Panasonic DMC-ZS3
Digital Camera Review
Mar 03, 2009
- By Richard Baguley
4.6
It's not often that we see a whole new video format being introduced on a digital camera, but that's what Panasonic has done with the Lumix DMC-ZS3; as well as being a well specified 10-megapixel still camera, it's the first digital camera to shoot high definition video in the new AVCHD Lite format. Camcorder fans may recognize the first part of the name (AVCHD is the format that many high def camcorders shoot in), but the Lite part is new. AVCHD lite is a subset of the full AVCHD standard, which means that the ZS3 shoots 720p video (which is lower in resolution than the 1080i that most dedicated camcorders shoot) that can be watched on a HDTV and edited in many video editing programs, such as Apple's iMovie.
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Design & Appearance
Panasonic cameras don't tend to be overly flashy or stylish; utilitarian is usually more the order of the day. That's the case with the ZS3 as well; the design is clean and functional, but it unlikely to win any design prizes or elicit gasps of admiration.
Size & Handling
At 4 x 2.35 x 1.29 inches and around half a pound, the ZS3 is not the smallest and sveltest camera out there. But it's not the chunkiest either, and it's a decent size for a camera with a long zoom. We found that it fit well into the hand, and was comfortable to shoot with one-handed. The combined shutter and zoom control falls under the index finger, and the area on the back with a series of bumps is well located for the thumb.
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| the ZS3 fits comfortably into the hand |
Menu
There are two menus on the ZS3; the main menu that is accessed by pressing the center button of the directional control pad, and the quick menu, which is accessed with the quick menu button. The main menu is broken into tabbed sections, with the content of these depending on which mode you are in. In the normal picture mode, the menus are broken up into three tabs, for recording settings, movie settings and others. Each one of the tabs has 4-5 screens worth of settings, which means a lot of scrolling to find some options. In the iA (Intelligent Auto) mode, there are fewer options; each of the tabs only takes a single screen.
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The main menu in the normal picture mode
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The main menu in the iA mode
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| The quick menu provides quick access to a number of controls |
The quick menu is much simpler than the main menu and is designed more for changing shooting settings quickly. It provides options for changing shooting mode, metering, white balance, ISO, intelligent ISO, aspect ratio, resolution and video resolution. This means that you can change things like the ISO level pretty quickly; usually with just a handful of button presses.
Ease of Use
Overall, the ZS3 looks to be a pretty simple camera to use; the quick menu puts the frequently used controls within easy reach, and the camera itself is pretty straightforward to shoot with.
