Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 (silver)
Manufacturer: Panasonic Part number: DMC-TS1S
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- Bottom Line:
- A full-featured waterproof/shockproof pocket point-and-shoot, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 is a near-perfect rugged camera for everyday use.
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CNET editors' review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 (silver) price range: $278.83 - $359.99
- Reviewed by: Joshua Goldman
- Reviewed on: 08/27/2009
The good: Well designed; very good performance, photo, and video quality.
The bad: Expensive; soft photos.
The bottom line: A full-featured waterproof/shockproof pocket point-and-shoot, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 is a near-perfect rugged camera for everyday use.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 is the company's first attempt at a rugged compact camera and, generally speaking, it's a success. The camera isn't as impervious to shock and the elements as some of the competition; it is waterproof up to a depth of 10 feet, shockproof from falls up to 5 feet, and is dustproof. On the other hand, it looks and performs better than its competition, and it has some great features including HD movie capture, a wide-angle lens, and a long battery life.
Its photos aren't faultless, mainly they lack sharpness, and you're paying a premium for the rugged body. However, if you're looking for an everyday compact point-and-shoot that can take some water, dust, and drops, with a design that doesn't scream "look it me, I'm waterproof!" the TS1 is what you want.
| Key specs | Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 |
| Price (MSRP) | $399.95 |
| Dimensions (WHD) | 3.9x2.5x0.9 inches |
| Weight (with battery and media) | 6.5 ounces |
| Megapixels, image sensor size, type | 12 megapixels, 1/2.3-inch CCD |
| LCD size, resolution/viewfinder | 2.7-inch LCD, 230K dots/None |
| Lens (zoom, aperture, focal length) | 4.6x, f3.3-5.9, 28-130mm (35mm equivalent) |
| File format (still/video) | JPEG/AVCHD Lite (.MTS) |
| Highest resolution size (still/video) | 4,000x3,000 pixels / 1,280x720 at 30fps |
| Image stabilization type | Optical and digital |
| Battery type, rated life | Lithium ion rechargeable, 340 shots |
Aside from four exposed screws on the face and back, little else would tip off a casual observer that the TS1 is a shockproof and waterproof camera. Both sides are covered in nice-looking brushed metal; the available colors are dark green, orange, or dark silver. In front is a 28mm-equivalent wide-angle lens shielded by an easily cleaned piece of glass or plastic. On top is a power button (which needs more than a cursory push to work), a spring-loaded slider for the 4.6x optical zoom, and a textured shutter release. For some reason, Panasonic thought it a good idea to make the zoom and shutter release the same size and place them one directly behind the other. If you're not paying attention, it's very easy to miss a shot by mistaking the zoom for the shutter release.
Otherwise, the remaining controls on back are relatively large, easy to use, and logically arranged. Plus they work well with gloved hands and in water. A Mode dial sits at the top giving your thumb something to rest against and lets you easily slip between shooting options--a little too easily, actually. Below the dial are standalone buttons for playback and movie recording. A general Menu button sits at the center of the four navigational buttons that double as exposure, flash, macro, and timer controls. The main menu system features three tabs: one each for setup, photo settings, and movie settings. A Q.Menu button on back at the lower right brings up a vertical bar of shooting-mode-sensitive options. The menu systems are uncomplicated and for the most part self-explanatory.
| General shooting options | Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 |
| ISO sensitivity (full resolution) | Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1,600 |
| White balance | Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Halogen, Custom |
| Recording modes | Intelligent Auto, Program AE, Scene, Beach & Surf, Snow, Sports, Clipboard, Movie |
| Focus mode | Normal, Macro, Continuous AF, Tracking AF, Quick AF |
| Metering | Evaluative, Center-weighted average, Spot |
| Color effects | Standard, Natural, Vivid, Black & White, Sepia, Cool, Warm |
| Burst mode shot limit (full resolution) | 3 photos (Fine), 5 photos (Standard) |
The TS1's feature set is very similar to the company's nonrugged FP8; if you don't need the "proofing," you'll want to check out that model, which is priced about $100 less than the TS1. For shooting options, things are geared toward automatic users. A program AE mode called Normal Picture gets you the most control over results with settings for focus, light metering, color effects, white balance, ISO, and exposure. You also get access to Panasonic's Intelligent ISO for limiting the sensitivity to a maximum of ISO 400, 800, or 1,600 as well as the capability to set a minimum shutter speed from 1 second to 1/125. If you like scene modes, the TS1 has 27 of them with three of them on the Mode dial--Beach & Surf, Snow, Sports. Of course, there's a fully automatic mode--Intelligent Auto (iA)--that determines the most suitable Scene mode and helps correct any blurring, focus, and brightness issues. The last spot on the dial goes to a Clipboard mode that stores low-resolution images to the camera's 40MB of internal memory for fast recall. Panasonic recommends using it for taking pictures of bus/train timetables and maps, which is made more useful by the wide-angle lens. As mentioned earlier, the camera's Movie mode gets its own record button on back; one press and you're recording. The TS1 is capable of 720p HD-quality video capture using the AVCHD Lite format. You get full use of the optical zoom while recording, too.
