Panasonic TZ202: Introduction

Purpose of My Panasonic TZ202 Pages | How I Became A Panasonic TZ202 Owner | Now I Am A Panasonic TZ202 Owner... | Now I Was A Panasonic TZ202 User... | Would I Recommend A Panasonic TZ202 to You?

Purpose of My Panasonic TZ202 Pages

My Panasonic TZ202 pages are intended as an information source for existing and prospective TZ202 owners. However, there is no intention to offer a complete or even up-to-date information source, because I do not have the time for such a project. The focus of my pages is on presenting my personal experiences with this camera and thereby providing one or the other useful tip for others.

Note: I use the Panasonic TZ202 mostly in P mode, sometimes in A mode. I will therefore, not cover any of the following modes or specialties: Intelligent Auto mode, Superior Auto mode, Scene mode, Creative style, Picture effect, and many of the other gimmicks. Probably, this list is incomplete...

How I Became A Panasonic TZ202 Owner

Since I gave up my SLR equipment at the end of 2009, I have a problem, namely too little focal length in the telephoto range. For the Ricoh GXR, the P10 module with its focal length range of 28-300 mm (equivalent) seemed to be the solution. But because of the small sensor, the image quality was too poor for me compared to the other modules, so that I hardly used the P10 module, except in the early days. Later cameras offered a maximum focal length of 70 mm (equivalent; X Vario, Sony RX100 M4) or 135 mm (Leica M (Typ 240)). So I kept looking for cameras with a 1" sensor in the hope that one day they would offer more focal length in the telephoto range. This indeed happened with Panasonic's FZ1000 and its successors, and Sony's RX10 series, but I could never convince myself to buy one these huge and heavy bridge cameras. Nonetheless, I almost bought the FZ1000 before I finally decided on the Sony RX100 M4.

With the TZ100/101, Panasonic finally launched a camera with a larger focal length range (25-250 mm equivalent) in early 2016. But unfortunately the viewfinder is considered bad, and the lens is also rated as poor, especially in the telephoto range. So I kept my hands off this camera...

At the beginning of 2018, the successor to the TZ100 was released, the TZ200/202, with an improved viewfinder, an extended focal length range (with slightly lower light intensity) and perhaps a slightly better lens. After some to and fro, reading test reports, watching videos about the camera, and finally looking at the camera at the dealer, I decided to buy the TZ202, particularly because I wanted to gain some experience with it before we would go on vacation. On the first day, I promptly had some difficulties to get used to and use the camera. In the meantime, however, I have bought a book and also used the camera a lot, and so these problems have (mostly) vanished...


Front view		Rear view, on

Photo: The Panasonic TZ202

The Panasonic TZ202 was not meant to replace my Sony RX100 M4, which is probably the better camera in the focal length range of 24-70 mm, but should complement it in the telephoto range. This also applies to "close-ups in the telephoto range," for example, to butterflies that I cannot get closer to, because otherwise they will fly away. Of course, the Panasonic TZ202 does not deliver "full-size" butterfly photos in the telephoto range, but certainly delivers more details than the Sony RX100 M4 or the Leica X Vario are able provide. My primary concern here is to be able to determine the butterflies later on the basis of my photos.

While I can attach close-up lenses (+5 to +15 diopters) to the Sony RX100 M4 using the Lensmate adapter, this does not seem to be possible with the Panasonic TZ202. It provides the largest object size of our cameras in the wide angle range, but at a distance of 3 cm many animals are scared away and the object is also easily shaded. Furthemore, with plants and other static objects, I achieve much higher magnifications with the Sony RX100 M4 using close-up lenses.

Now I Am A Panasonic TZ202 Owner...

... for more than half a year now. Therefore, here is a first (and maybe last) resumen!

At the beginning, I really had getting used to the camera, because I was used to many other cameras and not even the Sony cameras have such complex menus as Panasonic cameras do. I understood the menu structure and the meaning of some menu items with, for me, cryptic names only after I had supplied myself with the respective literature. But after that, many things seemed logical to me, and I would be cautious to criticize Panasonic for my initial confusion.

All cameras testers scream for touchscreen operation - and criticize Sony in particular. I cannot go along with that! I switched off the touchscreen because I look through the viewfinder with my left eye - and regularly shift the focus point with my nose...

Since I have not created so many pages about this camera yet, and maybe I will not create any more, here are some remarks about this camera!

