Features
Inputs and Outputs Notes
Supplied Software
Features
Recording Media:
The DMC-ZS20 records
images onto its internal memory (approximately 12 MB), or onto SD, SDHC,
and SDXC Memory Cards. The camera is compatible with
SD cards from 8 MB to 2 GB, SDHC
cards from 4 GB to 32 GB, and SDXC cards from 48 GB to 64 GB. Pictures may be
copied between cards and the built-in memory if desired.
Lens: This camera is equipped with a Leica DC Vario-Elmar lens. Its
4.3-86.0mm focal length is
equivalent to 24mm to 480mm in 35mm film photography. The lens' Nano Surface
Coating has a very low reflectance ratio to minimize flaring and ghosting. The focusing distance
depends upon the shooting mode:
| Shooting Mode |
Wide Angle |
Telephoto |
| P / A / S / M |
1.6' to infinity |
6.6' to infinity |
| Macro, Intelligent Auto, Motion Picture |
1.2" to infinity |
3.3' to infinity |
| Scene Mode |
Varies with the selected scene modes |
Extended Optical/Digital Zoom: The 24-480mm focal length of
the lens gives it an optical zoom of 20x. The camera's
extended optical zoom can increase the zoom up to 42.2x, depending upon the
picture size. In addition, the digital zoom
extends the focal length by another 4x.
Intelligent Zoom (i.Zoom): The camera's Intelligent Zoom
uses super resolution technology to extend the optical zoom ratio by
approximately 2x while maintaining the original image quality.
Image Sensor: For optimal image quality, the camera uses a
1/2.33" MOS image sensor with approximately
15.3-million total pixels and 14.1-million effective pixels.
Image Recording Format:
The camera records still images in JPEG in 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and 1:1
aspect ratios. The camera can also record Full HD movies in AVCHD (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264)
or MPEG-4,
as well as high speed movies in Motion JPEG. You can choose from the following resolutions for still images and
movies:
| Aspect Ratio |
Picture Size |
| 4:3 |
14M
4320 x 3240 |
10M
3648 x 2736 |
7M
3072 x 2304 |
5M
2560 x 1920 |
3M
2048 x 1536 |
0.3M
640 x 480 |
| 3:2 |
12.5M
4320 x 2880 |
9M
3648 x 2432 |
6M
3072 x 2048 |
4.5M
2560 x 1712 |
2.5M
2048 x 1360 |
0.3M
640 x 424 |
| 16:9 |
10.5M
4320 x 2432 |
7.5M
3648 x 2056 |
5.5M
3072 x 1728 |
3.5M
2560 x 1440 |
2M
1920 x 1080 |
0.2M
640 x 360 |
| 1:1 |
10.5M
3232 x 3232 |
7.5M
2736 x 2736 |
5.5M
2304 x 2304 |
3.5M
1920 x 1920 |
2.5M
1536 X 1536 |
0.2M
480 x 480 |
Movies
AVCHD |
GPH PSH*
1920 x 1080/60p
28 Mbps |
GFS FSH*
1920 x 1080/60i
17 Mbps |
GS SH*
1280 x 720/60p
17 Mbps |
Movies
MP4 |
FHD
1920 x 1080 (16:9)
30 fps/20 Mbps |
HD
1280 x 720 (16:9)
30 fps/10 Mbps |
VGA
640 x 480 (4:3)
30 fps/4 Mbps |
* The positioning location and place name
information are not recorded.
Optical Image Stabilizer:
The Optical Image Stabilizer helps solve the problem of unintentional hand movement
that can result in blurry images, particularly with telephoto shots.
Battery: The ZS20 is powered by a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery
(DMW-BCG10PP). A fully charged battery gives you approximately 130 minutes of
recording time, or about 260 images. Playback time
using the LCD monitor is approximately 160 minutes. The battery takes
approximately 260 minutes to fully charge in the camera using the supplied AC
adaptor.