Though our lab tests don't necessarily exemplify speedy performance, the TS1 is, overall, the fastest rugged compact camera we've tested. It also felt fairly fast during real-world testing, particularly in bright lighting. Start-up to first shot is 1.2 seconds, while average shot-to-shot times were about 1.9 seconds. Turn on the flash and you'll wait a little longer: 2.3 seconds. Its shutter lag was a bigger issue at 0.5 second in bright conditions and 1.2 seconds in dim lighting. Fortunately, its burst speed--limited to three shots at the camera's finest quality--is quick 1.9 frames per second.
Its photos were very good for its class. Photos were never completely sharp, which I'm attributing to the extra glass protecting the lens. There is a slight grainy salt-and-pepper noise across all ISOs, but as usual, the higher the ISO and the larger you view the photos the more likely you are to see it. Between ISO 200 and 400, photos get a bit fuzzier and softer from noise reduction, but their detail is still fairly good. At ISO 800 and even ISO 1,600 there's some decent detail left to make them usable on the Web or for smaller prints as long as you're not terribly picky. One last note: the auto white balance, while tolerable outdoors turned everything indoors yellow. Use the presets and you'll be fine, though.
There is no barrel distortion at the lens' 28mm-equivalent widest, but there is very slight pincushion distortion at its longest position. Also, there was no discernible purple fringing in any of our test shots. Overall, color and exposure were very good. When not using the auto white balance, colors were reasonably accurate and natural looking across the board.
Unlike Canon's PowerShot D10, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 is well suited for double duty as a rugged and everyday pocket camera. People concerned with appearance and size, but want the best image quality and better durability would be better off with the D10. If photo quality is less important, but you need something very durable, the Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 is the way to go. However, the TS1 gets my vote because you get a reasonably strong and waterproof package with very good photo quality and performance. If I'm going to drop $300 to $400 on a rugged point-and-shoot camera, it should not have a design that looks out of place away from the water.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
| Time to first shot | Typical shot-to-shot time (flash) | Typical shot-to-shot time | Shutter lag (dim) | Shutter lag (typical) |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Find out more about how we test digital cameras.
User reviews
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Good Camera
by ditt1605 on June 11, 2009
Pros: Waterproof/shockproof capabilties. Pictures are better than on the Olympus "tough" options. HD Video recording.
Cons: Not as waterproof/shockproof as the eqaully price olympus "tough" cameras.
Summary: I am not a camera expert and I really don't understand what all the bells and whistles do. I just want my pictures to look decent and I wanted ...
Summary: I am not a camera expert and I really don't understand what all the bells and whistles do. I just want my pictures to look decent and I wanted a camera that I could take pretty much anywhere I went. That narrowed it down to the Olympus "Tough" cameras or this one. I didn't like the Canon tough version. While the Olympus' were better for their shockproof/waterproof capabilities, I choose the panasonic for it's picture quality. While not as good as other point and shoots out there for this price, it was way better than the olympus versions. The panasonic also have HD video recording which works really well.
Having the camera now for about 5 months I thought I would go back and see what I initially wrote. Everything still applies and I was surprised how dead on the review was. No complaints for me except for what CNET pointed out about some indoor pics coming out yellowish unless you change a setting. The IA mode is really nice for auto switching between "scene" modes.
While it would have been nice to have the "tougher" camera, I would really be using it mostly as a regular camera and only ocasionally in the water. Even then, i don't think I would be taking a camera with me any deeper then 10 ft. So bottom line, I thought that this was the best waterproof/shockproof camera for my needs: a regular camera that can withstand occasional abuse/water.
Updated on Sep 1, 20093 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Unbreakable! Lens stays in the body - always
by R Griffin on August 31, 2009
Pros: Takes normal rough treatment without failing. Pictures and movies are great (add a 16GB chip). Small enough for shirt, jacket or purse.
