First Impressions: Our New 4K Camera

We’ve recently got our hands on a shiny new camera and spent the last week or so getting to grips with our latest favourite toy. Usually, the photos you see across or social media channels are either taken on our iPhones, when we’re out and about and something catches our eye or, on our DSLR which usually only comes out when we know we’ll be clicking away happily for a few hours. This new camera has given us another option, but more on that later.

The new camera I’m talking about is a Panasonic Lumix TZ80 and by far it’s most exciting feature is ‘4K Photo‘. Now don’t worry too much if that doesn’t mean a lot to you at the moment, it didn’t to us until recently either, but as we get to know the camera over the next few weeks we hope to share with you information, tips and thoughts based on our experiences. For now, we would like to begin with our initial thoughts and first impressions of the camera.

But first…

…What is 4K Photo?

Put simply, 4K photo allows you to record a video and instantly pluck high-quality stills from the footage. Using 4K photo mode, the camera will take up to 30 photos a second, you are then able to scroll through the images and select the perfect moment during the action. Rather than fiddling around with shutter speeds and sports modes, 4k photo allows you to capture the whole movement of your subject, like someone riding past on a bike, before choosing the perfect final image afterwards.

Capturing movement

The main reason we were given this camera was to experiment with capturing movement. During my first week of playing around with it, I’ve had so much fun and I can see how this could become quite popular. It’s incredibly easy to take good pictures of just about anything that moves and it’s completely stress-free, which I haven’t always found the case with me and photography (patience isn’t my strong point).

Pets

We try our hardest not to flood our social media channels with pictures of Lola, but it’s hard when you’ve got such a cute puppy following you around most the of the time. One thing we have talked about though, is getting better quality images of her, she’s such a whirlwind of activity, especially when we are out and about that it’s hard to catch her at the right moment. 4K photo should give us the option to really capture the puppy we know in some still images, so be prepared for puppy overload.

Water

Despite the new spa in Bucharest being a bit funny about cameras and where you can take photographs, it was too good of  an opportunity to experiment with the new camera to miss. The outdoor water jets provided a great chance to capture water spraying from Poi’s back on impact. With just a few seconds of footage, I was able to save this image which captures the moment perfectly.

This was the first time I’d really used the camera and even with pressure from the staff to hurry up, I was able to quickly and easily get an image I was very pleased with.

Jumping

Who doesn’t love a good jumping picture, whether it’s on a perfect sandy beach or a mountain top, jumping photos are the must have travel memories. What you don’t usually see are the endless failed attempts at capturing that moment before you finally settle on one that “will just have to do”. I’ve certainly had my own experience of this, my friend and I (also a Harry Potter geek) spent over half an hour trying to capture this moment and while it looks great, it was a lot of work.

Now, while this next picture might not be the Harry Potter masterpiece that you see above, it was my first taste of trying out the camera for the ultimate jumping shot. Unfortunately, Poi was elsewhere when I wanted to try this out and my knee injury means my jumping isn’t the most impressive at the moment. However, it did give me the chance to see just how much quicker it would be to get a good jumping image.

As you’ve probably guessed it was such an easy process and I didn’t have to put my knee through too much pain to get a jumping picture out side a famous Bucharest landmark. Maybe I can get Poi to dress up as Harry Potter for the next post?

These are just a couple of examples of how we’ve used the camera to capture movement in the last week. Now we’ve got a feel for the Lumix TZ80 and using ‘4K photo’ we have a long list of ideas on how to make the most of it and we’ll be working hard to make those ideas a reality over the next few weeks and share them with you.

Size and weight

The TZ80 is surprisingly small and therefore very easy to carry around with me on a daily basis. As I mentioned above, our DSLR usually only comes out for special occasions so this is a great option to pop in my bag before going out for the day. I’d say it’s probably just slightly too big to fit in your jean pockets and so it couldn’t be called pocket size, but just right for your handbag or day bag.

I’m already seeing the upside of having a camera with me all the time as I’m now taking more photographs. While the iPhone is great for quick snaps it usually means I don’t take the time to frame a photo properly, having a camera that can obviously produce better quality images means I am taking the time to make sure I get a better shot and I’m enjoying the new enthusiasm it has brought me.

Wifi

After buying our previous camera a few years ago, it’s fair to say we haven’t kept an eye on the market that much. I was surprised to find that a camera in this price range (currently £359 on Amazon) offers wifi connectivity. This is a very handy feature that I’m looking forward to trying out with an Ipad that doesn’t have an SD card reader. I know many people who don’t own a laptop and rely on their tablets and the wifi feature could be a huge bonus to them in terms of being able to share their photos on social media.

Touchscreen

The other nice feature that stands out about the Lumix TZ80 is that its touchscreen. Again, while this may be relatively common these days it works very well and it is pleasantly easy to use. The sensitivity seems just right and scrolling through the frames while using 4K photo mode is very smooth and simple.

Our experimenting with this camera has only just began and over the next couple of months we look forward to getting to know it more, turning our ‘capturing movement’ ideas into reality. Hopefully, as we use the camera more and more we’ll also be able to share some insider tips with you to make the most of 4K photos and the possibilities it offers. If you’ve got any ideas or challenges around capturing movement – let us know in the comments below and we’ll give it a try!

If you’ve got any ideas or challenges around capturing movement, let us know in the comments below and we’ll give it a try! Also, if you’re interested in seeing what sort of images has been created so far, then follow the hashtag #4kphoto across your usual social media platforms to see some of the unique photos that people are capturing around the world.