Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2 14.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 4.6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with 2.7-Inch LCD (Orange)

I bought this camera mainly for travel, especially dive travel! I do have an expensive Sony HD video camera with an Aquatica housing that I use for underwater photo and video. However, it is very unusable out of the water unless the camera is removed from the housing, something you don't want to do inside a small and splashy boat. I also have a Canon S5 IS that I like a lot, but don't want to expose it to water or sand or shocks, things unavoidable on the beach or a boat. Then the LUMIX TS2 came as the perfect beach/boat companion, and I can even use it for shallow water snorkeling where the video camera is also too bulky. I have had it for a couple months already and used it on a dive trip to San Andres and Cartagena in Colombia, and must admit that I am very pleased with its picture quality. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed by Panasonic for including a 14Mp sensor in such a small camera since the pixel size becomes really microscopic, with the asociated high noise. Therefore I have mainly used this camera in the 7Mp setting and I cannot complain: pictures are very good: the zoom range is quite usable, especially the wide end, and the autofocus and exposure level are very accurate. Both above and below the water images and video are very good. I took many pictures at night in Cartagena that came out very nice, just pushing the camera against a wall or pole. The camera has more features than I can remember so I have to go back to the manual from time to time, just to learn again all the things I can do with it (even correcting in camera a slighlty tilted pic or do image cropping). And, as a bonus, you get HD video that you can play so easily on your HD TV by using the TV remote and an HDMI cable. You can survive without a PC with this camera for a long time. I can definitively recommend it for people like me that want to have peace of mind while using a good camera near the water, or in it!. Of course you have to be careful with the seals but I am used to that for my diving gear. I am really happy with this camera... Just two downsides up to now: 1) the shutter and zoom lever buttons are too close, and when the silicon jacket is on the camera, sometimes I have difficulty on moving one without touching the other. In various ocassions I took a picture while I was trying to zoom and viceversa. 2) the USB cable that came with the camera was not the correct one and since Panasonic used a propietary USB/Analog video connector that needs a very special cable I will need to buy it if I want to connect the camera to a PC (instead of downloading directly from the card). I realized this after 3 months so I will not go through the hassle of trying to get it as a warranty item.

We got this to replace our Olympus Tough which after a few years of faithful service was been passed down to the teenagers. Having just gotten back from a trip to the national parks in Canada, we could not be happier with it. The camera took great photos (at least to our untrained eyes) in a variety of conditions from sunrise to mid-day from sun to rain, indoors and outdoors, close and distance. With some 900+ snapshots behind us we are very pleased with the quality of both the pictures and the HD movies. Of course the best part of these rugged cameras is that you can take them (as we did) rafting, on the hiking trail, etc. and it is small enough to slip into a back pocket (where it won't break when you accidentally sit on it getting into the car). It already has a few battle scars from drops in the boat and off a mountain bike(doh!) but it survived no problem. And the videos of us going through class IV rapids with the camera recording are priceless. We have a higher-end camera but it is too delicate and too bulky to bring along when you are out in the "wilderness" or on the beach or even just banging around on your bike. Likes 1) The controls are pretty easy to work - even with gloves on 2) The automatic mode (iA) does a good job of selecting the right scene 3) We had great luck with the image stabilization 4) Very sturdy and absolutely no problems with water (not sure I would take it snorkeling but worked fine for us getting very wet in the lake and in the rivers) 5) Very quick to turn on 6) Did I mention it takes great pictures and video? Dislikes 1) You have to be careful with the waterproof seals to make sure there is no dirt etc when you close it (i.e. do not change the batteries unless you are in a clean, dry place!) [note to Panasonic: this certainly could be a bit more fool-proof like with two waterproof doors in case one fails] 2) AVCHD Lite was a pain and needed to be converted on my Mac to get into iMovie - initially it imported at the wrong speed and with audio and video out of sync but was salvaged with some downloaded conversion software and two hours of aggravation(I should have listened to the other reviewers and changed format before we started!) 3) You have to wait through that boring little presentation of waterproofing tips when you first turn it on and if you do not go through the whole thing it will keep coming back until you do - so watch all the way through the first time! Bottom line, we love this camera and we are sure we made the right choice in replacing the old Olympus. You won't be sorry. We paired it with the Transcend 16GB card TS16GSDHC6-P2 and had all the room we needed for a 10 day trip. Enjoy!

