Panasonic ZS100 Flash

Coverage, Exposure and Range
A small, weak flash with narrow coverage.

Coverage. Flash coverage was quite narrow at wide angle, leaving dim corners and edges in our flash coverage test image, though that's fairly typical of the type. We no longer test flash coverage at telephoto, as it is invariably better, making wide angle the worst case scenario.

Exposure. Our Indoor Portrait test scene came out well-exposed with +0.7 EV of flash exposure compensation, but the camera boosted ISO to 1000 and because not much light was emitted, the image is quite warm and orange from the ambient tungsten lighting.

Manufacturer Specified Flash Range Test. The Panasonic ZS100's flash range is rated at 8m or 26.2 feet at wide angle, and 3.8m or 12.5 feet at telephoto, with ISO sensitivity set to Auto. As you can see from the test shot at full telephoto above, the Panasonic ZS100 produced a well-exposed flash target at the rated 12.5 feet, though it boosted ISO to 2500 to achieve that result. We shoot this test shot using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims.