The travel zoom compact is a shrinking category, squeezed by phones at one end and mirrorless cameras at the other. The Panasonic Lumix TZ90 survives because it does something neither can: fit a 30x zoom into a jacket pocket.
Reach where it matters
Thirty times optical zoom takes you from a wide street scene to a detail on a cathedral roof without moving. On holiday that is exactly the range you want, and it is the one thing a phone cannot fake — digital zoom is cropping, and it shows.
Small features that earn their place
The flip-up screen makes selfies and low-angle shots easy. The electronic viewfinder, though small, is invaluable in bright sunshine when a rear screen becomes a mirror. And 4K Photo mode — pulling stills from 4K video — is a genuinely useful trick for catching fast, unrepeatable moments.
The limits
The sensor is small, which is the price of fitting that zoom into that body. Low light is where it shows: images get noisy and autofocus slows down. In good daylight it is capable and pleasant to use.
Who should buy it
Travellers who want one small camera to cover everything, and anyone who wants zoom without a camera bag. If low-light quality matters more than reach, the TZ100 has a much larger sensor with less zoom — that is the fundamental trade in this category.
