Product Description

DMC-TZ3 is the latest members of the award-winning Lumix TZ family of digital cameras, which is renowned for packaging a remarkable 10x optical zoom in a compact, stylish body. To further add to their appeal, the TZ3 go one step further to feature a 28mm wide-angle Leica DC lens (equivalent to 28-280mm on a 35mm film camera) for wide-angle shooting.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32253 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Panasonic
• Model: DMC-TZ3EB-K
• Released on: 2007-05-03

Features

• Camera Effective Pixels: 7.2 Mega pixels
• Optical Zoom: 10 x
• LCD Monitor: 3.0inch Polycrystalline TFT LCD Display
• Focal Distance: f=4.6-46mm (35mm Equiv.: 28-280mm)
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 105.0 x 59.2 x 36.7 mm

Manufacturer's Description

NEW - World Smallest Camera With 10x Optical Zoom and 28mm Wide Angle Leica Lens, 7 Megapixel and 3 Inch LCD Screen

Panasonic's new DMC-TZ2 and DMC-TZ3 are the latest members of the award-winning Lumix TZ family of digital cameras, which is renowned for packaging a remarkable 10x optical zoom in a compact, stylish body.
To further add to their appeal, the TZ2 and TZ3 go one step further to feature a 28mm wide-angle Leica DC lens (equivalent to 28-280mm on a 35mm film camera) for wide-angle shooting.

More detail in a single frame

The 28mm wide-angle lens opens up a plethera of photographic opportunities, allowing photographers to easily capture a large group of people, or expansive architectural structures and landscapes with dynamic width and rich perspective.
The wide-angle lens is particularly helpful in situations where you cannot step back or move away from a subject - ideal for shooting group portraits in a small room for example.

The diminutive size of the 7.2 megapixel DMC-TZ3 belies the wealth of technological features.
Incorporating a powerful 10x optical zoom in such a slim and stylish body is impressive in itself.
Add to this the incorporation of Panasonic's Mega O.I.S that prevents blurring from shaky hands, Intelligent ISO to prevent motion blur, and the high quality, high performance image-processing Venus Engine III to name but a few - and the calibre of these new additions becomes apparent.

The LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR lens comprises 11 elements in nine groups, including an ED (extra-low dispersion) lens and three aspherical lenses.
This advanced lens unit passes Leica's stringent standards and delivers an exceptional optical performance.

To further add to their appeal, the zoom ratio can be extended up to 15x in 3megapixel resolution mode with minimal deterioration thanks to the Extra Optical Zoom.
By using the central part of the CCD, this powerful zooming function allows you to easily capture and magnify distant subjects.
Furthermore, in combination with the 4x digital zoom, a zoom factor of up to 60x can be achieved (55x for the DMC-TZ2)

Box Contents

• Camera
• Battery charger
• Battery
• Battery carrying case
• AV cable
• Usb connection cable
• AC cable
• Strap
• CD rom

Customer Reviews

Great travel camera
Bought this camera as we were going on a Mediterranean cruise. I wanted a compact camera with wide angle lens for using on the ship but also needed a good telephoto lens as well.

I already own a Nikon D80 with 2 lenses covering 18-300mm but didn't want the hassle of carrying it around on a relaxing holiday. This wee beauty covers 28-280mm, there is no constant changing of lenses and the LCD screen can be easily seen even in bright sunlight so the lack of a viewfinder is no problem. I was even able to use the camera to read the names of other ships when I did not have binoculars with me!

It always amazes me that so few compact digitals come with a wide angle lens and only 2 or 3 combine a wide angle with a long zoom.

This camera is great for shooting sunrise and sunset photos using the warm mode and there is a vivid mode for shooting bright colours. I also found the travel mode useful. You just set the start date of your holiday and the camera will tell you on what day any photo was taken-eg 3rd day/6th day.

Although the camera is not the smallest you can buy it packs a lot into a fairly compact body and the camera will easily slip into a trouser pocket.

I also bought a 2GB SD Card from Play.com for approximately £13 including postage and was able to take around 700 photos on the highest resolution setting of 7mp.

This camera must not be seen as a straight alternative to a DSLR however. Although the camera has high ISO options any pictures shot above ISO 200 will be a lot less than perfect. There is no control over shutter speed or aperture size either and in anything less than bright light it may be difficult to obtain a fast enough shutter speed to capture a sharp image.

As I say I bought this camera specifically for ease of use for holidaying in sunny climes and I can thoroughly recommend it in this respect. For snapping wildlife in the middle of a British winter(or even summer!) stick to a quality DSLR.

UPDATE
Since returning from holiday I have taken many photos in less than bright conditions and have to say that I am really impressed with the camera.

Some tips I would add to my original review are;

1) Buy a screen protector for the LCD screen, they cost about £6 including postage for a pack of 6.
2) Keep the camera set on VIVID colour mode permanently, results are much brighter even in dull conditions.
3) As the battery doesn't last a huge length of time it may be an idea to buy a 2nd battery if taking lots of of shots on single outings. The good news is that the battery recharges in a couple of hours.
4) The camera does not have a high speed USB connection so it may be better to stick to 1GB memory cards as it takes forever to download a 2GB card.

Cracking camera from Panasonic
Having had a few digital camera's over the years, what I was looking for was one with a decent wide angle and zoom and started looking at "prosumer/bridge " and even SLR camera's. Then I saw the TZ3. I've been using it for over a month now.
Pros: ease of use, sharpness, image stabilisation, 10x zoom, battery life, zoom-resume, very little "purple fringeing" (only on extreme of zoom), etc, and it's pocket sized.
Cons: probably only the weight (about 250 g) as it feels like glass lenses.
Conclusions: I've tended to use the wide angle with the 16:9 aspect ratio but the versatility of the 10x zoom is very useful. There are a lot of useful settings like histograms and grids to put on the LCD and you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. In fact don't be put off with all the settings as you can just use "simple" mode and get superb crisp photo's and familiarise yourself later (if you want). The flash is pretty adequate for it being a compact.
I was dissapointed not to be able to get RAW and TIFF files, but the on-board processing needs little further adjustment. I'm very glad I've got one as I'm far more likely to be carrying it in my pocket than I would be with something bigger.

What a camera
I bought this camera to replace my old Olympus C770 ultra zoom and my newer Fuji F10 as I wanted something that would encapsulate what both cameras could do ( Small with a powerfull zoom ) I was not dissapointed, this compact has all the features you could want. It has many different scenes settings and the zoom is amazing for a camera of this size, I love the anti shake feature as well which will give some great long distance shots. Try using the wide angle feature too it gives a different and interesting perspective.
The screen is crystal clear and a good healthy 3".
I give this camera 5 stars coz I looked long and hard for really good compact that fitted all my requirements, give it a go you won't be dissapointed.