Panasonic Lumix ZS100

I own a unique camera which I think might have wide appeal, so here's a little about it. It's a one-piece "point-and-shoot" compact camera with many features. The best feature is its size; while it's a little too bulky to fit comfortably in your pants pocket, it fits well in a coat pocket. That means it's easy to grab and capture a shot that you might otherwise miss. On bike trips, I keep it in my handlebar bag and have been known to pull it out and take a picture while riding. That's something you just can't do with a large camera.

It has the largest sensor of any compact camera -- one inch -- so it's pretty good under low light conditions. And it has a 25-250mm zoom, good for shots where you can't get close to your subject. There are very few cameras which cram all that into a compact form, and Panasonic was the first with this camera. I'm told it's popular at concerts where they don't allow "regular" full-size cameras.

It has two esoteric features which I don't use a lot, but are fun to talk about.

• You can put the camera into a mode where you focus after you've shot the photo. The camera captures many photos at a variety of focal points and you select the one you want later.
• It has several burst modes; the most impressive is where it takes a total of sixty pictures beginning from one second before(!) you press the shutter button to one second after. You then select the photo(s) you want (using a slightly clunky interface). When you see those photos of wildlife at just the right time, that's how photographers are doing it; they weren't just lucky with timing.

More practical features include a fast focus, touch screen, image stabilization (I took that blood moon shot freehand), tripod mount, RAW mode, and a flash.

While not perfect, I highly recommend this camera; it's a nice blend of features. While I've never used it, I can also recommend the similar Sony RX100 V. It's better in low light and has a better lens, but only 24-70mm zoom and no touch screen. RX100 VI and beyond are more like the Lumix (touch screen, better zoom), but like this Lumix, lose some quality.

There's a newer version of this camera called the ZS200 which has a longer zoom than the ZS100, but the lens is slower. I prefer the ZS100, but if you're only going to shoot pictures where there's good light and you want more zoom, check it out!

Here's a more in-depth review of the ZS100 Lumix camera.