Panasonic ZS100 combines 1-inch sensor with 10x zoom in pocketable design for CES 2016

An interesting middle ground between the LX100 and the FZ1000, Panasonic adds a new ZS model designed to provide a compromise between image quality and zoom that potentially delivers a winning combination of features. The $700 Lumix ZS100, part of Panasonic's "travel zoom" series of compacts, goes head-to-head with the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 IV, albeit at a lower price and with a slightly bigger body.

Panasonic ZS100 crams much of the FZ1000 into your pocket (pictures)

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The ZS100 incorporates the same 1-inch sensor as the excellent FZ1000 megazoom, but the lens is a shorter and slower 10x -- 25-250mm f2.8-5.9 lens -- compared to the FZ1000's big 16x f2.8 lens. That allows Panasonic to keep it small, making it the longest-zoom compact in the 1-inch class.

Like the RX100 IV, it offers 4K (Ultra-high definition at 30p) video, but for longer clips of 15 minutes. It lacks Sony's super-high frame rate 960fps capture for slow motion, topping off at 120fps. It also has an electronic viewfinder which is lower resolution. Though its display doesn't tilt or flip like Sony's, it does have a touchscreen, unlike the RX100 IV. It uses Panasonic's DFD autofocus technology, the same as in the LX100, which in our testing performs comparably to Sony's AF.

Panasonic's novelties in the ZS100 include its usual 4K Photo, to which it adds the same 4K Live Cropping feature simultaneously debuting in its camcorders: the ability to zoom and pan a frame within a 4K video (after the fact) to create an HD version with those effects.

There is also new Post Focus feature, which bursts a series of shots for each of the 49 focus areas (focus bracketing) and creates a 4K video from which you extract the frame that has the focus you want. As neat-sounding as it is, though, I don't think this feature makes much sense. It's a mode you have to be shooting in, and how often do you assume you're going to be focusing incorrectly or that you won't know what to focus on?

Another new capability is Light Composition, which allows you to combine multiple night photos without losing the dark exposure areas for contrast -- similar to the better multiple-exposure implementations. It's not as cool as Olympus' Live Composite, which displays the results of the long exposure while you're shooting, as well as preserving the contrast.

Really, though, I think most people just want the photo quality of the 1-inch sensor in a compact size and and with the longest zoom possible. By those criteria, the ZS100 will probably score.