Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 / DMC-TZ7 Digital Camera

I lost my TZ5, a camera that consistently produced great images. I bought the TZ7 as a replacement and just assumed that it would be as good, with a few extra bells-n-whistles.
It does have a few extra facilities, but I don't think that the focussing is as sharp, and the colour rendition seems to be constantly out.
Within Photoshop, you can "Automaticly" sort out colour balance, tone, contrast etc. The TZ7 consistently needs more adjustment.
I'm not saying its a bad camera, it's very good compared with the competition(Even though it is pricey), I'm just saying that I don't think its as good as the 5.

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This is an excellent camera with great zoom for a pocket sized point and shoot. Good picture quality and takes pretty good video as well. The menus are user friendly and camera straight forward to use. The camera doesn't have manual functions but if you are after a good point and shoot this is a nice camera.
However, I'm having to return the one I bought on E-Bay as it's an American model. These have NTSC video output that isn't always compatible with UK TV's. So if you're buying one from E-Bay make sure it's the UK model and if it doesn't say ask the sellar before buying!

this camera is very nice and compact, and also still has a powerful zoom and great pictures with a nice look to the camera to.In a nutshell maybe the best camera of its type on the market.

I don't believe that someone whose profession is not a professional photographer will need a better camera than the specific one. Rather impressive specifications with a very good optical zoom for a compact camera.

In short, one of the best compacts on the market just got better, and as such we can easily award the Lumix TZ7 / ZS3 our Highly Recommended rating. (http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Panasonic_Lumix_DMC_TZ7_ZS3/verdict.shtml)

I think that the specific camera is indeed one of the best cameras you can buy on the market....!!!!!

I down graded from a DSLR to this camera and WOW what a breath of fresh air this is. I find that while the pictures are a little grainier i am able to take more consistent pictures. The camera i have is the ZS3 which is the American version which mean it takes video in NTSC and not PAL which is no big deal but the TZ7 which is the euro version has it's video clips limited to 15 minutes which the ZS3 does not. There plenty of scene modes for just about all occasions and the Intelligent Auto is brilliant by assessing the picture and chooses the correct scene for you. The pictures themselves are very good but a little grainy in low light but for a 12x zoom and HD video which looks good on the computer, I haven't tried it on the tv, it's superb. Macro mode is very good it focus's down so close things are almost touching the lens. Plus it's all rather potable small enough to go in most pockets. The battery seems to last long enough for a days mucking about but a spare is always a good idea. Only time will tell but on the face of it i think i will enjoy using this camera, taking photo's with no hassle and you are not carrying around a huge setup giving up very little in the quality stakes. Very happy 9/10

This my 4th digital camera, and obviously the technology improves every 3-4 years.
One thing that does not change is that the lens is one, if not THE most critical components of a good camera. Above 5m pixels a good lens coupled with a sound operating system ensure quality pictures as much as the expanding race ever more pixels.
This Camera with out doubt, give the best results I have ever encountered. I'm able to take stunning pictures even in very low light conditions.
With a LEICA lens offering 25-300mm of zoom and a 1.33-4.6 aperture, we are finally seeing digital cameras that can sit comfortable along side the mid range 'film' equivalents of 15 years ago.
Recommended very highly

Absolutely love this camera, just bought after looking around for weeks for a replacement to my Kodak V610.

This camera (bought in a trendy Blue colour,so had to get a USA version, but makes no difference to me as I have a multistandard TV anyway which copes with NTSC output for plain video!).

I cannot praise it highly enough, I have had a Lumix before, can't remember the model number now, but found this was a little bulky at the time, and also a Ricoh Caplio R6 (gorgeous camera but wanted higher zoom), so bought a Kodak V610 10x optical zoom, and now I've gone full circle back to Panasonic!

Unlike the Kodak, this camera produces brilliantly exposed pictures indoors where previously the Kodak I had failed miserably 95% of the time, it was basically rubbish, the Kodak even quite a bit of the time didn't produce anything decent even in bright sunlight, and forget taking pictures with the sun behind the subject, it just couldn't handle it regardless of what scene mode you used! The Lumix however handles all of this and more!

Every shot I have taken to date has been perfectly exposed, NO SHAKY KODAK HERE, and for an amateur like myself, I'm far from a professional, I wouldn't know an f-stop from a bus stop, it's great!

I considered quite a few cameras, but I went with what I know, Panasonic's Lumix range has never let me down (sorry for straying from the brand!), even though larger than others, they (well seem to be) appear a little bit more pcoketable than previous models, and are great quality cameras!

They get a 10/10 from me.

i love the price of this camera it the best u can buy priced this in a high street shop came it at £299.99 just the camera only so its fantastic value

I love the quality of the outdoor pictures and videos, I love the 12 x optical zoom, I dislike the lack of brightness for the indoor pictures and I hate the very short battery life, but it's still the best cam I've seen yet

I was starting to hate carrying around a digital SLR camera and a separate video camera. My SLR camera takes great shots but the price I paid was the bulk and weight. My video camera was getting a bit old and really needed replacing. The Panasonic ZS3 seemed to fit the bill - it could replace both.

Sure, the Panasonic would never be able to do all the fancy stuff that my digital SLR could, but I found that I was never using any of the advanced features anyway, all I needed was a good zoom range, a good flash, macro focusing and a decent amount of mega pixels.

I'm really happy with the Panasonic, the pictures are sharp and clear with good , accurate colour depth, it has single-pint, multi-point or face focusing and it doesn't take ages "thinking" before taking a picture.

The video mode is fantastic - much better than my dedicated video camera which originally cost three times the price. The US version doesn't have the 15min video length limit that the Euro version does - something to do with import duty and video cameras - so I went for the US version. Bought it off eBay cheaper than I could have bought the Euro version locally!

