The TZ1 Is Still For Sale On Amazon

I was very surprised to see the Panasonic Lumix TZ1 DMC-TZ1K being sold on Amazon today. This camera was released almost 20 years ago now, and there have been thousands of new cameras released since then that have tons more features. But still, it is on there for sale. I've never read the reviews or viewed the buyers uploaded images on Amazon for this camera before, so that was cool. Sadly, though, the review score on the Amazon listing is quite poor. Reviews are quite mixed. It seems like some people did not like the TZ1 when it came out. Some were annoyed about its poor performance in low-light conditions among other things. And yes, I do agree. It isn't great in low light settings. But no camera is perfect.

This camera can still be found for sale on Amazon. You can see the listing here.

Also, the images on Amazon uploaded by buyers of the TZ1. Some are nice and have good sharpness [there's a great one of thunder striking the ground], but most are not so good. Most of mine are terrible, too. Haha. But I think some of the poor images on Amazon could possibly be down to Amazon striping some of the quality from the image in the upload process. Some websites do that, but I'm unsure if Amazon do. Maybe they did when these images were uploaded a long time ago [2006 / 2007].

One of mine in black and white. Stray cat yawning. It's a cats life.

I don't think they do it now. But then again, even with professional DSLR's, amateur and professional photographers take tens or even hundreds of shots in one sitting. Many of them are terrible and have noise, blur, wrong framing etc and get discarded. They go through all the pictures taken and pick out a few as the best ones. I think all cameras are the same in that respect.

I'm certainly no expert. I wouldn't even consider myself an amateur photographer. Just someone who likes taking pictures. But I've owned many cameras over years, DSLR's, Bridge cameras, point and shoots. And they were all the same. I never had a camera that could consistently take amazing shots one after the other.

Reading the reviews, it's strange to read such negative things about my favourite camera. I understand it though, it's not for everyone. However, I do think that maybe some of the negatives are due to people buying the camera, not knowing how to use it straight away, then rushing to write a review.

I bet many of the reviewers who didn't give the camera a great rating initially, on a first impressions basis, went on to use the camera for a week or two and ended up finding the best settings / stabilization etc. After that they got the hang of it and ended up loving it. They just couldn't be bothered to update their review. Or just forgot.

Brown Butterflies on Thistle flowers

This is just a theory of course. But I bet it did happen with some of those purchases. I've done it myself with other products. Not very often but it has happened in the past. I've bought a product, can't figure it out to begin with and think its terrible. Leave a review. Then, after a week I spend more time playing with it, figure it out and think its great. But the review doesn't get changed for whatever reason.

The price on Amazon. I mean, wow. It is high. I guess they are selling it with that - this is now a collectors item mindset. Someone would have to really love this camera to pay that much for it. I don't think anyone has bought a camera from that listing since 2006 / 2007. Actually, looking deeper and sorting by most recent, there has been reviews up to 2024 from people that bought the camera. And many of them are verified purchases.

Camera is available in Silver, Blue and Black. From different sellers. One of the sellers is from Japan, but the order is fulfilled by Amazon. So I think that means the product is in the USA. The TZ1 can be found much cheaper on eBay. I don't need a TZ1, I've got mine. But personally I wouldn't buy from eBay unless I really really had to. I am boycotting eBay due to all the bad changes they have implemented for buyers and sellers. And I advise others to do the same.

Amazing View From Hotel Window

I've seen some amazing views from hotel windows over the years. In real life and online. But nothing beats this one. This was at a Travelodge hotel in Birmingham UK. Frankley M5 Southbound to be exact, which is very near Bartley Green. Reviews are quite mixed for this hotel. My review would be good. Not a bad hotel at all. Staff leave you alone, room was nice, clean etc. Complaints. Freeview TV was terrible. It was really old and the "info" for what program was on at what time was non existent. Changing channels was really slow also. Other than that, and the fact that the toilet / bathroom never had a lock on the door, and that the bath was dirty and stained [did have a shower though], it was a fairly good experience for the price. I would stay there again.

A Great Blue Heron In UK

A Great Blue Heron In UK? I was reading about the Great Blue Heron before writing this post, and apparently it is a "rare vagrant to Europe". Not sure if that includes the UK as well. I'm no bird expert, so I'm unsure if this could be a grey heron. They apparently have a blueish plumage. Anyway, I was walking along the canal side in between Curdworth and Castle Vale in Birmingham UK, and there it was across the other side of the water just standing there. I zoomed in with the Panasonic TZ1 and took a few shots. I think it was shot in sports mode. Lovely bird to see in real-life. Quite surreal.

Just standing there catching some sun. Nah, he / she had other motives. I think it was probably trying to do a bit of fishing in the canal.

And here it is taking flight, flying away.

Panasonic DMC TZ1 SD Card Compatibility

I was reading a few review posts of SD card compatibility for the TZ1, but most of them were really old review posts. From like 2007. Some of them talk about how a special card is needed. Maybe back in the day it was a bit more specific. But these days any normal SD card will be fine in the TZ1. The only requirement is that the memory card is 2GB or under. I've had many different SD cards in my camera and never had a problem in terms of the camera writing the images to the card etc. Always fine.

 

Any normal 1GB or 2GB SD card will work fine.

I'm using an old 2 Gigabyte SanDisk [pictured above], but pretty much any normal [not micro] older slower write speed  / class 1GB or 2GB card [SanDisk, Transcend etc] will be compatible. The only issue I have ever come across is if you use an SD memory card in another camera, take some pictures, and then put that card back into the TZ1. The images taken on the other camera will show as blurred images if you try to view them in the TZ1. They won't display at full clarity. I wrote about this a few years ago. Other than that I've never had a problem. And this isn't really a big issue. The images can be viewed in full detail on any other device anyway.

DMC TZ1 Original Charger

Here is an original Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ1 original charger. They do come up for sale on websites like eBay etc. But usually they are sold with the camera. Not all the time though. The model number will vary depending on what country the charger was made for - UK, USA, Canada, Asia etc. Mine is the DE-A26 and was, I believe, intended for the Asian market. However, I am using it in the UK no problem with the help of a 2-pin to 3-pin mains plug adapter. Works well.

 

Image: Genuine Lumix DE-A26 charger. Read about a compatible replacement.

The original charger works a bit differently to the aftermarket replacement models. The original battery charge status is as follows. Green light = charging, flashing green light means there's an error [remove battery] and from solid green to no light shown / light off = fully charged.

With the replacements I believe it is red for charging, flashing red for an error, and green for fully charged. There are lots of replacements for sale, but I would recommend the one being sold by BM Premium. It has good reviews and comes with two batteries. Also, it is confirmed to work with the Lumix TZ1.