Full Review

*** MAJOR UPDATE (4/26/08) ***

This review was updated two weeks after purchasing the camera, and under quite peculiar circumstances. Originally, I had given this camera a rating of 5 out of 5 on Durability. I was out with the camera at a local coffee spot one evening. The camera was in a padded pouch by Case Logic (great brand for pouches, by the way) and the pouch was sitting on my lap.

While fooling around with my laptop computer, I had forgotten that the camera in the pouch was on my lap, and I stood up. The camera in the pouch slid off my lap to the uncarpeted floor below, a fall of no more than 18 inches (max).

Realizing what had happened, and checking for damage, I noticed that the wide/telephoto focus ring surrounding the shutter release button had developed a crack in the right side, and that it no longer rotated easily. Shortly after that, the shutter release itself failed, making taking photos impossible.

I wound up shipping the unit back to Panasonic near Chicago for repairs. Twenty more dollars spent on shipping.

I was absolutely flabbergasted! Of all the ways that the TZ3 could have hit the ground, what are the odds that the way it struck the ground would precisely damage the camera's weakest design point? I mean, the mode dial is in the middle of the top of the unit, away from an edge impact, and the battery hatch on the bottom obviously makes contact with the outer shell. Those are the only two other weak points. But the circular ring around the shutter release button? Who knew?

Interestingly, I have had this problem with another device I bought many years ago - a Sony Handicam 8mm camcorder. It, too, had the record button surrounded by a rotating ring that did wide/telephoto on the unit and, like with the Panasonic DMC-TZ3, broke shortly after I bought it. (Good thing it came with a remote controller.) I would like to see all manufacturers put an end to these rings around buttons - they seem destined for early failure and can easily be substituted with more buttons or sliding switches.

For that reason, I have withdrawn 2 points from the 5-point rating on Durability. Although the camera's body is quite sturdy, this design flaw is significant enough that I would advise anyone getting this camera to handle it a little more carefully, and to make sure you get a GOOD padded case for it. Otherwise you may be shocked like me.

*** END MAJOR UPDATE ***

I have long been of the opinion that if you’re going to buy a digital camera, you should buy it from a company that has a history of making conventional film cameras, preferably a long one. That means companies like Nikon, Canon and Pentax would be good choices and companies like Casio and HP would be not so good ones. However, I’ve come across an exception to that rule that has made me reconsider, and that exception is Panasonic’s remarkable Lumix DMC-TZ3.

Now, I had actually seen the Lumix DMC-TZ3 (hereafter, the "TZ3") about a year ago. The price point was a little high at $300 so I wound up buying a Kodak EasyShare Z650 point-and-shoot instead. But while the Kodak was a good choice, it had a few flaws, flaws that the TZ3 has very nicely corrected. For example, the Kodak unit had a slow shutter lag that I found frustrating at times, even if the photos it created were quite good. Because of the camera’s clunky shape it was not easy to slip into one’s pants pocket (unless the pocket was huge, of course). And the generated video came out in the not easily utilized QuickTime format – fine for viewing with the QuickTime viewer, but unreliable when I tried to use it in a video editing package.

Well, since the TZ3 has been on the market a year, it has dropped to about $250 at some retailers, making it quite a good buy for what you get. In summary, you get a sturdy, well-built camera that has a touch of Sony’s panache in a package small enough that you need not hesitate to carry it anywhere. Frankly, it’s the sort of point-and-shoot that Nikon should be putting out with their Coolpix line.


MOTIVATION FOR BUYING

My main camera is a Nikon D50, absolutely the best camera I’ve ever owned – a digital SLR. But that unit’s relatively hefty size and weight make it impractical to carry everywhere.

I have bought other point-and-shoots – a Pentax Optio that aged badly, a Sony DSC-S600 that still works but has a failing battery hatch door, and others. I wanted a point-and-shoot with a super-zoom lens – one of the 10X or stronger variety – for a particular outdoor festival I attend annually that doesn’t allow "removable lens" cameras. As I own the D50, not to be able to use that at the festival infuriated me to the point that I’ve decided to get the most capable, usable non-removable lens camera I could find. I found it in the TZ3.


FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I have bought quite a few electronics products in my lifetime, and I have to say that the Lumix DMC-TZ3 made the strongest, most positive first impression I’ve ever experienced. The thing that amazed me the most is that this camera feels solid. Although the body I’m sure is made of some kind of plastic or plastic alloy, it feels like metal. It feels GOOD. Perhaps there’s some metal undergirding that’s adding something. Also, the unit doesn’t feel cheap. When you press the buttons they seem snugly in place, not like they’re loosely riding on some plastic membrane underneath.

