Panasonic DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera Review

Panasonic DMC-ZS3

Digital Camera Review

4.6 The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 packs a lot of features into its small case: 10-megapixel resolution, a 12x zoom and high definition video. And we found that it has the performance to match, with sharp, colorful images and video.
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Sample Photos  
x Video Page 7 of 16 Playback x

 

Sample Photos


In the following sample images, clicking on the larger image will download the full resolution original. Each photo is accompanied by three actual-size crops.

Portrait sample
x Focal length: 4.1mm
ISO: 80
Aperture: f/4.5
Shutter speed: 1/400 of a second

Shot in program mode, this photo of a member of a marching band at the HONK! 2009 festival shows some of the strengths of the ZS3: the camera chose a low ISO level, but was still able to use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action. You can also see a good level of detail: the fine details of his placard are well represented.
x x x

 

Fungus Sample
x Focal length: 34.4mm
ISO: 200
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter speed: 1/640 of a second

This shot of some fungus growing in the wilds of Long Island shows some of the good and bad things about this camera. The details on the topmost part of the fungus are sharp and clear, but the ones underneath are not, because the camera set the aperture to f/5.6, which does not give much of a depth of field.
x x x

 

Landscape Sample
x Focal length: 4.1mm
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/5.0
Shutter speed: 1/400 of a second

This shot of the bucolic side of Long island was taken with the camera in the landscape mode, which focuses into the distance. The image has a good amount of detail, but the colors are a  little flat and the image is slightly underexposed.
x x x

 

Low Light Sample
x Focal length: 21mm
ISO: 3200
Aperture: f/4.4
Shutter speed: 1/15 of a second

This low light photo was taken in the high sensitivity mode of the ZS3, which increases the cameras ISO range to 1600 to 6400 and reduces the resolution to a maximum of 3 megapixels. With just a single light on in our test lab, the camera picked a value in the middle of the range. As you can see from the crops below, the images are rather noisy, and the colors of the flowers look rather muted.
x x x

 

Still Life Examples


Below are examples of our still life taken with the Panasonic DMC-ZS3 at all of the ISO levels that this camera supports, from 80 up to 1600. Click on any image to see the original file, but remember that these files are several megabytes in size and may take a considerable time to download.

  Still Life Comparisons
  x x x x
  Panasonic ZS3 Kodak Z950 Nikon L100 Canon SX120
ISO 80 x
x
ISO 100 x x
x
ISO 200 x x x x
ISO 400 x x
x
ISO 800
(720 for the Nikon)
x x x x
ISO 1600 x x
x

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
x x x
Kodak Z950 Nikon L100 Canon SX120
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