Have had this camera for a few months now. I've taken it on a rafting trip, the pool, snorkeling and gotten a bunch of nice pictures. Like most waterproof camera's, pictures are not as good as non-waterproof alternatives, but this is the best I've tried to date. Most major issue was lens did not shed water like my Pentax under water camera - which means constantly wiping lens to remove water drops. But the camera does take nicer pictures than my first underwater camera and seemed like a winner. BUT today we went Snuba diving - max depth is 20 feet - you are on a hose that will not let you go deeper. After about 10 minutes in the 10 - 15 depth range, I notice camera would not display images, yet I was able to play back images previously taken. After a few more minutes, the camera starts clicking and making strange sounds. The internal focus motor is going crazy. So I head to the surface, turn it off and hope it gets better. Back at the room, the camera still isn't taking pictures and now the camera emits a wining noise when turned on and ask that I set date / time. After setting date/time, it says turn off and turn on. I do this and then it says please set date time. So the camera is shot. I looked into the battery compartment and there is no water inside this compartment - I'm guessing it seeped in some other point on the camera, but this camera is not good for 33 feet. More like 5 feet. Hopefully Panasonic will honor its warranty. Warranty 9/9/2010 - Panasonic sent me a re-conditioned camera which looks like new and has remaining warranty of original unit. Going forward, I will not submerge this camera more than a few feet. FYI - if looked in battery compartment and noticed the water detection sticker has a white/pink checker board pattern which has the same pattern the unit I sent in for repair. I assume this sticker goes totally pink if water touches it. Therefore, my old camera did NOT leak water into battery compartment - so there is some other seal which fails under pressure. Anyways, I'm much happier now that I have a working camera. Raised from 1 star to 3 stars rating. Would have rated 4 stars if unit had not failed in middle of our vacation as camera, does take great pictures if you can deal with limitations inherent with waterproofing design.

I read a lot of reviews for waterproof cameras, and found that everyone reviewing them had different problems. The cheaper Fujifilm didn't seem to take great pictures, the Canon seemed to leak for others, and the Olympus tough seemed to be really slow. This one seemed to be the one with the least problems, so I decided to go for it. WATERPROOF? - For now, yes. I took it out for several hours in the ocean, and it survived. Why do I say "For now"? The product manual seems to acknolwedge the fact that this camera's waterproof features last only about a year. The rubber seal is thin, and salt water, sun, and time will eventually corrode it. All water needs is the tiniest of cracks in the seal, and your camera is done. I like my camera, but I know it's only a matter of time until this eventuality occurs. Still, I cleaned it with fresh water, and used my little brush like recommended. The silicone cover is also handy to protect it a little more. The manual also seems to say that something like big crashing waves could be a little too much for this camera. I guess know this for all waterproof cameras: The clock is ticking. UNDERWATER PICTURES - They're good. You'll need proper light, but the pictures that come out look great. WORKING THE CAMERA UNDERWATER - The buttons are easy to understand. The arrangement could have been a little easier, but it's easy to know what you're doing REGULAR PICTURES - They look nice. 14 MP, I would say in some ways it rivals my DSLR MOVIES - They're good, not great, but this is a camera not a video camera, so the videos are decent. You'll have to decide between AVCHD Lite and MJPEG. Motion JPEG is an easier file extension to work with (since it's a Quicktime) I decided to go with the proprietary Sony / Panasonic filetype because it takes up about half the amount of space on your SD card as MJPEG and it's HD. The tradeoff I made, though, is that I have to import my movie files into Windows with my Panasonic software, which takes a long time. It converts them into .h2ts files along with three other associated files. I had to type .h2ts into the search function in order to find my videos among the thicket of associated file wrappers, and move them to another folder. After that, I have to convert them to MP4 files using Handbrake (a free software) and then I'm free to finally put them into photo editing software. It's a lot of work. FILE NAMES - For some reason, Panasonic decded to name all the files with really long numbers. On my other cameara, I just look for IMG-1002, so I know it's the 1002nd photo, but on this camera, Panasonic names them 1000040404(100001002) and it makes it really hard to look for photos. So far I'm happy with the camera, but I know I'll be mad the day I put it in the water and lose everything. If you're looking at this camera as a long-term investment, you'll be disappointed. If, however, you want some underwater pictures and know the risk, then go for it. I'd recommend a floating wrist strap if you go in the water. You'll need it when the water gets rough.

