The Canon SX100IS is the first camera in a new compact ultrazoom line, becoming the first Canon camera to include a large 10x zoom into a compact body. Featuring a 36-360mm zoom range, the SX100 is quite capable of zooming in for close-up shots of sports and other fast action, as well as covering the wide variety of scenes encountered while on travel, making it one of the most versatile compact cameras around. It lacks a 28mm wide-angle lens that is often useful for landscapes, large landmarks, or photos in cramped indoor rooms, however.

The SX100IS, with decent high ISO ability and image stabilization, is an above-average camera for low-light photos of static subjects, but is fairly average for moving subjects such as people. For high ISO-dependent fast action subjects, the SX100IS will produce slightly grainy/noisy images even in daylight situations, and will be nearly unusable indoors or at night.

The SX100IS can take photos continuously at 1.23 frames per second for an unlimited number of photos - about average for this class, but not really fast enough to make a difference (In between that 1.2 second, the peak action will have probably elapsed). As with all other consumer cameras, the SX100IS’s autofocus system isn’t nearly capable of keeping up with fast-moving subjects in low-light, and is barely able to keep up with fast action even in bright outdoor lighting.

The SX100IS lasts about 400 shots per charge, plenty for at least a couple days, if not more, of travel.

The Panasonic TZ3 is the newest model in Panasonic’s pioneering TZ-series of cameras, which single-handedly created the ultrazoom compact class of cameras. Given its pioneering role and a generation of development and maturity, it’s no surprise that the TZ3 has perhaps the most appealing feature set in this class, with a 28-280mm zoom range and 2.9 fps shooting mode that rivals the versatility and speed of DSLR cameras.

The TZ3 is the only camera in this market segment that packs both a 28mm wide-angle lens and 10x zoom, making it a capable camera for all occasions - it has the 50-200mm midrange for people portraits, a maximum 280mm telephoto end for close-up shots of sports and other fast-action, and the useful 28mm wide-angle for landscapes and interiors while on travel. In terms of versatility, there is simply no other camera on the market with a more useful zoom range the TZ3.

Panasonic cameras have been known to produce noisy high-ISO output, and the TZ3 is no different - although not quite unusable, the TZ3’s high-ISO images are below average, making low-light pictures of moving subjects like people difficult, and low-light images of sports or fast action all but impossible. The TZ3 does have image stabilization, which helps to eliminate camera shake for non-moving subjects.

The TZ3 can take photos continuously at 2.9 frames per second for the five photos, or has a “no limit” mode to continuously take photos at 2.1 frames per second for an unlimited number of pictures. This makes the TZ3 one of the fastest consumer cameras on the market - 2.9fps matches the continuous shooting speed of consumer-level DSLRs, and even the unlimited 2.1fps will allow you to take a long series of shots continuously, helping you to capture that decisive moment and greatly increasing the number of “keepers”. Like other consumer cameras, the TZ3’s autofocus can keep up with fast-action subjects in daylight, but is simply not quick enough for fast-action photos in low light.

The TZ3 lasts 270 shots per charge - typical for this class and enough for a day or more of shooting.