Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS20

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS20 is one of the less expensive rugged cameras on the market today. The compact point and shoot can take photos underwater at depths of up to 16 feet—which is good for snorkeling, but probably not much else.

If you're shopping for a rugged camera it won't take long to notice that many of them look alike. The standard design, to which the TS20 complies, is to position the lens in the corner of the camera and to position most controls, including Zoom, on the rear of the camera.

The TS20 isn't the speediest rugged camera to come through the PCMag Labs, but it's not a dog either. It can start up and grab a shot in 2 seconds, shoots one frame per second in continuous drive mode, and records a short 0.1 second shutter lag.

The camera's 2.7-inch 230k-dot rear LCD is neither the largest nor the sharpest in its class, but it does match that of the equally priced Olympus Tough TG-320.

If you're looking for a durable point-and-shoot camera and are working within a budget the Lumix DMC-TS20 is worth careful consideration.

We shot our standard test scene using the Lumix TS20.

This 100 percent crop shows you the level of detail that TS20 is capable of capturing.