Color (11.61)
We tested the camera’s ability to produce accurate colors by using it to photograph an industry standard color chart. The chart, manufactured by color gurus GretagMacbeth, shows 24 colors from around the spectrum. Imatest analyzed the images of the chart and output the following depiction to show the variations in color. The inner vertical rectangle of each tile shows the ideal colors from the original GretagMacbeth chart, the outer frames show what the Panasonic TZ3 produced, and the inner squares show the ideal color corrected for luminance by the software.
Colors are generally close to what they should be, but to get a better idea of how correct or erroneous colors are the following graph is provided. It shows each of the 24 colors around the spectrum. The ideal colors are shown as squares and the TZ3’s colors are shown as circles. The line connecting the shapes shows the degree of error and saturation can be determined by the direction the camera’s color is moving. The outer edges of the frame are oversaturated while the center is undersaturated.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 performed extremely well. Hardly any of its colors are very far from where they should be. Its saturation is nearly perfect too at 101.3 percent. The camera’s 5.17 mean color error score is one of the best we’ve seen from a compact digital camera, and so is the overall 11.61 color score.
White Balance (8.29)
Auto (9.10)
Generally the automatic white balance setting is better than the presets, although the manual white balance setting most definitely trumps this one. There aren’t presets for flash and fluorescent light. The auto setting produced an image that was too blue when the flash was fired but actually did quite well under fluorescent light.
Preset (7.48)
The presets didn’t perform as well as they should. Under cloudy outdoor light, the auto setting was more accurate. The same can be said of the other presets. The only preset that performed better than the auto setting was tungsten light, and both tungsten and auto weren’t very accurate anyway. The presets should generally be avoided. Either chance it with the auto setting or be sure with the custom setting.
Still Life Sequences
Click to view the high-resolution images.
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Still Life Scene
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ISO 100
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ISO 100
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ISO 200
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ISO 200
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ISO 400
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ISO 400
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ISO 800
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ISO 800
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ISO 1250
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ISO 1250
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Resolution (7.04)
The Panasonic TZ3’s 7.2-megapixel resolution is an upgrade from previous slim ultra-zoom models. We tested the TZ3’s resolution to see how effective it is at capturing all the details and nuances in our industry standard resolution chart. Using the TZ3, we photographed the chart at various exposure settings and uploaded the pictures to Imatest imaging software.
Cick to view high-resolution image
The software analyzed the images and selected the sharpest one, which was taken using an aperture of f/4.7 and a focal length of 20mm and the lowest ISO setting of 100. More descriptive numerical resolution results are output as units of line widths per picture height (lw/ph), which describes the number of alternating black and white lines of equal thickness that the sensor can detect across the frame without blurring them together.
The 7.2-megapixel TZ3 resolved 1729 lw/ph horizontally with 1.7 percent oversharpening and 1635 lw/ph vertically with 1.65 percent undersharpening. The earlier TZ1 oversharpened images, so this seems to have been addressed and fixed in this model. The TZ3 performs better than average for its pixel count and certainly better than its Lumix sibling, the 7.2-megapixel Panasonic FX50. That camera read 1342 lw/ph horizontally and 1232 lw/ph vertically.
Good news for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3: its 7.2 megapixels capture a good amount of detail, which puts it above average comparable digital cameras.
Noise – Auto ISO (4.95)
In the bright lighting of our studio, most cameras should automatically choose the lowest ISO setting possible. The TZ3’s automatic ISO setting instead chose ISO 200 and produced more noise than it should have in such nicely lit conditions. Think your bright outdoor pictures are perfectly clean? Think again – or use the manual ISO settings.
Noise – Manual ISO (9.93)
We tested the noise levels by photographing the resolution chart at each manual ISO setting in optimal lighting. Imatest analyzed the images and determined what percentage of each image was degraded to noise. The results are shown below: the horizontal axis shows each ISO setting and the vertical axis shows the noise level.
The noise is generally quite low. Even at the highest ISO 1250 only 1.7 percent of the image is speckled with noise, as opposed to 4 or 5 percent in many other compact digital cameras. There is a reason for this though. The TZ3 applies an in-camera noise reduction system between ISO 200 and 400, which accounts for the slight dip in noise on the chart.
The in-camera noise reduction has its drawbacks. When looking at the solid colors of the image up close, it looks like areas have been smoothed over, sacrificing details. Overall though, the noise reduction has a positive impact on high ISO images. Shots of faces taken with the TZ3 would bode well because of the smoothing and lack of color-noise.
