Panasonic DMC-ZS3

	Noise
	Color	Page 4 of 16	Resolution

Noise (8.80)

The Panasonic ZS3 had some interesting results in our tests on the amount of noise in images; we found tat the noise was low until an ISO level of 400, but it quickly climbed above that to rather high levels. You can see the results in the graph below; the lines are level until ISO 400, where they start to climb rapidly. The two lines represent the two light levels that we test at: 3000 lux (about the same as outdoors on a cloudy day) and60 lux (about the same amount of light as you would get from indoor lighting). Click here for more on how we test noise.

Light Level Noise Comparison

If we compare the performance of the ZS3 to other cameras, we can see that it performs comparably at the lower ISO levels, but the ISO 1600 noise is significantly higher than the other cameras.

Noise Comparisons

As a general conclusion, the ZS3 performs well at ISO levels of up to 800. However, we would recommend that you avoid using the ISO 1600 setting unless it is absolutely necessary: as you can see from the samples below and those on our sample photos page, the images it captures at this ISO level are very noisy, and this will be easily visible in all images.

	ISO 80	ISO 400	ISO 800	ISO 1600
60 Lux
3000 Lux

Noise Score Comparisons
		Compare to Kodak Z950
		Compare to Nikon L100
		Compare to Canon SX120

ISO (7.00)

The ZS3 has an ISO range in most modes of 80 to 1600, but you have a fair amount of control over how this range is used. The ZS3 offers several ISO modes that restrict this range: ISOMAX400 uses 80 to 400, ISOMAX 800 uses 80 to 800 and ISOMAX1600 uses the entire range. Given the large amount of noise that the ISO 1600 setting involves, we would generally recommend that you set this to ISOMAX800.

For shooting in lower light, a high sensitivity mode is available which expands this range to 1600 to 6400. However, this reduces the resolution of the camera to 3 megapixels, and images taken in this mode are rather noisy, so it should only be used when it is absolutely required. See the sample photos page for examples. 

	ISO Examples
	Panasonic ZS3	Kodak Z950	Nikon L100	Canon SX120
ISO 80
	Panasonic ZS3	Kodak Z950	Nikon L100	Canon SX120
ISO 100
	Panasonic ZS3	Kodak Z950	Nikon L100	Canon SX120
ISO 200 (215 for the Nikon)
	Panasonic ZS3	Kodak Z950	Nikon L100	Canon SX120
ISO 400 (329 for the Nikon)
	Panasonic ZS3	Kodak Z950	Nikon L100	Canon SX120
ISO 800
	Panasonic ZS3	Kodak Z950	Nikon L100	Canon SX120
ISO 1600

NOTE: The images above are not used in our testing or scoring, but are included here to show real-world examples of the differences between cameras at the various ISO settings.

See how the competition stacked up against the Panasonic ZS3
Kodak Z950	Nikon L100	Canon SX120