The Panasonic ZS15 packs a wallop. The ZS15 is the best camera for flash photography, with an intelligent system that always seems to make the right decision for the situation at hand. A 16X zoom gives the ZS15 the longest reach of the bunch, while its 12.1 MP sensor is capable of recording full HD video. The Nikon S8200 is slightly smaller and its photos look slightly more detailed, but the ZS15's performance when using the flash makes it a great model for those frequently indoors or not fond of high ISO shooting.

The Good

Flash photography. The onboard flash of the ZS15 does not need to be deployed; instead, it peeks out of the camera's front housing through a small window. This is a spot where you aren't likely to place your fingers. Despite having large hands, I never found myself blocking the flash during use. As a result, you never have to worry about holding the flash down or getting in the way as you would on the Nikon S8200.

The amazing thing about the ZS15's flash has nothing to do with power. The camera is programmed to recognize situations that require flash and then apply it in a way that complements your photos. You may have noticed that when you place your subject in front of a bright background, most cameras will expose for the background and leave your subjects looking dark and underexposed. That's called backlighting. The two ways around this are to expose for your subjects, which will make the background look too bright, or apply what is called fill flash. By using the flash, you raise the brightness of your foreground subjects to match the brightness of the background, thereby evening out your image and making a better photo overall. The ZS15 is smart enough to do this automatically. The other cameras in today's shootout are not.

16X zoom. While all of the pocket cameras in the shootout have zoom ranges of at least 12X, the ZS15's 16X lens gives it the widest range of the bunch. The extra reach allows you to capture photos that would otherwise have been unattainable or unremarkable.

Custom mode switch. The ZS15 can save several preset modes to its mode dial, which allows you to switch quickly between them. This is great for someone who uses their camera all the time, especially in different situations. By defining your settings beforehand, you minimize the time spent digging through menus and changing settings. Set everything once and access it later instead.

The Bad

Slight softness. Compared to some of the other cameras in the shootout, the ZS15's images are a touch soft.

In this comparison, you can see that the S8200 produces a slightly sharper, more detailed image when given the same scene as the ZS15. Panasonic has a feature called i-Resolution that boosts detail clarity in certain areas, but as this feature is not enabled by default we did not turn it on for our test photos. The feature lessens the gap between the two cameras, but does not eliminate it. Nothing beats actual detail, no matter how cleverly the camera fakes it.

No stereo mic. Good audio is an important part of good video. None of today's pocket cameras have a microphone input, but the ZS15 doesn't even have an onboard stereo microphone. Audio input is strictly monaural. While this is fine for capturing a casual clip, you probably wouldn't want to use it for anything serious.

No separate charger. Like the S8200, the ZS15 lacks a separate charger. And, like the ZS15, this is annoying if you like to keep an extra battery charged. It's easy to go through a full battery in a day of shooting (the battery is estimated to last around 260 shots according to industry-standard testing), so having another one on hand is not an unreasonable thing to do.

Low-resolution screen. The ZS15's screen has a resolution of 460,000 dots. As we mentioned earlier, the Nikon S8200 has a 961,000 dot screen, and again the difference is apparent. If you enjoy showing people photos using the rear LCD, it pays to get a camera with a good one.

The Verdict

The ZS15 is a competent little camera. Were it not for some softness in the images it produces and the lack of a stereo microphone, it might even unseat the Nikon S8200 for the top spot. The impressive flash performance isn't found anywhere else (well, except on other Panasonic point and shoot cameras), so it remains a strong option for a certain kind of shooter.