Is there "panorama" mode or some way to lock the exposure for a series of shots so that you can create a panorama?

Many cameras have a "panorama" or "stitch assist" mode which enables users to take a series of shots with the intent of stitching them afterwards into a panorama. The main thing that "panorama" or "stitch assist" mode does is lock the exposure so that each shot will be taken with the same camera settings. Then when you stitch them together afterwards, the stitching is seamless. I see that Panasonic includes "Panorama Maker" software with the camera, but I don't see any way to lock the exposure, and I don't think the panorama would look right if the camera is allowed to change exposure settings for each shot. Is there any way to lock the exposure?

Well, ideally, your in the same light conditions so the exposure should be the same. But to be sure, you can use either aperture priority or shutter priority which will give you more control of the exposure. Also exposure compensation settings can help as well.

As for what to stitch it together with, I haven't seen a better stitcher than Photoshop.

Thank you, James. However, I don't believe the TZ4 (or TZ5 for that matter) has Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or manual modes, so I was trying to find out if there's another way to lock exposures (an "exposure lock" feature, maybe?). I've done panoramas before with auto exposure where the lighting conditions were not the same from shot to shot (for example, shot 1 is over a lake so it's bright, but shot 2 is taken at the edge of the lake and it's mostly mountain so it's darker), and when I stitched the shots together, the seams didn't look right (i.e. you could see where they were stitched). The only way I know of to avoid this is if you can lock exposure with manual settings or a panorama mode. I didn't use Photoshop, though, and maybe it can correct for varying lighting conditions from shot to shot.

Thank you! I'll have to try Photoshop.

Look for the Photomerge utility. Photoshop Elements also has it and it's substantially cheaper.