply Bob, I will check it out here in Ireland. Great channel btw and you deserve lots more subscribers! You describe everything in easy to follow terms which make it simple for photography beginners like myself.

And TZ110 in Australia, just for the hell of it, the flaming galahs.

I keep the mode dial in the video mode (VideoM, I guess) when shooting video. I do not recommend continuous autofocus, as nothing looks more amateur than the focus suddenly drifting in the middle of a recording. I set the autofocus to get the focus at the beginning of a recording -- you can always re-focus by pressing the shutter button halfway. No problem with the questions... glad to help!

Thx ! ok i send it to AFS and con.focus = Off :) ... i guess i had this to on my TZ31... i sold her and forget to look what settings i had. Have a nice (rest) sunday! Cheers P.s. the SanDisk U3 128 GB works like a charm !

The LF1 has some interesting specs, but I have never used one. The ZS100 has a much bigger sensor and a 10x (vs. 7x) lens, and the ZS100 also shoots 4K video, so it's a better fit for me.

+Bob Kovacs 👌 I think LF1 it's over 2 years old now .. it doesn't produce the best photos quality of course but I still do like it as it's smallest well built camera I ever had. When my LF1 doesn't work and there are no more LF1 or Panasonic doesn't do a LF2 .. then I possibly go for ZS100 .. Or maybe Panasonic FZ1000 instead .. Oh what do u think of FZ1000 comparing to ZS100 please?

I have never actually used the Panasonic FZ1000, but it is similar in many ways to the ZS100. The FZ1000 has a bigger, better lens, and it's in a bigger package with more features. But it otherwise has a 1-inch sensor (vs. 1/1.7 inch in the LF1) and can do 4K video. It's like the ZS100 is the "travel" version of the FZ1000. There might be some good deals on the FZ1000 in a few months when a replacement model comes out.

Thanks for the nice comment! First, the US version of the ZS100 only does 4K/UHD in 30p or 24p (30 frames per second or 24 frames per second). It does not do 4K/60p, although there are some expensive cameras out there that will. The ZS100 will do nice 30p and 60p HD video (1920 x 1080), so you might try 1080/60p if you have lots of motion. For the best 4K video from the ZS100, I try to keep it at a sensitivity setting of ISO 200 or ISO 125. Going to a higher ISO setting than ISO 200 quickly adds noise to the picture -- I'll use a higher setting if I have to, but I usually try to figure out a way to add light instead of adding sensitivity. Stabilization is worse on the ZS100 at 4K than it is in HD -- that's just the nature of the beast. I use a tripod and monopod as much as I can -- I'm a big believer in monopods, and they are cheap and lightweight. I also try to zoom with my feet whenever I can. In other words, I get as close as possible to what I'm shooting in order to use the zoom as little as possible. The more you zoom, the shakier the video is -- so I zoom only when I have to. I still like the ZS100 a lot and use it almost every day. I used to buy a camera every year, hoping for the next step up. But I've had the ZS100 for two years now and do not feel the urge to upgrade. It still works well. Hope that helps!

Helped very much, Bob, thanks for clarification (sometimes it's very nice and fast to get the very foundamental clarifications verbally straight from experienced people first before further self learning about more advanced things, rather than read a tons of manuals From a very beginning :) . sorry for confusing about 4K with 60p, yep, I mistaken... by the way, another I'm very worried about - you mentioned the fps-s above - what is an exact kind of "dual-value" of fps I saw in your response as well as in manual? Like a 4K can be 25p and 25p, FHD - 50p and 25p - what is the principal difference between that selections to be preset as a choice, if the look like very close (specially 25 and 24)?? Also I so kind of 50p and 50i- what's the difference? And third question about video quality - what is the difference between fps and bit rate in the meaning of proper value for situation matters choice?? For example, 50p with 28Mbps and 25p with 20Mbps - both for FHD quality?? Very appreciate

