Pocket-friendly Panasonic ZS70 long-zoom debuts new selfie-friendly design, in-cam retouching tools
posted Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 10:00 PM EDT
Some 15 months after the debut of the Lumix ZS60, Panasonic has today taken the wraps off a followup model, in the form of the pocket-friendly Panasonic ZS70 long zoom. If you're familiar with the earlier model then a lot will prove equally recognizable here, as the ZS70 retains its predecessor's 30x optical zoom lens, electronic viewfinder, LCD panel and connectivity options. The Lumix ZS70 also retains much the same layout as in the earlier model, although its body is a brand-new design.
The reason for the restyling will become immediately obvious when you look at the rear of the Panasonic ZS70. Here, there's a new 180-degree vertically tilting articulation mechanism for the LCD monitor, a change which adds just a tad to the ZS70's height, depth and weight, but which should make it a rather more desirable choice in our selfie-obsessed modern world. Simply flipping the screen up is enough to switch the ZS70 to selfie mode, and another new feature here is the ability to retouch images in-camera, with slimming and skin smoothening functions included.
Nor are those the only changes. Panasonic has also boosted the ZS70's resolution just slightly to 20.3 megapixels, and added a new in-camera focus stacking function as well as two new white balance modes. And there are other minor changes here and there, too, as you'll find out in our just-published Panasonic ZS70 preview. The Panasonic ZS70 will be available from late May in black or silver for about US$450. For the full story, hop on over to the preview now to see what's changed for 2017, and what remains the same as in last year's model!
Alongside the launch of the ZS70, Panasonic has also revealed that it is working on new firmware for the DC-GH5 mirrorless camera. Slated to arrive next Monday, the update will fix a couple of bugs and add a selection of new 10-bit movie capture modes. Full details will be in our next Firmware Friday roundup, so watch this space!
