Panasonic Lumix TS20 16.1 MP TOUGH Waterproof Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom (Blue) (OLD MODEL)

---Update 1/18/2013---I sent the broken TS20 camera to Panasonic a few weeks back after speaking to a customer service agent and following her instructions (e.g. send all components, case #, and a description of the problem). Today I received from Panasonic a replacement for the TS20 - a refurbished TS4. I haven't used the new camera yet, but from a quick Amazon search it seems a [new] TS4 costs about twice as much as a TS20 and has more features than the TS20, albeit only 12MP vs. 16MP.While Panasonic did send me a replacement camera, I can't in good conscious change the rating for the original TS20. The fact is that the TS20 broke after only one underwater use, which is unacceptable. However, my opinion of Panasonic and their customer service is improved after receiving a replacement camera.---Original review---Executive Summary: I do not recommend this camera to anyone attempting to use it underwater since it died on me after one use.I bought this camera ~2 weeks ago specifically for my trip to the Great Barrier Reef to take pictures underwater while snorkeling. I also used it as my point-and-shoot camera while in Australia when it was easier/faster then using our DSLR. Prior to being submerged in water the camera took great pictures and I was happy with it. It focused quickly in full auto mode, and even adjusted automatically for shots of landscapes vs. plants/flowers vs. portrait.The first time I went snorkeling the camera took OK shots. It still focused on what I wanted and the 4x optical zoom was handy since at points where we were the GBR is 10-40ft below the surface and the fish aren't always accommodating to portraits. On review, most of the pictures turned out to be a little on the green side. I suppose this is to be expected with underwater shots.After snorkeling the first time, I followed the instructions and rinsed the camera off with fresh water and let it sit for a little while (~1hr). When I looked at it again, both the lens and the LCD screen were foggy, meaning any shot I took was blurred so as to be useless. I let it sit for another ~1hr and tried again for my last snorkel of the day. Both lens and LCD were still foggy and I was not able to take any more decent pictures. The foggyness never did go away.When I returned to the hotel to view some shots, the camera turned on with a completely white LCD screen, followed by a couple beeps, followed by some error messages ('error: zoom' what?). At this point, the camera is useless. Now that I am home, the camera won't even turn on at all. No LCD screen response, no pictures, nothing. It makes a noise like a Geiger counter sometimes, but otherwise is completely dead.Very, very unsatisfied with this purchase and am unlikely to buy a camera from Panasonic again, especially not an "underwater" camera. Do not recommend to anyone who wants to use the camera underwater. Above ground it took nice pictures.

This is truly a great little camera. It is about the size of a wallet and easily fits in my pocket. It turns on fast and is ready for videos or pictures in seconds. It does have a slight delay when taking photos, but it does have a burst mode to take a bunch of photos together. I would recommend burst if you want to catch action. It has face recognition for face focusing, sephia and a host of other modes. The most amazing thing is the underwater shots. You can take pictures and video with sound underwater! It sounds like the movies, and will be amazing, if I were in the ocean rather than a swimming pool... I wish I had this camera at the beach last year! A few months ago my old camera was destroyed at an amusement park when a wave suddenly splashed me. This camera is perfect, waterproof to 5 meters, drop proof 5 feet and cold and dust proof. It even has a vacation setting that can change the time for a pre-determined date range so when you are on vacation, the camera will have the correct date/time. It is the perfect, portable vacation anything camera.

Had a run in with half a bottle of dr pepper with my old Canon IS and needed a new camera quick for a trip to Disneyland and birthday party. After having 2 incidents in 2 weeks with liquid damage on expensive electronics I decided to get something a bit more "weatherproof".I did alot of research for waterproof tough cams that apparently have just recently come back into vogue again. For the price you really couldn't beat the features on this one. If you wanted to spend 2x to 3x as much and pay for the Sony or Nikon they obviously have better picture quality, but for this price (I got it for $110 currently) you could not do better. Camera review sites seems to only factor in quality sans price. If price wasn't an object I wouldn't even be looking at a point and shoot so it seems kind of counter-intuitive to read a review website and have them tell you "Your best bet is to buy the $350 Sony"Picture Quality: It has alot of 'fuzz' in the pictures when you view them at full size. I thought this was because of point and shoots tenacity for raising the ISO to ridiculous levels but even with the ISO set to 200 or 400 manually it still has alot of fuzz. The tilt/shift "mini" mode is sort of fun, but takes a while to process and apply the effects and can be added to a greater degree in post processing (READ: Photoshop). Macro pictures seem to come out pretty decent and for some reason don't seem to have as much distortion/fuzz/blur. I haven't taken it underwater yet, it says it's for fresh or sea water only so I assume swimming pools being chlorinated are out (which is sort of the kicker unless you live by the beach). I'm not sure on salt water pools but I assume they should be ok.Video Quality: It's 720P it picks up motion ok and lower level light (not sure HOW low level but my test video came out very decent) is ok too. I filmed my wife and daughter rolling skater at sunset and the video was of acceptable quality.Summary: Over-all it's not stellar, but will suffice for our trip and will be a great camera (shock-proof waterproof) for my wife and daughter to use especially because even if she get's it grubby a quick rinse and it's good as new (I hope!). It's small will fit well in even a clutch purse or pocket, it's slim and lightweight. iA (Intelligent Autofocus) makes things EXTREMELY simple with facial recognition autofocus, auto flash, red-eye removal, and automatically detects when objects are close and switches to macro mode. This is awesome for my wife and daughter who don't even know what the term "macro mode" means.