Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3

Viewfinder

There is no viewfinder on the ZS3; images are all framed on the LCD screen.

LCD

The LCD screen of the ZS3 is a 3-inch model with around 460,000 pixels. That's a very decent number, and images looked clear and sharp on it. It also looked good from different angles, with bright, clear colors that would allow for showing off photos to a group.

The 2.7-inch LCD screen is clear and bright

Flash

The small flash is located next to the lens on the front of the camera. We found in our limited tests with a pre-production unit at PMA that this did a decent job; it was able to illuminate objects to a few feet away in almost total darkness. It wasn't much good at more then 6 or 7 feet away though.

The small flash is lcoated alongside the lens

Lens

The Leica branded lens of the ZS3 is a telescoping type. When you turn the camera on, three sections pop out of the camera body to form the full lens length. This is a 12x zoom, with a focal length of 4.1 to 49.2mm, which is equivalent to 25mm to 300mm on a 35mm film camera. That's a good range, which allows for photographing large groups and getting close into the action as well. The aperture range isn't so great, though; at the wide zoom setting it is f/3.3 to f/6.3 and at the telephoto end it is f/4.9 to f/6.3. This means that it is not going to be great in low light; the relatively large aperture means that it can't gather that much light. But the camera does have a decent ISO range, which makes up for this somewhat.

The lens telescopes out from the camera body in three sections

Jacks, Ports & Plugs

There are just two ports on the ZS3, a mini HDMI port and a multi port. The first one allows you to connect the camera to a HDTV, although this cable is not included. If you have a HDMI cable, you will also need a HDMI to Mini HDMI adapter, as this is not included either. The multi port allows for connecting the camera to a computer (thorugh an included USB cable) or to an analog TV with the also included analog video output cable.

Two ports allow for connection to analog or digital TVs

Battery

The battery of the ZS3 fits alongside the memory card. The small battery itself hold a charge of 895 mAh, and Panasonic claims a battery life of 300 pictures from this. We were not able to test this at the show, but it did seem to hold up well from a couple of hours of intense shooting and video taking, so the signs look good.

The battery fits alongside the memory card

The battery itself is rather small

Memory

40MB of internal memory is built into the camera, which can be used to hold photos or video. The primary location for storing both is on the memory card, though; the ZS3 supports SDHC Cards or the older SD Cards. Panasonic did not specify an upper limit for these, but 32GB cards are now available, which could hold many thousands of images.

Other Features

Intelligent Auto Face Recognition - Although most cameras have facial recognition now, the ZS3 takes this a step further by remembering faces. If you register a face (by taking a photo of it in a special menu), the camera will try and recognize it when you are taking photos. If it is recognized, the camera will prioritize the face for focusing and exposure, and shows the name of the person and a chosen icon on the screen. You can even program in a birthday to make sure that the birthday boy or girl is in focus. This worked reasonably well in our limited tests; it was able to recognize faces when they were looking right at the camera and had the same expression as when they were registered, but didn't work when faces were at an angle, were partially obscured or had a vastly different expression. It's an interesting feature, but we aren't sure how many people will really use it much; it feels rather gimmicky.

The facial recognition feature in action