Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3

I have to get on the bandwagon here. This is a superb little camera, definately five stars! I also have the TZ1, which showed promise, but has limitations. In my review of the TZ1, I noted it had lots of "noise" and pictures shouldn't be printed much beyond 4x6 inches if they were to be sharp. I also wanted more manual controls.

The TZ3 fixes and improves almost everything about the TZ1 and adds some new, very useful features. The noise has been drastically reduced, the lens is better, the sensor is bigger, and the processor is not only faster, but produces better pictures. The TZ3 adds a very handy "function" button - or I should say function capability - the number of buttons is the same - which gives immediate access to five or so "most used" settings without having to go into the menues - of which there are several.

The TZ3 keeps the Mega Optical Image Stabilization and adds Intelligent ISO, increases the sensitivity without adding noise,(I have not tried the 3200 setting yet.), increases the size of the viewing screen, etc., etc.

The TZ3 is a "well-rounded," and very capable camera. There is simply no comparison between the TZ1 and the TZ3 as far as the quality of the pictures. The TZ3 wins hands down. In my opinion it also beats some big name, higher priced digicams - a couple of which I own - rather handily.

Of course, the big selling point for the TZ3 is still the 10X lens - now with wide angle capability - on a pocket-sized point and shoot camera. This lens is SHARP, and combined with larger sensor and the new processor yields some excellent results.

While there are no manual controls, per se, the camera seems to do very well without them. Pictures are sharp, exposures seem nicely done (haven't tried it at night yet, but low light forrest shots were excellent), colors were accurate, appropriately saturated, and vivid (OK. I like the vivid setting.), good contrast, etc. There are a variety of AF settings, settable focal points, and focus modes. There is also exposure compensation, and exposure bracketing available - and they work well! The live histogram is a welcome bonus. The TZ3 focuses down to about 2 inches in macro mode - again with excellent, sharp results. The TZ3 is very well speced out.

One nice thing that is gone is the lens cap on the TZ1. It was really not to inconvenient, but seemed always to be swinging in the wind to add yet another source of camera shake. The TZ3 lens includes an built in lens cover. Very welcome.

I currently own five top flight digicams (including this one), and have owned about that many others, I am most impressed with this one - for combined convenience and results. It is a quantum step forward.

I also have a couple of quite nice, and fairly complete DSLR kits. They are wonderful, and in a class by themselves, but when I want very nice pictures and the convenience of a pocketable point and shoot with a 10X, wide angle lens, or a back up for the DSLRs, the TZ3 is now my camera of choice.

I tested this camera extensively. For casual point-and-shooters, who print small prints, this camera is small, has a great zoom lens, and gives usable pictures. For those like me, who like enlarging pictures, or cropping, this camera blurs details. The Venus noise reduction system applies a blur to all images, greatly softening detail at high magnification. At close magnification of test images, my old Canon S50 pocket digital camera provides much more crisp detail, while this Panasonic TZ3 blurs all the fine details in an image. This was true in bright daylight, flash, at all ISO's, and was especially severe in low light. After testing this, I returned it.
If you want a casual point-and-shoot camera with a great zoom lens, this is a good choice. If you are into semi-serious use of the images, you will find loss of detail unacceptable.
UPDATE: I've since discovered that all current "ultracompact" cameras have worse picture quality than the compact digital cameras of a few years ago. Since people continue to buy tiny cameras, the camera makers are putting in much smaller CCD's than a few years ago. So if you're like me and you have a compact digital camera that's a few years old, don't count on any of the current ultracompact models to do as good a job.

Panasonic has taken the original TZ1 and made it even better. There's not much missing from this camera. 28mm wide angle lens. 10X optical zoom. 3" high resolution screen, excellent Image Stabilization, etc. All this in a fairly compact camera. Panasonic has also improved the "noise" on higher ISO's. Low light performance is better than on previous Panasonic models. The most important this is, the camera takes great pictures. Panasonic did take one step back in video mode on the TZ3. Unlike on the TZ1, you can not "zoom" while taking video. You can zoom before you start taking the video. This doesn't bother me, but some people find it important. Overall, this is the best compact camera I've ever owned.

Edit 01/30/2008: Just a note. The TZ4 and TZ5 will be out within the next 2-3 months!