The DMC-TS2 is ready for any conditions you throw at it, but so are several other compact digital's for less money. What makes it the best, is its amazing 14 MP stills, and the crystal clear, as smooth as film, HD video. The stills in the surprisingly intuitive full auto mode were perfect except for the few that had a drop of water on the lens that distorted the picture a little. They were very comparable in quality to my D200, which is nice considering the TS2 can go anywhere. The video quality made me wish I hadn't bought a FlipHD a few months ago. The TS2 is less jerky, clearer, and has just as good if not better audio quality than the Flip does. It has replaced both our old compact digital and our new Flip, and for that I would say it's a great deal for the price. As for the TS2's "everythingproofness" we decided to put it through it's paces straight off the bat, and took it kayaking down our local Class III on a high flow day. I lashed a cheap little camera case to the deck of my kayak and stowed it there while paddling from place to place so it was always within reach. I also tried got the Kodak Adventure mount so I could use it as a POV camera for videos going through rapids. It never had any problems with either situation whether I was upside down in the water during a roll or plowing through the middle of a wave, it was always at hand and very quick to cut on when I need it in a hurry. As for its shockproofness, I had it strapped to my wrist taking pictures of the other members of the group coming through a particularly strong rapid, when one person got flipped and needed help retrieving all their gear. I didn't have time to stow the TS2 so I took off paddling with it on my wrist and it took quite a beating on the deck and side of the boat, the camera never flinched and made a very interesting, motion-sickness inducing video. I haven't tested is the coldproofness of the TS2 yet, but I'll get back to you on that once it's not 100 degrees outside every day. The only complaint with the TS2 is that it can be finicky with the memory card you use with it. Even if it should be compatible (as per the Panasonic website) it might not be, so make sure you can either test it before you buy it or return it if it doesn't. I unfortunately did not and now my rarely used Flip has an amazing 32GB card while the Panasonic inherited its 8GB card. But on that note the 8GB card lasted all weekend with nearly an hour of video and 100s of pictures so the 32GB card might be overkill anyway. Basically, it's an amazing camera for the money even if it costs a little more than the competition the picture quality and smooth video will make it your everything camera not just your "everythingproof" camera.

What a complete letdown. As many others have posted, this camera is fine for capturing video and is a great companion for snorkeling or snow sports, however the still images are absolutely horrible. The images I get from my 5mpx cell phone are better than this camera. Yes it has 14mpx, but they are grainy and the photo sensor is somewhat color distorting and most be small considering the photo quality. Ive used the non waterproof version of this camera and its predecessor and it takes excellent photos. After this experience I simply gave up on rugged cameras once I found out that my insurance company has 100% no questions asked camera replacement guarantees for a small premium per year. I purchased a 14mpx 4/3 camera and although not rugged, it takes professional quality shots. When I need a camera I can throw in my pocket I use my old fuji z20fd 12mpx point and shoot and even at 3 years old that camera takes photos that far, far, FAR exceed those of this camera. I wanted to believe that finally a company came out with a camera that was both rugged and had excellent picture quality for a point and shoot, I was willing to pay for that combination, but again, it just didnt happen. So, if you just want to take video and need something waterproof and rugged, this would work just fine, but if you plan to take still shots, do yourself a favor and bring a second camera or try something else.

