Panasonic DMC TZ3

Panasonic’s latest addition to its Travel Zoom family, the TZ3, successfully combines Leica’s lens know-how with the company’s own technological expertise, to create a versatile little compact with a really big zoom.  

The original TZ1 was designed to challenge the SLR/bridge-style super zooms, and the TZ3 carries on this mission, alongside its little brother, the six-megapixel TZ2. With its awesome 28-280mm lens and seven-megapixel sensor, the TZ3 offers users the choice of shooting in one of three different aspect ratios: 4:3, 3:2 or 16:9. The three-inch LCD offers a further improvement over its predecessor, along with a faster, more efficient, Venus III Engine processor.

Smaller improvements, like an integrated lens cover instead of the TZ1’s lens cap, an increased sensitivity range up to ISO 3200 and Intelligent ISO technology, make all the difference, turning the TZ3 into a rather attractive prospect for entry-level users.

A new Func (Function) button makes a great addition to the user interface, providing a quick and easy shortcut to key functions like white balance, ISO, Burst mode, aspect ratio, image resolution and size. This is great for users who like to take control of these features, and cuts down on the need for delving into the main menu system every two minutes.

The LCD is bright and sharp. Holding down the Display button for one second calls up a menu that enables you to activate Power LCD, which boosts the brightness and saturation of the image on-screen for dull situations, or High Angle, which adjusts the angle of view so you can hold the camera at odd angles and still see the display easily. Pressing the Display button just once in Shooting mode enables you to choose how much information you’d like displayed on-screen: you can choose from battery life, shots remaining and shooting info (with or without a histogram that changes as you move around), activate a grid to help composition, or just have a completely clear screen.

The four-way d-pad is also really handy, with shortcuts to exposure adjustment, self-timer settings, image review and Flash mode options. The Mode dial even gives you space to save your own Favourite setups; when it comes to user-friendliness and design, Panasonic seems to have thought of everything.

One thing the designers do seem to have forgotten, however, is to put any internal memory in there. The TZ3 comes with just 12.7MB of internal memory, which isn’t much to be getting on with, so you’ll certainly need to get yourself a decent-sized SD/SDHC memory card right away.

Although the menu system is far from being overwhelmingly complicated, if you don’t want to be troubled by anything other than the bare essentials, you can switch to Simple Mode. This mode means that you have far less information displayed on the LCD while shooting, and the menu system is stripped right down to just a few options, with bold, bright icons.

The 21 scene modes on offer mean that there’s something for just about every situation, including Starry Sky for budding astrophotographers, Fireworks, Beach, Snow, Aerial Photo and Underwater, along with the more typical modes like Portrait and Sports. Pressing the Display button with a mode highlighted will call up a brief description of that mode, along with specialist instructions like ‘Tripod recommended’ – a great way of learning the basics of photography.

Having these modes is great if you’re not too fussed about taking complete control over camera settings, and the camera produces great images as a result. Most of the in-camera processing is quite subtle, meaning there’s some scope for post-production if users want to really maximise the potential of their images. The in-camera Noise Reduction (NR), however, is a little over-zealous. This does mean that you’ll find less noise in your images, but you can also see some loss of details and colour information in your shots as the ISO increases. This isn’t really noticeable in small prints though, and would probably be of little consequence to users.

Onto the clever stuff: the TZ3 has some pretty nifty technology packed inside, including Mega OIS, an image-stabilising gizmo that compensates for any camera shake caused by the user. It can be set to two different modes, enabling the user to define whether the OIS is operating continuously or only when the shutter is firing, and it works very well indeed. Intelligent ISO control is being introduced to selected new Lumix models, to help counteract subject movement and prevent blurring in photos. The camera detects when a subject is moving and automatically adjusts the ISO according to the lighting conditions, so allowing a faster shutter speed to be used.

The result of all this technology, along with the high-quality lens and fantastic zoom range, is a great camera that produces very good results in most conditions and would serve any budding photographer very well.