Let me start with my credentials: I've been working for a major daily newspaper for 23 years. I've won various photo contests, from local and regional contests, to national and international contests such as NPPA, POY, as well as the National Baseball Hall of Fame (several times). I've literally traveled around the globe, covering news features and sports. So, please allow me to lend my own feedback on this camera, which I have owned for several months now. I've also started actively shooting with camcorders such as the Panasonic AG-HVX200 high-definition camcorder, and the Sony DCR-SR30 camcorder.

I'm a proud TZ3 owner (purchasing it with my own funds), and I've been using Lumix cameras since I was issued a DMC-FZ20, at my request. (That camera taught me about versatility when I went to the Superdome and the Convention Center to cover the plight of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, who struggled to survive the elements following the storm). I've also used the FZ30, and also own a TZ1, the older and less-impressive sibling to the TZ3. And I'd pick this camera, over even the Nikon D2Xs and D2Hs cameras, if I had only one camera to pack in order to cover any breaking news story as of the date of this writing. Why? Because the Lumix line of "bridge" cameras are the most versatile and quick-performing that I've experienced to date. With the pro SLRs, I'd need to carry lenses from a 17-35mm, 80-200mm, and 300mm lenses, to shoot images while all that glass is wrapped into the neat package of the TZ3. Yet the Nikons I own don't shoot video. The Sony camcorder shoots only 3 still images per recording session, which don't match the image quality of the TZ3. And the HVX200 is too bulky.

The TZ3 is a great run-and-gun camera. At a heartbeat, I can switch over to video and shoot some decent footage at widescreen mode (my preference), which is widescreen, at 848 x 480 (better than most hybrid cameras, which tend to shoot only in 640x480. The TZ3 is such a low-profile camera that you can shoot very candid stills and video when you want to capture people at their most human moments.

The body is so compact, I can do 3 very vital and exciting things: place it into tight spaces, shoot without attracting unwanted attention, and mount the camera on unusual items (most recently, a bass drum belonging to a high school student in a marching band, and it recorded video during the band's practice). I've also clamped it onto a wheel barrow and also placed it among stocked food in the refrigerator section. That yields such wide ranging perspectives that could hardly be accomplished with many other cameras and camcorders.

I like keeping the ISO setting at the minimum of ISO 100 or 200, for the digital noise can yell loudly at higher ISO settings. Most recently, I shot a gorgeous image of a moody scene at midnight, with street lamps and the moon being the only light sources on a fog-filled street.

Some drawbacks: I'm not satisfied with the way the camera captures images at the default setting because they seem too washed out. So I set the camera at 2/3rds stop under-exposure. It adds better tonal quality. And the audio quality lacks for the video. I wash the sound in some audio software to crank up the treble, and add some bass. It takes more time, but it helps bring back the muffled sound that gets recorded through a single hole on top of the camera.

The TZ3 is so compact that I carry it with me almost everywhere at work and wherever I go, because in a heartbeat, something could happen. If so, I'd be prepared to document whatever happens. Think about it: on my days off, I'd NEVER carry my Nikon pro bodies. And so this is great for sticking in your pocket for day trips, extended vacations, or a family gathering. If you can just remember that you can capture a moment, just pull the TZ3 out, and within about 5 seconds, you can record what could be some cherished memories.

I owned the first generation DMC-TZ1. The DMC-TZ3 has some welcome improvements; wider angle, automatic lens cover, maybe 25% faster shot-to-shot. In particular, the wider angle is a really useful feature.

The camera's strength is in its versatile, daylight shooting. It does best with lots of light. Indoors, the flash coverage is just ok. Shot-to-shot flash recycle time is sometimes a pokey 4 seconds. Digital picture noise is noticeable with lesser light.

Setup Tips:
1. Use 3x2 ratio if you primarily print 6x4 photos.
2. Use vivid mode as normal mode looks washed out.

Update: 28-May-2007 The flimsy automatic lens cover has broken. I'm able to keep it stuck in the open position. Rather disappointing. The rest of the camera seems pretty durable though.

Update: 12-Jun-2007 The automatic lens cover has somehow fully healed itself. Over the course of two weeks of frequent use, it began to progressively return to its proper open and closed positions.

Update: 15-July-2007 The automatic lens cover has again failed. Unfortunately permanently. I've upgraded to a DMC-TZ5. It has the same lens cover mechanism -- fingers crossed.