At the price point of this camera you really should need the ruggedness and waterproof features to justify the expense. I'll have to update this over time because at this point it hasn't been on the slopes or under water, but it has been in the rain. I'm not going to try the six foot drop test. The camera is compact, lighter than I expected and seems to be made like an precision aircraft. Great looking body. The display is crisp and bright. The few pictures I've taken so far, both inside and out, look great, including macros. I'm informally comparing this to a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 (point and shoot, 10X zoom) I've had for a couple of years (best non-SLR I've ever owned). It comes with an optional protective silicone sleeve. This camera has "O" ring sealed (and locked) doors for the battery and memory card, and for the data access ports. These will leak under water if their seals aren't scrupulously clean as described in the factory literature. So while I'm sure this can be used under water if you're careful, a user will want to be very sure they've carefully examined and cleaned the sealing surfaces before submerging. I've taken photos inside with the flash in a 40' darkened room to compare the flash depth of the older camera with this one, they seem to be the same, so the built in flash is acceptable and typical of this kind of camera; point is no compromise with the flash. This is the camera you can stick in your back pocket and go. It fits in a SPI belt and fits in a small Amphipod case if you use either of these for running or other exercise. Downside: So far just two things. First, there's no viewfinder, not a big issue usually but if you try to wear sunglasses on a bright day using the screen can be problematic. Second, and potentially more important, there's no protection over the lens, though it's recessed. It's small and it's one of those things a user will have to watch to be sure it's clean. Viewing screens seem to mask dust, fingerprints and water spots on a lens, but they show up as an artifact or blur on a computer screen or print. If you're used to a self covering lens you can get into the habit of ignoring this. A pop off cover would be nice. Even though this is rugged and waterproof, I'll keep it in a case. Based on descriptions, it's tough to figure out what fits, especially if you want to use the included silicone sleeve which is not included in product dimensions. The Kroo semi-hard case is a snug fit without the silcone sleeve, too small if you use the sleeve. The VanGoody neoprene case works even with the sleeve as does the small, but unpadded Amphipod case (which I like for it's water resistance, ballistic nylon construction and belt loop). Update 18 Feb 2012: I should have updated this sooner. The camera is outstanding. Now it has been everywhere from skiing in sub-zero, snorkeling, white water rafting, to documenting sludge. Tough camera, still great pictures. As expected you have to be sure to keep the lens clean. White water rafting was the worst because it was impossible to avoid drops of water; a firm shake solved the problem when I remembered to do so.

I bought this camera to use for work (as well as for vacation/rafting ect). I appraise real estate, and figured it would be nice to have a rain proof, drop proof camera to get pictures of the homes exteriors, interior, attic & crawl spaces as the weather in Seattle is rarely optimal. I was dead wrong. The images are absolutely horrid. My $125 canon powershot 1100 IS takes crystal clear images of everything I need in any weather, and when I replaced it with this it was abundantly clear this was not a good stills camera in anything but super sunny optimal conditions (because those were the only good pictures I ever saw with it). I gave it a few weeks thinking I just need to learn this cameras differences on how it interacts with lighting conditions based on any given settings. I was wrong. Interior photos were O.K. when taken with good lighting, but even then the color renditions weren't correct, and it was generally fuzzy compared to any point and shoot I have ever used (of which there have been many). I'm sure people get good closeup pictures of people in great lighting, and decent underwater pictures in clear tropical waters, but for a $300 camera with a leica lens, it is an insult point and shoots everywhere. It was never clear on any picture taking outside in overcast conditions, but even in sunny conditions taking pictures of a home gave washed out details (brick/wood lines were smudged, general bad quality of image) and were an embarrassment to me upon delivery to my clients. Add the slow optics and obviously bad sensor to the mix and you have a $50 camera in a $250 body. I was really trying to like this camera as the external part of it was exactly what I wanted, but I need usable images. I have many years experience with shooting pictures on all types of cameras; this was not a case of poor camera settings. I have since gone back to my cheap powershot which puts this camera to shame in image quality in lieu of receiving a different brand/model of similar waterproof/shockproof characteristic. As a test before printing out my return receipt, I actually took a picture of my Joby Gorillapod which I placed on the floor, from both cameras from the same angle and distance using the same camera settings, and the noise and image quality discrepency on the TS2 compared to the Powershot SD1100 was huge; zoomed in 2x and 4x it was almost laughable. Don't waste your money on this, check out the Canon D10 or the Olympus Tough Series of cameras if you need a waterproof travel/fun camera.