The Perfect Point and Shoot Digital Camera for Christmas

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One of my passions in life is traveling the world and recording my adventures is part of the fun. As a videographer, I own four professional video cameras that produce amazing footage, but because traveling requires a lot of mobility, the cameras just aren’t practical to capture my journeys. Each of my video cameras weigh about 6 pounds, and as a result they slow me down and bring a lot of attention, signaling to the locals that I’m definitely a tourist. So for the past couple of years, I’ve been searching for the perfect travel camera, and I think I’ve found it.


The underwater footage shown above was recorded in the waters off the coast of the island of Bonaire in the Caribbean. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2is a 14-megapixel point and shoot digital camera that is waterproof up to 33 feet, shockproof up to a 6.6 foot fall, freezeproof up to 14° degrees, and dustproof. In addition to taking very good professional-quality pictures, it records video using the AVCHD Lite codec. This particular video format allows the camera to compress the video footage so it doesn’t fill up the memory card too quickly, but still retains a faily impressive HD image.

The DMC-TS2 is Pansasonic’s second version of this camera, and the coolest and neatest new feature it has, in my opinion, is its video light. I had owned a similar version of this camera before and recording video at night was impossible; it was just too dark. To compensate for the lack of light, Panasonic has added a 3-watt LED light to the front of the camera which allows the shooter to record anything within 5-feet of the lens even in the absolute darkest of shooting situations.

For this Christmas, if you’re looking for the perfect point and shoot digital camera, my recommendation is the Panasonic DMC-TS2. It’s currently selling for $259.99 at B&H Photo Video and would be an excellent gift to put under the tree for a loved one.

Special Thanks to Breno and Escobar of VIP Diving!