Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 Up for Sale

If you’re on the market for a “compact super zoom”, or a point & shoot camera that’s capable of 12x optical but is still small enough to fit in your pocket, you’re in luck. Digital Photography Review (DPReview), a site known for its detailed multi-page reviews of cameras, tested a bunch of compact super zooms a few months ago. Pitting the following cameras together:

• Panasonic ZS1
• Panasonic ZS3
• Sony H20
• Canon SX200
• Samsung HZ10W
• Olympus Stylus 9000

…DPReview’s staff arrived at this very clear conclusion:

…the Panasonic twins ZS1 and ZS3 emerge as the obvious choice for general use, offering an extremely versatile 12x zoom range from proper wide-angle to 300mm equivalent and good all-around performance and image quality.

Both cameras did so well in fact that, despite legitimate competition from Sony’s, Canon’s, and Samsung’s offerings (sorry Olympus), DPReview slapped its “Highly Recommended” virtual sticker on both cameras from Panasonic.

Convinced? If you’re based in mainland US, you can buy the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 for $267 from NewEgg.com. Just click the link below to get started, and be sure to look out for the numerous combo deals available for this highly recommended camera!

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-ZS1 Silver 10.1 MP 25mm Wide Angle Digital Camera ($267, exclusive of applicable shipping and taxes)

To be clear on what you’re getting: few cameras can achieve 12x optical zoom out of the box; even expensive professional-level SLRs require specializes lens to achieve the 25-300mm range that’s the equivalent of the ZS1’s zoom capabilities.