Expensive but works great | Panasonic DMW-MCTZ5 Marine Case for Panasonic TZ5, TZ4, TZ50

great underwater experience | Panasonic DMW-MCTZ5 Marine Case for Panasonic TZ5, TZ4, TZ50

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	• Panasonic DMW-MCTZ5 Marine Case for Panasonic TZ5, TZ4, TZ50 Panasonic Panasonic average customer review:based on 17 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

TZ Series Marine Case: Wow, wow, wow!

I have a TZ3 and bought the TZ3 version of the case recently, apparently just before Amazon stopped carrying it. Since it's almost identical to the TZ4/5 case, I wanted to be able share my thoughts with owners of TZ4s and 5s considering a marine case.

Pros: High quality (polycarbonate), fun, designed specifically for the camera, crystal clear front pane, compartment to hold desiccant, floats, works very well out of the water, no vignetting or distortions in photos.

Cons: Almost triples the TZ's size (it's like having a DSLR), cost, may be hard to see camera's LCD in sunny or shallow water conditions. Since the TZ series has no viewfinder, I wish the panel over the LCD were tinted, matte, or both. Panasonic wants almost $18 (before shipping) for a single replacement O-ring, which I think is kind of nervy.

Details:

I bought this to take snorkeling in Bermuda, and I love it and the results! I had no trouble using it but occasionally it was hard to feel when my mode dial was in the proper position.

The manual is fanatically serious about how to maintain the case, but do what it says since it's for the safety of your camera. Do not open the case until you get home--my friend's casualness with his Fuji case got him into some trouble with sand and fogging.

The most pleasant surprise was how well the case did *out* of the water. I took an eyeglass cleaning cloth with me and used it to wipe down the front pane after first getting most of the water off with a towel. As long as the pane was smudge and droplet-free, the land pictures looked fine!

I did not dive, so I can't comment on deep water results or the weights.

As for the high cost, I don't like it either but you have to ask yourself, how much is the safety of my camera worth? How much are really awesome pictures worth? And while I don't have much exposure to these cases, I can say that mine was definitely higher-quality than my friend's. So, I don't regret the purchase.

Tips:

The manual says that if you see bubbles rising from the case you have a leak. When I first tested the at home, I saw bubbles, but it was air trapped in the rubber hose of the strap and under the mode dial, and this lasted only several seconds. So test your case and pay attention to where the bubbles come from if you do see them.

Be sure to set the camera to its underwater mode or images may come out with a strong blue cast. This was less of a problem in shallow water or near-surface shots, so in some cases I was able to switch to macro mode without the result being discolored.

The manual is correct about its warning that if sand or other particles are suspended in the water, the camera may focus on them.

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Expensive but works great

We bought this for a recent trip to the Riviera Maya in Mexico. We did lots of snorkeling and the pictures came out great. We have also used this on a recent lake trip. It is so nice not worrying about getting the camera wet. It is also fun to be able to take pictures from the water of the folks in the boat. My wife is now using this when taking our son to the pool. No more worries about the camera getting damaged or wet.

great underwater experience

product is easy to opperate underwater and didn't leak! I've only used it once (at 15 ft), so can't wait to try it at deeper levels. Dive instructor suggested putting some crushed alka-seltzer inside the case. He said it was a great way to detect even the slightest bit of leaking.

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GREAT HOUSING, WORKED LIKE A CHARM!!

I just got the opportunity to use this for the first time on our trip to Hawaii. It was awesome. I was nervous but followed the instructions on testing it and it worked perfectly. I could not have been happier with the outcome of the photos. They really turned out well. It is very easy to use, once you get comfortable with the location of the buttons. Sometimes the reflection made it difficult to see the viewing screen, but that wasn't the housing fault. One thing I did when I had that problem was that I changed the scene to continuous shoot, figuring a fish would swim in my viewfinder at some point. That worked great. I can't wait to use it again.

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Great but....

The unit is very well made and I would give it 5 stars if it had some sort of cross-hair view finder to aim your shots. It's pretty hard to see the display and aim on the subject under water.

Waterproof up to 131'Compatible models: DMC-TZ4/5/50

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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