LCD Touch Panel Monitor: The DMC-ZS20 has a 3" TFT
touch panel color LCD
monitor featuring approximately 460,800 dots. It has approximately 100% field
of view. The touch panel is pressure sensitive, allowing you to select icons or
pictures, scroll through pictures, or change the range of the pictures
displayed. You can also select your subject for focusing, and start recording by
touching the screen.
Global Positioning System (GPS): The ZS20 has a built-in GPS
receiver which links location information to your photos, including latitude,
longitude, and place names. You can set the GPS to receive information with the
camera on or off. Geotagged photos can be pinpointed via online maps which can
be shared with friends or family.
Flash: The ZS20 has a built-in flash with a range of
2' to 21' (W) and 3.3' to 11' (T). Available flash modes
include:
- Auto: The flash is automatically activated when the recording
conditions make it necessary.
- Auto/Red-eye Reduction: A pre-flash is activated before the main
flash to reduce the red-eye phenomenon.
- Forced Flash On: The flash is activated every time regardless of
the recording conditions.
- Slow Sync/Red-eye Reduction: Same as Slow Sync, but with
pre-flash to reduce red-eye effect.
- Forced Flash Off: Flash is not activated regardless of the
recording conditions.
Shooting Modes: Using the top-mounted Mode Dial and the
menu, the ZS20 allows
you to choose from the following shooting modes:
- Intelligent Auto Mode: Optimum settings are made
automatically. The camera identifies the scene (people, babies, landscapes,
night, sunsets, etc.) and makes the optimum settings automatically.
- Program AE Mode: You can use the recording menu to
change settings and set up your own recording environment.
- Aperture-Priority Mode: You can control the range of
focus (depth of field) by setting the aperture. The shutter speed is
automatically adjusted to be appropriate for the set aperture value.
- Shutter-Priority Mode: You can control the shutter
speed, while the aperture is automatically adjusted to be appropriate for
the set shutter speed.
- Manual Exposure Mode: You can set any aperture value
and shutter speed when automatic exposure adjustment prevents you from
recording at the desired exposure. Long exposures of up to 15 seconds are
possible.
- Custom Mode: You can register up to 2 recording modes
and menu settings so you can quickly switch to those settings when desired.
- 3D: The camera continuously records multiple still
images while being panned horizontally and combines them into a 3D still
picture. To view 3D still pictures, a 3D-capable TV is required.
- Scene Mode: You can select from different scene modes
using the menu. Available Scene Modes include:
- Portrait: allows you
to make the subject stand out from an unfocused background and adjust
the exposure and the hue to achieve a healthy complexion on the subject
- Soft Skin: use for taking pictures of people outdoors
during the daytime; enables the texture of their skin to appear even softer
than with Portrait mode
- Scenery: allows you to
take a picture of a wide landscape
- Panorama Shot: You can take pictures with
connections suitable for creating panorama images
- Sports: allows you to
take pictures of a fast moving subject or sports scenes
- Night Portrait: The subject can be recorded with brightness in real life by
using the flash and the slow shutter speed; use of a tripod recommended
- Night Scenery: for taking vivid pictures of a landscape
at night; use of a tripod recommended
- Handheld Night Shot: The camera automatically
detects a night scene while the camera is handheld. By combining a burst
of pictures into one, the picture has less noise and less blur.
- High Dynamic Range (HDR): Records pictures with bright and dark
regions of the scene expressed with suitable brightness when looking
into the sun, at night, or in similar circumstances.
- Food: for taking pictures of food with a natural hue without
being affected by the
- ambient light in restaurants, etc.
- Baby1/Baby2: two selectable settings for taking pictures of a
baby; you can use text stamp to show baby's name, birthday, or age
- Pet: for photographing your pet; you can use text stamp
to show pet's name or age
- Sunset: for taking pictures of a sunset (red colors
accentuated)
- High Sensitivity: prevents blurring of subject in dark,
indoor conditions
- Glass Through: suitable for taking pictures such as
landscapes through the transparent glass of a train, vehicle, or
building.