Cons: No though viewfinder, so I need to wear my glasses to compose on the LCD. Doesn't talk bluetooth or wifi, so I need to keep the photos safe until I can get wired to my PC.
Summary: My earlier cameras were top of the line. Both lost their lives when the extended lenses were twisted in a fall and a sat-on incident. This one makes standard movies, ...
Summary: My earlier cameras were top of the line. Both lost their lives when the extended lenses were twisted in a fall and a sat-on incident. This one makes standard movies, has standard mini-USB connection and a small battery charger (folding plug). It has so many features, I still use the instruction manual. Basically an excellent point and shoot. I would buy again (the wife needs her own!) or give as a gift.
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Best rugged camera--goes everywhere
by glenntechman on August 29, 2009
Pros: Destruction resistant
Pretty good photosCons: The orange color is a little too noticeable
Summary: I have several cameras, and like to keep one with me at all times. Several canon powershots have broken in routine use. The Lumix DMC-TS1 has held up well and ...
Summary: I have several cameras, and like to keep one with me at all times. Several canon powershots have broken in routine use. The Lumix DMC-TS1 has held up well and take good photos. Better than expected, in fact...
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good camera with HD video, rugged/waterproof an extra
by seahull on November 20, 2009
Pros: This camera is a good size, and takes good pictures most of the time
The HD videos are great, with image stabilization
The underwater capability is a novel addition
Water resistance meant I could take it to the beach without concernCons: Cannot charge short-lived battery in-camera
USB for offloading drains battery quickly
Default settings (ISO?) make nighttime photos (with or without flash) hit-or-miss
AVCHD Lite HD video codec unuseable in my Mac with iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVDSummary: I like this camera, which replaced a Sony DSC-P100. The pictures are about the same quality, but the videos are so much better with the HD. For a father of ...
Summary: I like this camera, which replaced a Sony DSC-P100. The pictures are about the same quality, but the videos are so much better with the HD. For a father of two young children, this is a very capable video camera, which is small enough to always keep nearby. I gave up on the AVCHD-Lite format for the videos, as none of my video editing SW understood it, so it required conversion. But the QuickTime format is still excellent and is directly imported into iPhoto, with the pictures, and I could directly insert and edit in iMovie HD
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I looked at this camera because of a beach vacation, and the waterproof feature was novel fun and allowed me to video my pre-schooler learning to swim (underwater and above), and also video Shamu splashing us all at SeaWorld. I wish I had this camera for previous vacations with sailing or snorkeling, where I dared not even take my camera in the boats. Flash underwater is useless due to reflections from nearby "particles", so 10 foot limitation is mostly irrelevant as you need ambient lighting.
I loved not having to worry about the camera, whether for water, or even handing it to the kids, who drop things all of the time. I do have one worry - whether the battery will be dead after only 30 photos and 20 minutes of video. And I only wish it was as convenient when I get back home - I have to pull out both the flash card to offload the photos and the battery to charge it.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Panasonic
- Part number: DMC-TS1S
- Description: The camera body is waterproof to 3m. It's dustproof too, so you don't have to worry about dust or sand getting inside. And it has passed drop tests at a height of about 1.5m. This is one tough little camera that you can take wherever action takes you. The TS1 records HD motion images with 1280 x 720-pixel resolution. It uses the AVCHD (MPEG-4/H.264) format, via AVCHD Lite which stores less data than other formats and thus lets you shoot more minutes of HD motion images before running out of memory. Just set the camera to iA mode, aim and shoot. The camera does the rest for you. It automatically sets the optimal mode for the shooting situation, and helps correct blurring, focus, and brightness problems. It also activates the Face Recognition function, which finds familiar faces in a group of people and captures them in a clear focus and with proper exposure. A retracting lens with folding optics is used in this 4.6x zoom lens system, which lets you take shots from the 28mm wide-angle to 129mm telephoto. This gives you the flexibility for virtually any shooting situation - even underwater shots, where the angle of view is naturally narrowed, or when you just want to fill the frame with your subject.
General
- Product Type Digital camera - Compact
- Width 3.9 in
- Depth 0.9 in
- Height 2.5 in
- Weight 5.7 oz
- Enclosure Color Silver
Main Features
- Resolution 12.1 megapixels
- Color Support Color
- Optical Sensor Type CCD
- Total Pixels 12,700,000 pixels
- Effective Sensor Resolution 12,100,000 pixels
- Light Sensitivity ISO 80, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1600, ISO 3200, ISO 6400, ISO auto
- Digital Zoom 4 x
- Shooting Modes Frame movie mode
- Shooting Programs Pet, Food, Snow, Baby1, Baby2, Beach, Candle, Sunset, Scenery, Clipboard, Fireworks, Soft skin, Starry sky, Night scene, Sports mode, Aerial photo, Party/indoor, Portrait mode, Self-portrait, Hi-speed burst, Night portrait, High sensitivity
- Special Effects Cool, Warm, Sepia, Vivid, Black & White
- Image Stabilizer Optical (MEGA O.I.S.)
