Sue and Martin in Mallorca 2019

Sue and Martin in Mallorca 2019
On the Archduke's Path in Mallorca

Friday 28 July 2017

A New Camera - Panasonic Lumix TZ90

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Unfortunately my Canon G16 was injured when I tripped in Austria, giving me the familiar words of death that I’ve experienced on my previous ‘G’ range of cameras:

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It was nearly four years old. I could never get it to talk to our computers, nor would the wifi work, but the camera performed ok. (I don’t regard myself as a photographer.)

I clearly needed a replacement for a forthcoming trip, and an estimated repair cost for insurance purposes. Mike Parsons recommended a company called Wilkinson Cameras, who have a shop in Warrington. So I popped down there on Tuesday, got good service, and bought this new camera, which is pretty much a direct replacement for the Canon, but with a longer lens.

An engineer’s report would be needed for the repair cost of the old camera, but the shop reckoned that could be about £150. For a four year old camera – probably not worth it, but the insurers wanted that information, and my policy gives them the opportunity to apply wear and tear and depreciation costs to any claim. Anyway, I sent all the stuff off to Ageas, who deal with Snowcard Insurance’s claims. We have a £50 excess. The Canon cost £300 four years ago. So I was happy to agree to Ageas’s offer to settle the claim for £250, and the money was sent to my bank on Wednesday. It’s the fourth time I’ve claimed under our annual Snowcard policy, and all the claims have been dealt with in this speedy and effective manner.

You’ll see that I bought a hard case for the new camera. It was a surprise that my old Camera Care soft case didn’t provide sufficient protection for the G16.

Thanks go to Mike for his assistance. There are lots of products out there to choose from, and others will have different requirements from me. I just hope the TZ90 proves as easy to use as the FT4 waterproof camera that I have from Lumix – the images from that aren’t particularly high quality, but it enables me to take pictures on wet days and has accompanied me on a good many TGO Challenge walks.

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5 comments:

Sir Hugh said...

I have the TZ 60. I will be more than interested to hear how you get on with this one, and seeing some results.

Sir Hugh said...

By the way, I bought my last few cameras from Wilkinsons in Kendal - they provide good help and service. I would be wary buying on-line at cheaper prices. I understand they can be foreign imports that are not properly supported with the guarantee. Much better with techy stuff to buy from where you can go back and get help from a real person.

Phreerunner said...

Whilst my last camera was bought over the internet, that was a stressful experience and the camera never worked properly regarding downloading and wifi, though the pictures were fine. This time I checked the prices with reputable on-line sellers and the price from the retail shop was the same. So I'd recommend people go to Wilkinson Cameras, get their advice, and buy from them. Cash back deals are available, should the on-line price be cheaper.

It'll be some time before you see the results from the new camera, as my blog images for the next couple of months will be taken with the Samsung S5 phone. I know I should be able to set up the TZ90 to sync with the phone, but I'm not doing that due to very limited space on the phone until I upgrade to the S8. In truth, apart from the benefit of the more powerful zoom lens, I'm expecting similar results to those from the G16, which is fine.

AlanR said...

Nice camera Martin.

John J said...

I now use a TZ70 and I'm impressed, I'm sure you'll get on with the TZ90.