Otherwise, you’re looking at some fairly familiar hardware… not that this is entirely a bad thing. It can still shoot 4K video at 30 frames per second, and take 8MP photos at a similar speed. You’ll also find RAW capture, a very fast autofocus that promises a lock-on in about 0.1 seconds, and a slew of modern camera tricks such as after-shot focus selection, a beauty mode and creative filters. WiFi helps you share photos to your phone for those all-important Instagram posts.
As is often the case with super-zoom cameras, you’ll be paying a fair amount. Panasonic will ask $450 when the ZS70 arrives at the end of May. That’s competitive for the class, but consider this: Canon’s upcoming PowerShot SX730 HS will offer a similarly sharp sensor, 40x zoom and a swiveling LCD for $50 less. And if you’re more interested in image quality than distance, you could spring for either the PowerShot G9 X Mark II or an older camera like Sony’s original RX100. You might be happy with the ZS70 — just know that it’s not the only game in town.
