Panasonic Lumix TS1 my Next Tough Digicam

I love to take pictures and I think it’s time to take the hobby under water. I’ve been on a hunt for a good waterproof and tough camera, at first my only option was the Olympus Tough 8000, it’s tough and waterproof although it’s also freeze proof, living in a tropical country like the Philippines makes that feature irrelevant unless you want to hide your digital camera in the freezer.

Then here comes the Canon counterpart the D10. Poweshot D10 is Canon’s first tough and waterproof digital camera. While Olympus have been doing tough cameras for years the D10 is ahead with image quality, yeah it’s a Canon. The only thing i hate about the D10 is it’s look.. it looks like a child’s toy, but it does perform up to 10 meter’s under water, (perfect for scuba diving) compared to Panasonic TS1 which could only get up to 3 meters but it can record 720p High Definition Video.

dmc-ts1s

Choosing the right underwater and tough digital camera is a tough decision to make, so i list down my criteria.

  1. Style and Design – Panasonic wins because i personally don’t like the design of the D10 and Oly’s design is kinda old.
  2. Underwater Performance -D10 and Tough 8000 wins over the TS1 that’s 10 meters vs 3 meters.
  3. Video Functions – Both Olympus and Canon shoots at Standard Definition 640×480 while Panasonic TS1 is 720p.
  4. Optical Zoom – TS1 have 4.6x while D10 have 3x and Tough 8000 have 3.6x zoom.
  5. LCD Screen – TS1 have the biggest screen at 2.7inch while D10 is the smallest 2.5 inch.

Since I don’t go deeper than 3meters and i really like to have HD video, I think the best choice is Panasonic TS1.
At price ranging from 16,000 – 20,000 pesos it’s cheaper than the Tough 8000.

Sample Shots of TS1 on Philmug forums.

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Categories: Digital Cameras 0 like

4 Responses so far.

  1. Jumal says:
    December 10, 2009 at 12:45 am

    Thanks TCTT for sharing your experience with the Panasonic TS1, I almost bought a second hand unit from an online forum. I like the design but the colours are limited.

    I think I’ll just wait for the next Canon D10 iteration or Panasonic Lumix TS2..

  2. TCTT says:
    December 9, 2009 at 1:51 pm

    Thank you. I bought my TS1 last October at St Francis and used it in my trip to Batanes a few weeks ago. Impressed with the camera! I got to bring it underwater at Sabtang, taking video and pix. Was covered in mud at Itbayat, and survived a 4 foot fall landing LCD-first on hard concrete at Ivana. Very happy with it. :)

  3. Jumal says:
    September 12, 2009 at 1:29 pm

    If you’re in near Manila, contact Celtex Store Theater Mall at Greenhills Shopping Center (Tel#722-5589,look for Mariz or Bernadette)is selling TS1 at P17.2k)

  4. TCTT says:
    September 3, 2009 at 1:45 pm

    Where is the Panasonic TS1 camera available? Which stores? So far, I’ve seen only the Tough 8000 in many camera shops. Thanks.

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