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Recently, we had a lot of folks really intrigued by our Panasonic ZS99 (also called the LUMIX SZ99 and Panasonic LUMIX SZ99) review. And better yet, we got emails about it! After reading some of them, one email stuck out a lot. It specifically asked about how the Monochrome modes are while commenting on how our review provides information that’s actually helpful. So, I’m thanking our reader, Vincent, for the inspiration for this review. During a recent trip with TIPA to Istanbul, I decided to explore more of the Monochrome modes and update our review accordingly. The updated text from our full review is below; but if you want to read our full LUMIX ZS99 review, check it out right here at this link.
Here’s the updated text from our full review.
Panasonic LUMIX ZS99 Review Update: March 2025
We’re updating the review specifically for a request that we feel is important enough. This camera is great, and monochrome modes are obviously important to this crowd of users, too. The camera has a few different monochrome modes:
- Standard: available in any mode
- Rough: available only in scene mode
- Dynamic: Same as above
- Soft: same as above
Generally speaking, the images look satisfactory. That’s to say that I’m not overwhelmed or underwhelmed; I’m just whelmed. The best black and white photos I’ve seen have come from OM System and Ricoh. These are just alright and don’t particularly remind me of film in any way. Instead, they look like all the black-and-white presets that photographers had back in the retro digital days.
In Adobe Lightroom Classic, the ZS99 has RAW support available. And generally speaking, there’s a lot to say. First off, I’m not sure who’d really use the RAW function on a point-and-shoot with a small sensor anymore. But if you are indeed one of those folks, know that it functions like a point-and-shoot with a small sensor. With that said:
- It’s noisy beyond ISO 400 – which is a critical part of the look that this camera can deliver. It’s nice to see that kind of image noise again in Lightroom as I really haven’t seen anything like this in years. It’s both a pleasant surprise and I’m sure that it’s bound to annoy lots of photographers who want a very manicured, prim and proper look.
- Lightroom’s Denoising abilities are years and years ahead of anything that Capture One has done.
- With that statement said, I encourage photographers to think of this almost like a film photography challenge where you don’t shoot above ISO 400.
- If you’re looking for really high-quality detail in low light, go for a full-frame camera at this point. I wouldn’t even necessarily trust it with APS-C or Micro Four Thirds because of how noise and details can come out.
- ISO 80 can even produce noise in darker areas of the frame. But that’s fine.
- The JPEGs look great and get rid of all those problems that I talked about. You can also custom program in a few settings to get certain looks. But the ZS99 cannot take the LUTs that higher end cameras can.
In fact, the ZS99 uses Panasonic’s older imaging app; and not LUMIX Lab.
While it’s important for folks to know that I’m stating and providing this information, it’s also quite honestly also important to balance that out. This is a point-and-shoot with a small sensor and a 30x optical zoom range. It’s reasonable for us to expect processing algorithms equivalent to what Apple and Google might give us with the sensor output from their phones in 2025. At the same time, you’d probably buy this camera to get that retro digital look from the early 2000s. And the LUMIX ZS99 has it in bounties.
Would I use this camera again? Absolutely. Would I buy it today? Not necessarily, only because I have a few other point-and-shoot cameras, and I don’t need another one like this. Do I enjoy the zooming capabilities? Oh yes! Is the lens flare you can get from this camera also really nice? Yup.
During my trip to Istanbul with the rest of TIPA, I realized that tons of photographers, journalists, and editors on the trip would probably hate the output from this camera because it isn’t super sharp, manicured, or perfect. They, and many others, are entitled to that very valid idea. And at the same time, I’m very happy to embrace a look that we can’t get anymore — and that strikes me the nostalgia and excitement of the time I first picked up Four Thirds cameras to start my photo career. What makes cameras sometimes so fun is that they deliver unexpected results for us. And when we get something that we can’t easily predict within reason, we can make more intriguing images.
For only a few hundred bucks, the Panasonic LUMIX ZS99 is worth it if you’re looking for a reliable, modern point-and-shoot with the retro digital quality you crave from the late 2000s.