The TZ3 has a footprint a little larger than a deck of playing cards, and is about twice as thick. It fits a pocket very nicely. For the unit’s sturdy feel, you will notice that this camera is little heavier than others. But I find that reassuring – at least I can know it’s on me if I need it.

And the way the TZ3's sleek black body finish is designed (I believe there is also a silver body as well), the unit naturally hides fingerprints. What a great bit of planning from Panasonic! They wanted to design a product that would look good, even when not in use. I wish other manufacturers had this kind of foresight.

If the feel of the unit is its strongest point, there are some weak links. The first thing I noticed is that this unit does not take AA batteries or any other standard sort of battery. Panasonic has their own proprietary 1000 mAH, 3.7 volt cells used for this camera (CGA-S007A is the model number, should you decide to go hunting on line for extras). I wonder if the proprietary battery is the reason this model was discounted. Panasonic includes a nice, compact charger, of course, but that’s beside the point – why not use standard batteries?

The manual indicates the cells will last somewhere between 200 and 300 images, which isn’t bad, but isn’t great, either. If you burn through the battery and don’t have an extra cell (which I will likely invest in) you’re stuck until you recharge the battery. An original Panasonic second battery will likely set you back about 50 dollars, and OEM batteries may not quite fit the charger right (I saw that in one customer comment on Amazon.com).

The battery is not "keyed" – meaning it is possible to insert it the wrong way inside the unit. Given that keying is more or less an industry standard for manufacturers, I’m surprised Panasonic didn’t decide to include keying in their battery design. Naturally, the unit won’t come on if it’s in the wrong way, but keying should have been designed into the battery portion of the TZ3.

Charging the battery to full for first use takes 2 hours – which is unfortunate if you’re eager to use it right out of the box. Put the battery in the compact-sized charger and go take in a movie, take a nap, grab dinner, whatever. A green light on the charger indicates charging is taking place; when the light goes out the unit is charged fully and ready for use.

The battery access compartment is where you insert the SD card – and by the way, this camera uses the new SD HC cards, the new high-capacity cards that can hold 4 GB, not too shabby. Mysteriously, you insert the SD card upside down (contacts facing up) – what’s up with that?

And while the access door is good and sturdy and has a nice, firm spring that flips it open when the latch is disengaged, closing it requires you to slide the latch switch back instead of allowing you to simply snap the door shut. That was a bit of a surprise. If that latch switch ever breaks that hatch door will never shut.

While the buttons on the rear of the unit are solid and have a good feel when you press them, they’re a bit small. Panasonic, at least in this unit, chose not to go for a touch screen, which is a bit of a shame because the 3” LCD on the back is HUGE and would be nicely suited to even the fattest of fingers. Maybe future models will have this.

There is a tripod screw underneath, but it’s all the way to the left side of the camera and it’s plastic (ugh). With the attention that Panasonic paid to the general sturdiness of the TZ3, it’s surprising that they chose to skimp on this detail. It should have been centered with the bottom of the body, and it should have been metal. Would it have added that much to the cost of the camera?


USING THE CAMERA

A sliding on-off switch on top of the camera turns it on, and it’s ready to use in under 3 seconds. The 10X telephoto lens extends and retracts noiselessly – it’s the quietest lens I’ve ever seen on a digital camera! Fully extended, the lens adds only 3/4 of an inch to the depth of the unit – an engineering marvel for a 10X super-zoom camera.

A rotary thumbwheel on top of the camera lets you choose the different operational modes - playback, picture taking, picture taking with automatic ISO control, macro, video, and a host of preset scene modes. The rotary thumbwheel, like other controls on the camera, has a good, solid feel.

But the thumbwheel is a mixed blessing. Unlike other digital cameras that always power up in shooting mode, the TZ3 starts in the last mode you were in when you switched it off, which means if you were looking at photos and you turn the TZ3 on, and there’s a photo you want to snap in an instant, you may just miss it. Some folks won’t be bothered by this, but for those who like the idea of being ready for anything, be sure to turn the thumbwheel back to the recording mode for photos before turning it off.

Speaking of the thumbwheel, as you change the modes, a rotary diagram appears on the LCD, showing which mode you’ve selected. I have seen this on other cameras as well; some folks will like it, others won’t get much use out of it.

Surrounding the shutter release button (the picture-taking button) is the wide/telephoto control. This control doubles for zoom control when reviewing photo images. If you continue to zoom out once the photo is at full size, then you’ll see thumbnails, which seems to be a standard feature on most digital cameras now.

Menus are large and easy to navigate, and the on-screen font is easy to read.