Viewfinder: The viewfinder is better than the one in its predecessor, the TZ101 (which I did not buy for that reason), but I find it much worse than the one in the Sony RX100 M4. I also do not think that it is indeed suitable for manual focusing.
LCD screen: Good quality, better than on the Sony RX100 M1 and M4..
Actually, I would have liked to have a tilting screen instead of a fixed one...
Macro capabilities: The TZ202's capabilities in ths respect are slightly superior to those of the Sony RX100 M1 and M4 at wide angle; they are not outstanding at long focal lengths with a minimum object width of about 11 cm, but sufficient to enlarge and identify butterflies. With digital zoom, large butterflies almost fill the frame, but the image quality then leaves much to be desired. This is the main reason why I bought a Sony RX10 M3.
Actully, I would have liked a tilting screen instead of a fixed one...
Lens: The lens is considered to be "soft" in the telephoto range and receives a lot of criticism. I bought the camera before the devastating dpreview.com test, otherwise I might have hesitated to buy it. Overall, however, the lens is acceptable for my needs and very flexible for a camera of this size - there is no compact 1" camera with more zoom range.
Image processing: In tests, the TZ202 lags one EV behind the competition (from Sony) in ISO ratings. I can only confirm that. In the default setting, the noise reduction "irons out " details and produces "mushy" images. I was very disappointed with my first photos. Like many other TZ202 owners, I then changed the default settings and this brought the image impression a bit closer to the Sony RX100 M4. But many photos still show a clear discrepancy - to the disadvantage of the TZ202...
In the end, the results of the image processing were also decisive for my switch to the Sony RX10 M3.
Colors: The colors of the Panasonic TZ2002 seem "more beautiful" than those of the Sony cameras (which do not get good ratings for it...), but, depending on the processing, the blue is often too "gaudy" for me...
Handling: After some initial problems getting used to the TZ202, I think it is easy to use, better than the Sony cameras, and my wife was visibly taken with it when she used the TZ202. Sony should learn from that!
Size/Weight: For the focal length range offered, there is no alternative when it comes to camera size! The TZ202 is really compact and not too heavy. The Sony RX100 models are smaller, but perhaps too small...
Speed: While my older cameras (especially the Ricoh GXR and Leica X Vario) always annoyed me with their inability to shoot moving subjects, the TZ202 is rather fast and I do not notice any differences to the Sony RX100 M4. I only have speed problems, actually massive ones, when I use the 720 mm digital zoom (i.Zoom). I have identified the autofocus as the source of the "problem;" switching to manual focus seems to solve the speed problem.

Now I Was A Panasonic TZ202 User...

At the end of 2018, I decided with a heavy heart to part with the Panasonic TZ202 and to buy a "monster" called Sony RX10 M3 (which I exchanged against a RX10 M 4 after a quarter of a year...). Why did I do this? I did so because when I looked at the many close-up photos that I had taken over summer 2018, particularly those from 1 m away, I was not really content with the results. Overall, the close-ups, including those at wide angle, were rather grainy with my settings (I had more or less turned off noise reduction and also used higher ISO values), and while I was able to get very close to the objects at the wide end, I found the long end with its 360 mm (equiv.) not quite sufficient for my purposes.* So I started to use the digital zoom (in form of the i.Zoom) and indeed took photos of larger butterflies that nearly filled the frame. But the technical quality of these shots was disappointing: not surprisingly, they were much more grainy than those with the optical zoom. In addition, autofocus often blocked the camera at 720 mm so that shooting was often really nerve-straining. Manual focus prevents these processing "black outs," but is sluggish because it works electronically. At least, it seems to be better that the MF of my Sony camera's... Furthermore, I find the EVF quality not good enough for manual focusing - despite the fact that the EVF has the same resolution as the Sony EVFs.

*) By the way, this ruled out the Panasonic FZ1000 for me, which I had also considered. Admittedly, the "alternative (to the Sony RX10) monster" FZ1000 has a better viewfinder and its lens offers more speed. But 400 mm at the long end do not bring much more range compared with the 360 mm of the TZ202. This is definitely different with the RX10 M3's 600 mm at the long end...

To sum up, my decision to change to the Sony RX10 M3 was in part based on the lens and in part on the camera's processing. Whether I will be happy with the Sony, is another story that is told elsewehere on this site. But as a "general" camera for holidays and at home, the TZ202 is nearly unbeatable (perhaps by a Sony RX100 M6 at twice the price) in my opinion. And my wife moved over to the TZ202 and we kept it.

Would I Recommend A Panasonic TZ202 to You?

After the devastating test of the TZ202 at dpreview.com, it is hard to make any recommendations, even if the camera is praised a lot in the book that I bought. In the end, opinions in the forums vary - and this will probably remain so.

If you are looking for a compact camera with a large zoom range, you will not find anything else and probably no better one if you have received a good sample. The camera is easy to use after a certain phase of getting accustomed to it (if you are used to other cameras...), fast, and delivers good results, albeit not as good as comparable 1" sensor Sony cameras.

Thus, if you do not have such special requirements for close-ups as I do, this camera is certainly a good choice for you.

Repair History

While we are on the subject of recommendations, I should not leave unmentioned that our TZ202 had to be sent in for repair four times by March/April 2023 (purchase 2018):

Dust on the sensor (August 2018)
Dust on the sensor, viewfinder/display switching unreliable (February 2019).
Replacement of the "Lens Unit" (April 2021; 300 EUR)
Trouble with the "Lens Unit" again, but replacement not necessary (March/April 2023; 130 EUR)

That is quite a "proud" balance sheet...