- Underwater: For taking pictures underwater (the DMW-MCTZ30
marine case, sold separately, is required)
- High Speed Video: The camera records rapid
movements at a high speed of 220 frames per second. Movies are recorded
in Motion JPEG with a picture size of QVGA (320 x 240) for about 7 minutes 20 seconds (up to 2 GB file size). When
played back at normal speed, movements of the subject that cannot be
seen by the naked eye are shown in slow motion.
- Creative Control: You can select from various effects
and take photos while confirming these effects on the LCD monitor. Effects
include: expressive, retro, high key, low key, sepia, dynamic monochrome,
high dynamic, toy effect, miniature effect, and soft focus.
Self Timer: The self timer is
useful when you want to include yourself in the picture when recording still
images. The delay time for single shots can be set to 10 seconds or 2 seconds.
Exposure Compensation: If you are shooting against a bright
background or strong backlight, you may need to correct the exposure so that the
subject doesn't come out too dark. You can set the adjustments from -2 to +2 in
1/3-step increments.
Auto Bracket: In the Auto Bracket mode, 3 pictures are taken
with different exposures, allowing you to select the picture with the desired
exposure. You can set the exposure compensation from -2 EV to +2 EV in 1/3-step
increments.
Burst Modes: Pictures are taken continuously while the
shutter button is pressed. The burst modes include:
| Setting |
Speed
(approx.) |
Description |
Number of Pictures |
| Intelligent Burst |
2-10 fps |
Burst speed adjusted automatically in accordance
with the movements of the subjects. |
100 |
| 2 fps AF-Continuous |
2 fps |
Camera is focusing and exposure and
White Balance are adjusted with each picture. |
100 |
| 5 fps AF-Continuous |
5 fps |
100 |
| 10 fps AF-Single |
10 fps |
Focus, exposure, and White Balance
are fixed with the first picture. Image sizes can be limited for
each aspect ratio. |
10 |
| 40 fps AF-Single |
40 fps |
40 |
| 60 fps AF-Single |
60 fps |
60 |
| Flash Burst |
Speed set according to conditions |
The burst of still pictures is
recorded in low light conditions as the flash is used. Focus, exposure, and White Balance
are fixed with the first picture. Image sizes can be limited for
each aspect ratio. |
5 |
White Balance: You can choose
from the following white balance modes:
- Auto: automatically
adjusts the white balance
- Outdoor, Clear Sky: for recording
outdoors on a bright day
- Outdoor, Cloudy Sky: for recording
outdoors under a cloudy sky
- Outdoor, Shade: for recording outdoors in the shade
- Incandescent: for recording
under incandescent lighting
- Set Manually: sets the white balance manually on a
white object
- Manual Setting: saves the setting obtained with Manual
White Balance
ISO Sensitivity:
ISO sensitivity represents the sensitivity to light in values. If you set the
ISO sensitivity higher, the camera becomes more suitable for recording in dark
places. Auto sensitivity is set in a range up to 800, based on subject
brightness. In the Intelligent ISO setting, the camera will automatically set the
optimal ISO sensitivity, in a range up to 1600, according to the movement of the
subject and the surrounding brightness. In the Preset ISO mode, you can select
100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, or 3200.
Metering Modes:
The camera has three available metering modes:
- Multiple: Measures brightness on the whole screen; for
normal usage.
- Center-weighted: Measures brightness in the center and surrounding area;
for subject in the center of the frame.
- Spot: Measures brightness in the center spot and close surrounding area;
use if there is a great difference between brightness of subject and
background (e.g. person in spotlight on stage, backlighting)
Color Effect: You can use these modes to make your pictures
softer or sharper, or change the colors for a special effect. Some color modes
are only available when shooting in the Intelligent Auto Mode or Normal Picture
Mode. Available color modes include:
- Standard: the standard color setting
- Vivid: images become sharper
- B/W: picture becomes black and white
- Sepia: picture becomes sepia
- Happy: images have enhanced brightness and vividness
Auto Focus Mode:
You can choose one of the following AF modes:
- Face Detection: Camera automatically detects a person's face,
adjusting the exposure and focus to fit the face, regardless of what portion
of the picture it is in. (maximum of 15 areas)
- AF Tracking: Focus can be adjusted to a specified subject, and follow
the subject even if it moves.
