Nikon W300 vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS60 / TZ80 — Which Is Better?

The Nikon W300 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS60, sold as the TZ80 in some regions, are both compact cameras. The W300 arrived later, announced on 31 May 2017 against 6 January 2016 for the ZS60.

The W300 is the lighter camera at 231 g against 282 g for the ZS60, a 51 g difference. Both measure about 112 mm wide, so each fits a jacket pocket rather than a camera bag.

The ZS60 is the clear choice for photographing moving subjects, because it shoots at up to 40 fps and focuses with 49 AF points, while the W300 manages 7 fps with a single AF point. For a child sprinting across a park or a bird flitting between branches, that gap matters far more than resolution, where the ZS60's 18 MP gives only a modest edge over 16 MP.

Both use a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, and both offer in-body stabilisation to steady handheld frames. The W300's 1/4000 second exposure limit is shorter than the ZS60's 1/2000, which helps freeze motion or shoot wide open in bright light. The ZS60 offers an electronic viewfinder for eye-level shooting, which the W300 lacks.

The W300 is the stronger pick for slow motion, since it records at up to 120 fps against 60 fps on the ZS60. Playback of a splashing wave or a skateboard trick at a fraction of real speed is where that extra frame rate earns its keep, and both cameras top out at 4K resolution.

Both offer built-in timelapse, so a sunset or drifting clouds needs no intervalometer accessory. Each records MPEG-4 files, with the W300 adding MOV and the ZS60 adding AVCHD.

Outdoor durability and location tagging belong to the W300, which has weather sealing, GPS and Bluetooth, none of which the ZS60 offers. For a kayaking trip or a mountain hike, those features make it the more suitable companion.

The ZS60 answers with a touch screen, a denser 1,040,000-dot display against 921,000 on the W300, and a built-in flash for dim rooms. The W300 instead supports an external flash, and Wi-Fi transfer is common to both.

The ZS60 carries the longer rated battery life at 320 shots against 280 for the W300. Each uses a single card slot, and neither charges over USB, so a spare battery and charger travel with either camera.

The W300 adds UHS-I card support plus internal storage, so if a card fills up mid-adventure, the camera keeps shooting on its own memory. The ZS60 accepts the same SD, SDHC and SDXC card types without those extras.