Low Light (6.47)
With the studio lights dimmed to 60, 30, 15, and 5 lux, we set out to determine how functional the camera is in imperfect lighting situations. We photographed the color chart in these low light conditions and ran them through Imatest software, which output the following pictures with the same tiles as in the color section above.
The Panasonic TZ3’s images are well-lit and accurate with the mean color error staying under 7.5. This is fantastic! The mean percentage of noise stayed under 2 percent, which is also pretty incredible for such dim conditions.
Long exposures are possible on this camera, but only at ISO 100 in the Night Scenery and Starry Night shooting modes. We test all of our long exposure tests at ISO 400, and this camera’s longest exposure at this setting is only 1 second. Thus, we’re skipping this portion of the low light review.
Nevertheless, whether you’re at a candlelit restaurant, fireworks show, or evening party, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 should provide well-lit, clean, and accurately depicted images.
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Low Light Tests
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60 Lux
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30 Lux
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15 Lux
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5 Lux
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Dynamic Range (7.23)
We test the dynamic range of digital cameras by photographing a backlit Stouffer film step chart at different ISO settings. The Stouffer chart has a row of rectangles ranging from extremely bright to extremely dark. The ISO sensitivity directly correlates to the dynamic range of the image. Generally, the higher the sensitivity is boosted, the less detail and tones captured. Below is a chart showing the manual ISO settings on the horizontal axis and the number of exposure values captured on the vertical axis.
Surprisingly, the dynamic range actually increases from ISO 100 to 200 which is very uncommon. This was tested several times but the results came out the same every time. Both the 100 and 200 settings garnered excellent results at or above 8 exposure values. After 200 though, the dynamic range takes a steep dive and then continues its shallow dip into the lesser end of the range. The lesson to take from this test: if you want interesting photos with lots of dynamic range, limit your ISO selection to 100 or 200.
Speed/Timing
Startup to First Shot (7.3)
The Panasonic TZ3 takes its sweet time starting up and extending its lens before snapping its first shot. The official time came to 2.7 seconds, so have your camera on long before the action happens.
Shot-to-Shot (9.6)
There are three burst modes on this digital camera. The high burst mode snaps 5 pictures in 1.5 seconds with each shot coming 0.4 seconds after the previous one. The low burst mode took the same 5-shot burst but at a more leisurely pace with each shot coming a half-second after the other. The infinite burst mode snapped pictures at the same half-second pace but recorded until the memory card was full. It’s unclear why Panasonic even includes the low burst when the infinite moves at the same pace and records for much longer.
Shutter-to-shot (9.0)
This camera’s metering and auto focus system are slow. It took them 0.6 seconds to get their acts together and snap a picture. When the exposure is locked, though, things are snappy and the shutter lag is hardly measurable.
Processing (9.2)
It took the camera 0.4 seconds to process one shot. When the burst mode was activated, the camera took an extra 1.1 seconds to process its images.
Video Performance (5.36)
Bright Indoor Light - 3000 lux
Under the same lighting we performed the color test, we shot footage of a video test chart. The colors weren’t as accurate as they were in still images; the mean color error shot to 13 and saturation to 116.4 percent. The average amount of noise remained fairly low at 0.385 percent of the image. This is actually quite good when compared to other compact digital cameras; most movie modes perform far worse than the still recording modes.
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Low Light - 30 lux
The image became much softer when the lights were dimmed to 30 lux. Colors suffered with a mean color error of 15.4. The inaccuracy of the color is one thing, the awful saturation is even worse. It dropped to only 63.2 percent, making the colors look extremely dull and lifeless. The average amount of noise jumped considerably to 1.26 percent of the image, more than in any of the still images even at the highest 1250 ISO setting.
Resolution
Footage of the video test chart was loaded into Imatest software and analyzed much the same way still images are analyzed. The results are output in the same line widths per picture height (lw/ph) measurement too. The Panasonic TZ3 resolved 267 lw/ph horizontally with 17.3 percent undersharpening and 545 lw/ph vertically with 5.6 percent undersharpening. These numbers aren’t great and should still keep the camcorder market healthy.
(100 % crops)
Outdoor Motion
After being cooped up in the testing lab, we took the TZ3 outside to shoot action on the street. The 30 fps movies weren’t quick enough to capture perfectly smooth motion; moving subjects looked a little jerky especially when exiting the frame. Images have good contrast but are a bit overexposed. Subjects looked a bit soft, perhaps due to focus, although this softness can be seen in the studio footage of the test charts.
