Zoom!

I was so excited to buy this camera after all of the reviews I have read...but so far, I have been dissappointed! My pictures do not seem to come out clear - could someone help me to know what the best settings are? As well, I keep losing pictures. I took a ton of Christmas pictures, and they were there Christmas day....and gone on Boxing day! My night pictures are also horrible!! Perhaps I just need a tutorial??

Size.
Zoom range.
Build quality.

No manual control.
No RAW capture.
Heavy handed noise reduction.
No viewfinder.

This little camera does it's job well. It's a very good little travel camera. Small enough for most pockets, great zoom range, great screen, great photo quality.

From my list of strengths and weaknesses it looks as if I didn't like this camera, I did. It's a very good little camera, it just wasn't the camera for me. If Panny included RAW capture and manual controls I would absolutely love this camera (I can forgive the lack of a viewfinder). I bought this solid little camera for its size, but couldn't get used to the lack of control in processing(RAW)and capturing(no manual controls).

This camera would be great for someone looking for a simple to use, compact, super zoom camera. Point and shoot. For me I decided I would rather carry a little more bulk and get all of the features I wanted(G9).

Customer Service

Don't know, I haven't had to use them.

Similar Products Used:

Canon G2
Canon S2
Canon G9

zoom, Zoom, ZOOM!!! Different Modes (favorites are: Simple, Sunset, Candle Light, Fireworks, Beach. I haven't been able to try Snow or Aerial yet but am looking forward to doing just that.) The buttons on this camera are very easy to reach, especially when holding the camera steady, The menus are very easy to read and are user-friendly, anyone could understand them. I really like the feature that allows you to hold your camera up in a crowd to reach above people's heads and yet still be able to get a full view of the subject. Let's not forget the video this wonderful piece of machinery can take. I was pleasantly surprised when I tested the video at a little concert I went to. While the security guard did not like me testing my camera's video features, I sure did. It performed remarkable. The quality was excellent as was the audio (at all different volumes). Another feature I love is the 6 adjustments you can set for your video's audio. I really can not say enough about how I LOVE this camera. It was a great investment and I will be taking this everywhere I go. My friends at the beach were loving it so much that they are going to get one too. Wait till I send them the actual pictures after I downloaded them. They fell in love with the camera because they did not have to squint when viewing the pictures on the camera screen. The nice 3" screen is big enough where everyone can see them without having to take the camera out of each other's hands to see the pictures. Another great feature I did not want to leave out. One more thing is the ability to be able to review your pictures/video in different ways (including calendar) while in Playback Mode - very unique. Panasonic has not disappointed me with their cameras and they really went over the top with this one. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves an easy camera but LOVES zoom and will use it, and great video features as well.

Seriously, the only two things I have come across after testing this camera to its limit are: you can only delete one picture at time when in Playback Mode (unless there is somethng I have not done). I could be wrong about this. One other thing I noticed is what everyone who owns a digital camera says ... the battery does not last long enough. Well, it might be because I was using every feature everywhere I went. So to be honest, I really do not know how a "normal" battery life would last in this camera yet. I will most likely buy an extra battery though ... just in case.

I absolutely love this camera. I have owned many cameras and this one is by far my favorite. I took it to the beach a couple of times within the past 2 weeks, since I recevied it in the mail. I have tried every setting on it and I can not believe how awesome this camera works in the plain ole Simple Mode. I took pictures in all modes and then immediately took another in Simple Mode, just to compare it. My favorite mode, believe it or not, is Simple Mode. The price was great, the service from the on-line provider was fantastic - excellent timing & condition of delivery and they kept me informed of where my package was at all times with a nifty UPS tracking system. I have one of Lumix's models (the slim one DMC-FX8) and I thought I loved that but I am a sucker for great zoom ... and the DMC-TZ3 definitely has great zoom. My beach pictures came out looking professional. Another mode I really love is the Sunset mode, the pictures are gorgeous! Bottom line, I LOVE this camera ... great quality, great price, great experience overall.

Customer Service

Have not had to contact Customer Service

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX8
Kodak (10 zoom) - not sure of the name

Extremely sharp lens. Distortion free at 28mm. This is fantastic. You can see many images I have shot at all focal lengths here:

http://gmchappell.smugmug.com/gallery/2900447#156043664

The camera is very qiet in operation, meaning you can take it anywhere to shoot without disturbing anyone. Once you turn the flash off, it stays off instead of defaulting back on everytime you turn the camera off and back on. Extremely easy access to exposure compensation, ISO and image quality controls means this is truly a great camera for a serious shooter who wants an easy to carry camera on him/her at all times. Image stabilization works great. I also have an FZ50 and use it in mode one (on all the time), but with the TZ3 I find mine to work better in mode two, where it comes on only at the moment of exposure. This also means it uses less of the battery capacity...always a good thing. The three inch LCD is superb, and it gains very well for easier viewing up in bright light. The combination of the gaining up, with the gridlines for compisition and the live histogram makes getting the shot right much easier and minimizes later post processing.

I could not be happier I bought this camera.

I will say I have not once tested the movie mode. I hear you cannot zoom while recording, but I won't comment any further about movie capability. It could not even be included with this model and I would never miss it.

Of the things I have tried, I would say the normal warnings about using a built-in flash apply. They're never as good as a separate flash in terms of lighting quality and you'll note there are no flash shots at the link I mentioned above. Indoors in lower light I revert a lot to black & white available light shooting and this camera does that very well. The flash appears to have good coverage, but there is that TTL double flash effect where you get a pre-flash, followed by the actual recording flash, so you will have some subjects where you are dealing with people who will never have their eyes open. If I need to do indoor flash photography, I use my FZ50 and my separate flash.

This camera does not have a RAW capture option. While it would have been nice, I am very pleased with the in-camera JPEG's. To my eyes they have a nice quality, but still accept a decent amount of post processing, including sharpening, if you are the type who likes to "finish" their shots, and I know I do.

The camera has everything you need for fantastic travel photography in an almost ultra-compact design. Being able to zoom non-stop from a 28mm wide angle to 280mm telephoto, all with image stabilization and great image quality from 100-400, and even 800 if you expose the scene properly, will cover the vast majority of all photographic needs while on vacation, and the virtual distortion free wide angle shots means you won't be doing any correcting of bent lines when you get home, and if you want something to carry around so you'll always have instant access to the ability to record anything that might come up with little to no loss of quality due to the camera being a compact.

Customer Service

NA

Similar Products Used:

Tried the Olympus SP550 UZ, but it's a little bigger than the TZ3. Other than that, this is the first digicam I have owned since a Canon Powershot G5 2-3 years ago.