- 23-area Focusing: Up to 23 points for each AF area can
be focused. This is effective when the subject isn't in the center of the
screen.
- 1-area Focusing: Camera
focuses on the subject in AF area on the center of the screen. Position and
size of AF area can be changed.
- Spot Focusing: The camera focuses on a limited narrow area on the
screen.
Still Image Playback: You can manually display images one at
a time, 12 at a time, or 30 images at a time.
Calendar Playback: You can display pictures by recording
date using the calendar playback function. If there are multiple pictures with
the same recording date, the first picture recorded on that date is displayed.
Slide Show: Images can be played back in slide show fashion.
You can set the duration between images at 1 sec, 2 sec, 3 sec, or 5 sec. You
can also set on or off the repeat mode, music, and audio.
Playback Zoom: You can view the picture at the original size, or
enlarge the picture to 2x, 4x, 8x, or 16x. Using the arrow buttons, you can move
the position of the zoomed picture in the monitor.
Auto Review: After an image
is recorded, it will appear in the LCD screen for a preset number of seconds
for reviewing. Auto Review lets you choose one of the following settings: Off, 1
second, 2 seconds, or Hold.
Resizing Pictures:
This function is useful if you want to reduce the file size of the picture in
cases when it needs to be attached to an e-mail or uploaded to a website. Once
an image is resized, you can choose to keep the original image.
Cropping Pictures: This function lets you trim unnecessary
parts of the recorded picture. Motion pictures and pictures with text stamps cannot be trimmed.
Auto Power Off: The camera is
automatically turned off if it has not been used for a predetermined amount of
time. The amount of time can be set to 2 minutes, 5 minutes, or 10
minutes.
PictBridge
Printing Capability: Using the supplied USB cable, you can connect this
camera directly to a PictBridge compliant printer. PictBridge is the standard that allows you to connect a PictBridge
compliant camera directly to a PictBridge compliant printer and make prints,
regardless of brand.
Inputs and
Outputs Notes
HDMI: The DMC-ZS20 has a mini-HDMI (Type C) for connecting
the camera to an HDMI-compatible TV. A mini-HDMI to full-size HDMI cable is
necessary to connect the camera to an HDMI-compatible TV. If connected to a
VIERA Link-compatible Panasonic TV, you can control the camera using the TV's
remote control. The unit is compatible with VIERA Link Version 5.
AV out / Digital:
This proprietary jack allows you to connect the camera to your computer with the
supplied USB cable. You can also connect the camera to a TV or other A/V device
using the optional DMW-AVC1 audio/video cable. TV output is NTSC only.
Supplied Software
PHOTOfunSTUDIO 8.1 PE Edition: The PHOTOfunSTUDIO
software allows you to acquire pictures to the PC, and categorize the
acquired pictures by their recording date or the model name of the camera used. You can also resize pictures and
add effects. Various printing functions are supported. PHOTOfunSTUDIO is
compatible with the following Operating Systems:
- Windows XP (32-bit) SP3
- Windows Vista (32-bit) SP2
- Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit) SP1
LUMIX Map Tool: The LUMIX Map Tool software lets you copy
the map data on the supplied DVD to a memory card. When loaded to the memory
card, detailed maps can be displayed on the camera. The map data will reduce the
storage capacity of your card, and must be copied to each card you use. LUMIX
Map Tool is compatible with the following Operating Systems:
- Windows XP (32-bit) SP3
- Windows Vista (32-bit) SP2
- Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit) SP1
- Mac OS X v10.4, v10.5, v10.6, v10.7
LoiLoScope 30-day Full Trial Version: LoiLoScope
is a video editing software that lets you create videos, use your music, picture, and video files to create videos, or
share with your friends via email. The supplied DVD contains a link to the trial
version website.
USB-connectible Environment: You can connect the camera to a
computer that can detect a mass storage device. Compatible Operating Systems include:
- Windows 7
- Windows Vista
- Windows XP
- Windows 2000 Professional
- Windows Millennium Edition
- Mac OS X 10.1 to 10.7