There are similar cameras from other manufactures that appear to have the same or slightly better specifications on paper compared to the Panasonic that can be bought for a cheaper price, but the Panasonic consistently gets good reviews, so that swung me in the end.

Only downside was Panasonic are now shipping the cameras with firmware v1.2 and its only new "feature" compared to the previous version was to block 3rd-party batteries, forcing you to buy the over-priced Panasonic spare batteries. I found v1.1 via Google and flashed the firmware, then bought a couple of spare batteries off eBay that are now working fine. I'd recommend doing the same, either though the Panasonic website says its not possible to down-grade the firmware version; they're wrong.

Really nice photos and really good quality of movies for a compact!
But normal in low light, Panasonic can make better if I compare with some other products...

This might put a dent in your wallet, but it's very worth it. Best compact camera ever ! It is the next best thing to SLR cameras.

excellent photos nice big screen very bright plenty of auto programs also has very good right ups in all the photo mags

Camera is a first class product, does all it says on the box, HD video facility is very impressive when used in conjunction with Panasonic HD television .Price very competitive.

I got a US one for a very good price and so far I am very pleased with it indeed. I need to use it fully for a few weeks before I can write a full review so I'll just leave it at that on this occasion..

I decided to buy it because i had a TZ3 which i loved in every way, i thought the TZ7 would be better, it is an amazing camera but I prefare the TZ3, the reasons are as follows > the TZ3 gave you a choice of PAL or NTSC for video, the TZ7 doesent, it's either PAL OR NTSC only, you must be very careful to make sure you get the right camera for your country, although I bought mine in the UK it turned out to be NTSC which cannot be played on our DVD players or Televisions.
The TZ3 also allowed you to choose any file/image size on auto or iA mode, the TZ7 will only let you do that in auto, in iA mode it will only allow widescreen format and 3million pixels or higher for photos.
if you want traditional format 1:43 for example or a low resolution photo for emailing you can only use auto setting, also the TZ3 allowed you to use image/file sizes right down to PC or VGA sizes, the TZ7 does not.
the last annoying issue which panasonic will have to address is> where they placed the video record button, its a great idea having a button which instantly changes to recording video fast for when you see a situation you don't want to miss, BUT they placed the button right where you place your thumb when holding the camera so you will be pulling your hair out because of how often you accidently start recording video even when your just trying to take a photo.
Chris (ireland) professional photographer

Having used a digital Camera for the last 3 years ,and wishing to build up a portfolio of photographs of my new Grand Daughter i checked out the unique points of digital cameras on the market which suited my requirements, ie surfed the internet, took advice from people whom i treated as experts and prepared a specification which related to my requirements, eg technical points such as zoom quality , angle lens ,high definiton facility and ease of use. Having established the specification i checked the retail area and then compared it with thw EBAY stores .As usual i was able to obtain the best deal on EBAY (which was handled with superb efficiency by the seller )My family will not purchase anything now without checking the availability on Ebay which is invariably better than the High Street. Since purchasing the camera i have been delighted with the quality of photographs , ease of use ( although as an amature i am still trying to expand my knowledge of this superb camera )
and would reccomend it as fantastic quality at a very reasonable price.
MATT MCMILLAN

MAGNIFICA CAMARA A BUEN PRECIO
Aquí tenemos una bonita cámara, muy completa según mi experiencia y la de algún familiar que también la tiene.

Es bastante resistente puesto que a mi se me ha caído alguna que otra vez y de momento no le ha pasado nada.
Tienes posibilidades de poner la tarjeta de memoria con la capacidad que desees. Además cada vez están bajando mas el precio de esas tarjetas. El tipo de tarjeta es: tarjeta Secure Digital / SDHC; tarjeta MultiMedia.

Además de eso también trae una pequeña memoria interna.
Una de las funciones mas útiles es poder elegir la calidad de la fotografía puesto que contra mas calidad quieras que tenga mas memoria ocupara.

También trae un sistema para poder retocar la imagen, oscurecerla, aclararla…
La verdad que he usado muchas cámaras pero esta es de las que mas completas encuentro y con la que más contenta estoy gracias a sus diferentes funciones y su gran calidad en ellas.

Otra función útil y es la de video, aunque por lo menos en mi cámara el video no tiene audio.
De momento no e tenido ningún tipo de problema con ella.

Otra de las funciones a destacar es que tiene diferentes modos de fotografía es decir, puedes indicar si vas a realizar una foto a un paisaje, a algún elemento a menos de 20 centímetros… y así permite el mejor enfoque de la fotografía.

Además cuenta con el respaldo de una buena y conocida marca como es la de Panasonic.

El zoom óptico es de 12 y el digital entorno a 4.
La calidad de la imagen es perfecta.

SALUDOS DESDE SEGOVIA - ESPAÑA -
SIRO OTERO

I need a small but good quality camera in addition to my bigger one. I looked for reviews in photo magazines, and finally came to the conclusion that the Lumix DMC-ZS3 would be a good choice. I ordered the camera from UK, and I have used it now for approx 900 photos, and I am not disappointed. The only thing is that the dynamic is a little bit poor; i.e. you have to be careful when there are big differences in bright and dark areas in your picture. Apart from that I was unfortunate to receive an US model, but I have managed by converting movie sequences with a software available on the internet.

easy to use clear pictures
dislike battery does not last or take as many photos as my last camera think I will have to buy another battery. but otherwise very pleased and will certainly recommened to friends glen

This is a fab camera, excellent for day and night photos, sleek in design and is a great all occasions camera!
Its a must have, I reviewed alot of the other cameras and this offers great zoom, picture quality is excellent and the price had come down making it affordable.

Buen producto con una excelente calidad óptica.
Se valora mucho los 12x ópticos y gran angular de 25mm.