ROAD TEST & PHOTO QUALITY

I took several indoor photos using the camera’s automatic ISO control. The photos look good, but dimmer images show noise, which is not surprising – most point-and-shoots have this problem. A photo of a couple of friends at a coffee house came out a bit grainy, but otherwise attractive. This camera can shoot at lower light levels, just don’t expect digital SLR quality images.

Where light is adequate, the white balance is wonderfully accurate. A photo I took in my kitchen under fluorescent lighting turned out as I expected. Lines are reasonably sharp; focus is good but not outstanding. Outdoor shots in bright sunlight turned out as sharp as I expected, too, although I have noticed a bit of distortion at the corners of a few photos – not enough to be bothersome; just something you’d notice if you were looking for it.

The LCD is visible in bright sunlight, which is good – the TZ3 does NOT have a viewfinder. You use the camera’s huge LCD to compose a shot. And the brightness and sharpness of the display will please those with whom you want to share your latest photo creations. From inside the menu structure, you can adjust the display brightness to control battery consumption.

With outdoor night shots under street lights, the camera’s focusing mechanism seemed to struggle to focus a bit; some images were blurry and most were overall yellowish. If you want to take naturally lit urban scenes, you may need to do some color correction yourself with Photoshop (or some other graphic/photo package).

The flash is very strong, but not overpowering. A photo in my dining area and bedroom evenly lit everything in the picture. Flash photos of faces are evenly lit and look good.

I tried printing four of the photos (two daylight outdoor and two indoors) that I had taken and was pleased with the results. The daylight photos, of course, were wonderful. The indoor photos were not quite as sharp as I would expect from a digital SLR but that’s okay; you may want to steady your hand against a firm surface or use a tripod for lower light situations.


MENUS AND CONTROLS

The menu system in the Lumix DMC-TZ3 is well designed. A decorative color bar at the top indicates which mode you’re in – playback (green) or recording (red). A nice, large font makes reading the menu options a breeze, even for older eyes.

Menus selections are made using the five-button cluster on the back of the camera (up, down, left, right and enter buttons). The buttons are a bit small, but they’re not unusable. And the menu structure is logical. Two other buttons, Display, and Function, complete the rear controls for the camera.

There are far too many options that this camera has to cover in this review without boring you to death. If you’re really curious, go to Panasonic’s web site and download the PDF version of the manual to see what this camera can do. It is simply amazing.


VIDEO

This camera, like many others, can create video files – QVGA (quarter VGA resolution, 320 x 24), as well as full-size VGA (640 x 480), at either 30 frames per second or 10 frames per second (note: not 15 frames per second as some units). I was disappointed, though, that the output file format is Apple’s QuickTime rather than the more universal MPEG2. With another camera I tried creating a Video CD using QuickTime and the video turned out jerky. Word to Panasonic’s engineers – next time, go for MPEG2; particularly with the unit’s ability to use high-capacity SD cards, it would be better able to double as a pocket-sized camcorder.

When shooting, the camera shows you the time remaining on your card, and the current duration of your video clip. You cannot zoom while recording, though, which would have been a nice feature. If shooting in one of the 10 frame per second modes, you’ll see the same slower motion that you’ll see on the finished product when you view it on your computer.

In a test of all four formats, I was pleased with the results. Viewing the clips in QuickTime, the sound is good, and color and detail are also good. Playback is done by pressing the "down" directional button. A circular icon in the lower left corner indicates the functions for the other directional buttons (pause, etc.).

But when I imported the full-sized clips into Ulead VideoStudio 11 and created an MPEG file, I was disappointed. The video came out perfect, but the sound was horrid – imagine the sound of loud static and white noise and you’re about 90 percent there.

Mysteriously, for each QuickTime movie file created, the TZ3 also creates a JPG image of the first frame of the video. I’m not sure what this is for (perhaps for identifying movies in the Windows file manager?) but some folks will find it useful.


FINAL VERDICT

My intention when I bought the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 was to use it as a handy pocket camera for outdoor events where my larger camera may prove too large or inconvenient to carry. In that respect, I got more than my money’s worth, because the camera does outdoor shots splendidly, indoor shots reasonably well, has a huge LCD display and feels like it’ll last a while. With a street price of $250 (you’ll have to shop around to find that number; some places still have it going for $300) it’s a good value, and prices should continue to drop throughout the summer as Panasonic’s 2009 line is introduced. Panasonic made some design decisions that I feel put this camera ahead of the offerings of other camera-based manufacturers like Pentax, Canon, and even Nikon. But for its virtues, there are a few imperfections in it, and those imperfections are not unbearable; they’re just inconveniences.

If you’re looking for a stylish point-and-shoot camera that’s a real pleasure to use, look no further than the Lumix DMC-TZ3.