The worst camera for 2025 was this Lumix compact — it was a backwards step from a dated predecessor
The Lumix ZS99 / TZ99 felt like a backwards step from the 2019 model it replaced, but beyond that it's Panasonic's lack of action in the trending compact camera space that's baffling
(Image credit: Future)
The worst camera for 2025 wasn't the quirky Fujifilm X half – anyone putting forward that barrel of fun point-and-shoot camera misses the point. No, it was the Lumix ZS99 (known as the Lumix TZ99 outside the US) that left me most unimpressed this year.
Not that the Lumix ZS99 / TZ99 is a bad camera per se, and to be fair no other leading brand released a new camera this year like this, at such a low price point. It sits in my best point-and-shoot cameras guide, too.
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The Lumix TZ99 (left) is totally familiar to previous Panasonic cameras, whereas the Canon PowerShot V1 (middle) and Fujifilm X half represent something completely new(Image credit: Future / Canon / Future)
Is there really no business case for new point-and-shoot cameras?
I'm no business expert, but it feel as though the trending point-and-shoot and compact camera markets are worth exploring, yet it's a space that Panasonic, Sony, Nikon and others continue to ignore.
And like Sony, Panasonic feels particularly well placed to take advantage of the surge in interest – after all it made some of the best point-and-shoot cameras from the last decade, such as the Lumix LX100 II and Lumix ZS200 / TZ200.
Since the Lumix ZS99 / TZ99's predecessor, the Lumix ZS80 / TZ95 from 2019, however, Panasonic has invested heavily in hybrid full-frame cameras instead, plus a little in Micro Four Thirds (MFT), making some of the best video cameras in each format, such as the Lumix S1 II and Lumix GH7. It hasn't brought any of that tech into new and improved point-and-shoot cameras.
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Instead, we get a rehashed Lumix ZS80 / TZ95, whose only improvement is the admittedly useful addition of USB-C charging, offsetting the backwards step of removing the viewfinder from the older model. Besides it having a 30x zoom, a decent camera phone will likely take better pictures than the ZS99.