Remark to my second comment - 25p and 24p - that's what my manual says I can use for 4K and 100Mbps within MP4 format and that a minor difference looks strange to be as a list of selection :)

In the US and a few other countries (Japan, Korea, Canada, Mexico, etc.), our TVs run at a frame rate of 30 frames per second (FPS). For complicated reasons, it's actually slightly less than 30 fps (the actual number is 29.97 fps), but it's best to just consider it 30 fps. In most of the rest of the world, the TVs run at a frame rate of 25 fps (again, reduced slightly to something like 24.98 fps for complicated reasons). Films were usually shot at a frame rate of 24 fps, and this is still the standard in the cinema industry even though films are virtually all shot electronically and not on film any longer. People in the film industry rave about how 24 fps results in the "film look," although I find the motion judder caused by such a slow frame speed to be distracting. So that is why video cameras typically shoot at 30 fps (or 25 fps if you are in one of those countries) and 24 fps. I would set it to 25 fps and forget about it. When you talk about 50p and 50i, the letters refer to "progressive" and "interlaced." 50p means HD video shot at 50 fps with the lines being progressive. This is the highest resolution and most demanding form of 50 fps video. 50i means HD video where there are two "fields" per frame -- the first field displays the odd lines (lines 1-3-5-7... etc.) and the second field displays the even lines (2-4-6-8... etc.). The frames and fields come so fast that the eye doesn't see the flicker and simply assembles all the odd and even fields into coherent frames. This was the technique used for analog TV 15+ years ago and it was built into HD digital TV. 50p will always give you better pictures than 50i, but 50p requires a higher data rate -- thus it takes 28 Mbps for 50p and 20 Mbps for 50i. It probably takes 18 Mbps for 30p, so 50i video has roughly the same data rate as 30p. In the US, HD TV is usually broadcast at 1080/60i, which translates into 1080 lines with interlaced processing for two fields resulting in video at 30 fps. This is good for motion-intensive programming, such as sports. Therefore, you want to shoot HD video at 50p -- that will give you both smooth motion and higher resolution. (You pay a modest resolution penalty for 50i video to get the lower bit rate.) Since the ZS100 records 4K/30p video at 100 Mbps, you can imagine how much higher the data rate would be for 50p (or 50p) video. There are cameras that will do that, but they are much more expensive and use more expensive recording solutions (instead of the SD cards we use). Hope that helps!

Many thanks for that advanced explanations shortly! :) appreciate

Köszönöm

I really like my ZS100. I mentioned those things because I know that some people are curious about them. As for using the ZS100 with an external monitor, the camera has an HDMI output. However, when you hit the record button, the external display feed goes away and you get a black screen. The camera has the right connector, it just can't display video externally when recording. I think it would be excellent if the ZS100's HDMI port was active during record, since there are a few of us who would like to use it occasionally with an external monitor. I wanted to warn people interested in this that it will not work -- I think that's fair game for a review. And sure, I always want more: better lens, longer telephoto, smaller size. That doesn't mean I don't like the ZS100, just that I'm dreaming about even more.

You may be right -- I checked only with OIS on and did not pay attention to the Level Shot function.

these are panasonic specs, not mine. i unfortunately dont have the cam

I assume you want to record in HD (1,920 x 1,080). If that's what you want to do, here's how you do it: With video mode selected, go into the menu. Make sure you are on the video icon on the top-left, and press the right button once to enter the video menu. 1. Scroll up or down until you get to "Rec Quality" 2. Press the center button to select the record quality. 3. Scroll down to select the video quality mode you want. There are two 4K modes (24 and 30 frames), two full HD modes (30 and 60 frames), one 720p mode and a VGA (640 x 480) mode. Select which one you want to use by pressing the center button. 4. Use the garbage can icon (bottom-left button) to exit the menu.

Yes, a better lens and a flippy screen would make this a considerably better camera, although it's already pretty good. I would also like an audio input, even if that made the camera a wee bit bigger. And an HDMI port that let me use a monitor when recording.