Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 18 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6.5Mb.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 produced images of very good quality during the review period. The 1/2.33 inch, 18 megapixel MOS sensor used in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 produces noise-free images at ISO 100-400, with limited noise and colour desaturation starting to appear at ISO 800. ISO 1600 exhibits quite visible noise, smearing of fine detail and colour desaturation, and ISO 3200 is even noisier, although still usable for small prints. The fastest setting of ISO 6400 is best avoided altogether.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 dealt well with chromatic aberrations, with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate exposure. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 15 seconds allowing you to capture plenty of light. Anti-shake is a feature that works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the 30x zoom range.

Macro performance is very good, allowing you to focus as close as 3cms away from the subject. The images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting and ideally require further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting if you don't like the default results. The Intelligent Resolution feature either makes a standard image look sharper, albeit with some unwanted artefacts appearing, or it digitally increases the 30x optical zoom to 60x, again with a slight loss in quality. The various Creative Effects allow you to easily add a twist to your images.

Noise

There are 7 ISO settings available on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)
ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can change the in-camera sharpening level via the Picture Adjust menu option.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60's 30x zoom lens provides a versatile focal length of 24-720mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

24mm	720mm

File Quality

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 has 2 different image quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

18M Fine (6.90Mb) (100% Crop)	18M Normal (3.97Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 handled chromatic aberrations very well during the review, with limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)	Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 3cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro	Macro (100% Crop)

Flash

The flash settings on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 are Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction, Forced Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Forced Off - Wide Angle (24mm)	Forced On - Wide Angle (24mm)
Forced Off - Telephoto (720mm)	Forced On - Telephoto (720mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On or the Auto/Red-eye Reduction settings caused any red-eye.

Forced On	Forced On (100% Crop)
Auto/Red-eye Reduction	Auto/Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60's maximum shutter speed is 15 seconds, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 15 seconds at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like. The camera takes the same amount of time again to apply noise reduction, so for example at the 15 second setting the actual exposure takes 30 seconds.

Night	Night (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, we took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)	Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/5 sec / 24mm
0.62 sec / 720mm

Intelligent Resolution

The Intelligent Resolution feature either makes a standard image look like a higher resolution one by processing the contour areas, texture areas and smooth areas individually, or it digitally boosts the zoom magnification from 30x to 60x.

Resolution - Off	Resolution - On
i.Zoom Off	i.Zoom On

HDR

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60's HDR mode combines three pictures taken at different exposures to create one image with greater dynamic range than a single shot.

HDR Off	HDR On

Panoramas

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 allows you to take panoramic images very easily by 'sweeping' with the camera. The camera does all the processing and stitching. In addition 13 of the Creative Filter effects can also be applied to panorama shots in the Creative Panorama mode.

Panorama

Panorama with the Impressive Art Filter

Creative Controls

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 has an extensive range of Creative Controls, denoted by an artist's palette on the shooting mode dial, with 15 different options on offer.

Off	Expressive
Retro	High Key
Low Key	Sepia
Dynamic Monochrome	Impressive Art
High Dynamic	Cross Process
Toy Effect	Miniature Effect
Soft Focus	Star Filter
One Point Color	Old Days

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 camera, which were all taken using the 18 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Panasonic RAW (RW2) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

As of February 2025, we are no longer providing full size sample images or videos for download.

Please contact us if you have any feedback on our new policy.

Product Images

Front of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60

Front of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 / Lens Extended

Side of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60

Side of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60

Side of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60

Side of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 / Image Displayed

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 / Turned On

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 / Main Menu

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 / Record Menu

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 / GPS Menu

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 / Motion Picture Menu

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 / Setup Menu

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 / Wi-Fi Menu

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 / Quick Menu

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 / Exposure

Top of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60

Bottom of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60

Side of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60

Side of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60

Front of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60

Front of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

This year's flagship travel-zoom compact from Panasonic, the new DMC-TZ60, adds a longer 30x zoom with a clever control ring, a useful electronic viewfinder, focus peaking for easier manual focusing, and very welcome RAW file support to last year's very appealing model. But what the TZ60 giveth, it also taketh away - we don't like the much smaller handgrip on the front, the sudden and rather strange omission of a touch-screen interface is a real backwards step, and it's also larger and heavier than the TZ40 that it replaces (perhaps understandably so).

Thankfully the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 continues to offer great image quality for this type of camera, with a usable ISO range from 100 to 800. Noise doesn't rear its ugly head until ISO 800, becoming more obvious at ISO 1600 along with excessive smearing of finer details, with the fastest speeds of ISO 3200 and 6400 being something of a last resort. Videographers will also be pleased with the 60/50p and High Speed modes, complete with stereo sound and very effective 5-axis stabilisation system.

While the DMC-TZ60's new features are very welcome, especially the RAW file format and the EVF, we really missed the previous model's touch-screen LCD and its much better grip. While neither could be called deal-breakers, they are enough to prevent the new DMC-TZ60 from achieving its predecessor's highest award. Highly recommended, then, but not quite as essential as 2013's model...

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	4.5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60.

Specifications

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