- Max Shutter Speed 1/1300 sec
- Min Shutter Speed 60 sec
- Exposure Metering Multi-segment
- Exposure Modes Program, Automatic
- Exposure Compensation ±2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
- Auto Exposure Bracketing 3 steps in 1/3, 2/3 or 1 EV steps
- Face Detection Yes
- White Balance Custom, Presets, Automatic
- White Balance Presets Shade, Cloudy, Halogen, Daylight
- Digital Video Format QuickTime, AVCHD Lite
- Still Image Format JPEG
- TV Tuner None
- Video Capture QuickTime - 640 x 480, QuickTime - 320 x 240, QuickTime - 848 x 480, AVCHD Lite - 1280 x 720
Memory / Storage
- Supported Flash Memory MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card
- Integrated Memory 45 MB
- Image Storage JPEG 4000 x 3000, JPEG 3264 x 2448, JPEG 2560 x 1920, JPEG 2048 x 1536, JPEG 1600 x 1200, JPEG 640 x 480, JPEG 4000 x 2672, JPEG 3264 x 2176, JPEG 2560 x 1712, JPEG 2048 x 1360, JPEG 4000 x 2248, JPEG 3264 x 1840, JPEG 2560 x 1440, JPEG 1920 x 1080
Camera Flash
- Camera Flash Built-in flash
- Flash Modes Auto mode, Fill-in mode, Slow synchro, Flash OFF mode, Red-eye reduction
- Red Eye Reduction Yes
- Effective Flash Range 2 ft - 19.7 ft
- Features AF illuminator
Lens System
- Type Zoom lens - 4.9 mm - 22.8 mm - F/3.3-5.9
- Focal Length 4.9 mm - 22.8 mm
- Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 28 - 128 mm
- Min Focus Range 11.8 in
- Macro Focus Range 5cm
- Lens Aperture F/3.3-5.9
- Optical Zoom 4.6 x
- Lens Construction 8 group(s) / 10 element(s)
- Lens Manufacturer Leica
- Features ED glass, Aspherical lens
Additional Features
- Self Timer Yes
- Self Timer Delay 2 sec, 10 sec
- Additional Features DPOF support, Audio dubbing, Dust resistant, Face detection, Audio recording, Date/time stamp, Shock resistant, Built-in speaker, Cropping an image, Histogram display, Resizing an image, Exif Print support, PictBridge support, Built-in help guide, In-camera red-eye fix, USB 2.0 compatibility, Backlight compensation, RGB primary color filter, Display brightness control, Intelligent Scene Selector, Camera orientation detection, Automatic display brightness adjustment
Viewfinder
- Viewfinder Type None
Display
- Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.7 in - Color
- Display Form Factor Built-in
- Display Format 230,000 pixels
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Type None
Microphone
- Type Microphone - Built-in
- Microphone Operation Mode Mono
- Microphone Features Wind noise reduction
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x USB, 1 x HDMI output, 1 x Composite video/audio output, 1 x DC power input
- Expansion Slot(s) 1 x SD Memory Card
Software
- Software Apple QuickTime, Drivers & Utilities, ArcSoft Panorama Maker, ArcSoft MediaImpression, Panasonic PHOTOfunSTUDIO 3.0
Miscellaneous
- Underwater Depth up to 9.8 ft
- Included Accessories Lens cap, Battery case, Carrying strap, Lens cap strap
- Cables Included A/V cable, USB cable
Power
- Power Device Battery charger - External
Battery
- Supported Battery 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery - 940 mAh ( Included )
Product series
-

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 (silver)
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Specs: Ultracompact, 12.1 megapixels, 4.6 x, 2.7 in LCD display
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 (green)
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Specs: Ultracompact, 12.1 megapixels, 4.6 x, 2.7 in LCD display
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 (orange)
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Specs: Ultracompact, 12.1 megapixels, 4.6 x, 2.7 in LCD display
Accessories
Manufacturer info
- Panasonic
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Panasonic products on Shopper.com
-
- Website: http://www.panasonic.com/
- Address:
One Panasonic Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094 - Phone: 800/662-3537




