Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3K: Little Big Man!

Introduction
I have always had a love affair with cameras. From the moment my dad gave me his Argus C3 (the brick) when I was 15 I was smitten. I loved using them, loved reading about them and on occasion, when something new came along buying them. The C3 led to a Mamaya-Sekor 1000DTL and on to an Olympus OM2n with motor drive that I still own and occasionally use today.

In my younger years I loved feeling of the weight of my camera swinging from my neck. But as time marched on I noticed I took fewer and fewer photos. Sure, I still took out the “big dog” for special occasions, and still found occasional refuge in my darkroom, but my days of having an unwieldy piece of equipment strapped to my neck were drawing to a close.

Enter the Digital Age
When digital cameras started appearing in the 1990’s, I was at the same time fascinated by them and, as most film “photographers”, skeptical. But I kept reading about them until finally I took the plunge and purchased my first. The Fujifilm FinePix 6900. Next to my OM2, it was a miniature. With its 6X zoom and 3.3MP (6MP interpolated) Super CCD, it was everything I thought I could ever want in a digital camera. No, it had no sound while taking movies (movies!?) and when using it indoors I found myself backing up into walls trying to fit everyone into the frame. And, alas, as small as it was, it still swung from my neck. “Dad, you look like a dork!”

I still couldn’t give up my love of the long zoom as I prefer to snap my photos without necessarily being observed. If only people would stop waving, grinning or making silly hand gestures. I had almost caved in and jumped on the high-end Canon SD bandwagon when I started reading about Panasonic-Lumix DMC-TZ3 about a year ago. Once again, I was smitten.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3
Finally, a compact (if not a tad heavy at half a pound) camera that at the very least could be slipped into a pocket, that featured not only a 10X zoom, but also a 28mm wide-angle lens. No more backing up into walls for this guy. And with 7.2 effective megapixels it’s capable of producing some pretty impressive detail.

Although the camera operates nominally at 7.2MP, the sensor is actually is 8.5MP with the extra megapixels employed when the camera is being used in a wide-screen format (16x9).
The 10X Leica zoom (28 -280mm in 35mm terms) provides an astounding range from versatile wide angle to intimate telephoto. The Leica lens can produce incredibly crisp, sharp images, particularly at low ISO speeds of 100 – 200.

Image Stabilization
With cameras getting smaller and optical viewfinders rapidly disappearing in favor of large LCDs the inclusion of an Image Stabilization feature becomes imperative. This is particularly true with models like the TZ3 with its long zoom. Panasonic’s Mega Optical Image Stabilization feature eliminates the results of camera shake nicely. The camera allows you two options. Option 1 allows the IS feature to stay on at all times while the camera is powered up. This allows you to frame long shots a little more easily. Option 2 employs the IS feature only at the moment the photo is taken. Interestingly, Option 2 seems more effective at eliminating blurry images than Option 1. Additionally, the camera employs what it calls Intelligent ISO to stabilize images. Essentially, as the camera senses movement the ISO rating is increased as high as ISO 3200. Will it produce useful images at 3200? Nothing you’d want to enlarge and frame I’m afraid, but they would probably hold up in court. For practical purposes when shooting indoors without the flash I limit the ISO boost to a maximum of 800. While images on the LCD or a large monitor may show artifacts at ISO speeds of 400 or higher, printed images will please the majority of us through ISO 800.

LCD
As mentioned above, there is no optical viewfinder on the TZ3. Instead you view and compose your image on the big, bright high resolution 3 inch LCD. As a long time 35mm photographer, this took a little getting used to. Holding the camera out in front of me rather than pressed up into my face seemed awkward at first. The LCD is extremely bright and can be viewed even with the sun directly behind you. If additional brightness is required there is a “Power LCD” setting than increases the brightness to its maximum. Also, although the LCD is stationary it has a high angle mode for those situations where the camera has to be held overhead or at an odd angle.

Scene Mode
The good news and bad news is that this camera is totally automatic. No opportunity to play with shutter speeds or aperture settings. Once the camera is powered up (top switch) and the control wheel is set on the heart icon, an absolute imbecile can operate this camera and produce reasonable photos.

At first, the purist in me (you know, the guy with the 5 pounds of OM2n and motor drive strapped around his neck) nearly rebelled. Relax, Panasonic includes 20 programmed modes in the camera to allow you to at least think you’re in control. You can suppress the flash if you like and in most modes adjust the white balance, bracket your exposures, fire in bursts and select the best shot. In portrait mode, the camera will fix on the subject and dramatically reduce your depth of field just as it would if you were shooting in manual mode with a wider aperture.

Colors
Panasonic supplies you with five different color settings, Standard, Natural, Vivid, Cool and Warm. Experimenting with them all and having gotten used to the highly saturated colors of my Fuji, I tend to prefer to shoot in the vivid mode. Canon lovers may also share this preference.

No RAW Image
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 stores all images in JPEG compressed format. This could be a deal breaker for the real purist. What’s the sense of owning the latest version of Adobe Photoshop if there’s no RAW file to work with? Truthfully, I’ve made my peace with this and the automatic nature of the camera. I gave up my Omega enlarger and my darkroom almost a generation ago. This camera is smart, very smart and produces images that are more than sufficient for most of us with minimal post-processing need.

Image Storage
Like most manufacturers, Panasonic gives the camera some ridiculously small amount of internal storage. Storage media for the TZ3 include SD/SDHC and MMC cards. My preference is using a 4GB High Speed SDHC card. This is a particularly useful card if you expect to use the camera for movies. The combination of card size and high speed will give you about 45 minutes of TV quality video without any periodic stutter.

The Flash
As with most cameras of this size and type, the flash is a weak point. The sweet spot for this camera is small. A little too close and the flash will overpower the subject. A little too far the flash may either be ineffective or leave the subject looking decidedly blue. However, due to the proprietary battery employed by Panasonic rather than the increasingly popular use of 2AA batteries, shot to shot times while using the flash are far more tolerable.

Battery
Panasonic claims its proprietary lithium battery will give you 270 shots per charge. Depending on how often you use the flash, power LCD setting and Mega OIS feature will influence how close you get to the claimed number of shots. My experience has been that I have always exceeded 200 shots per charge. No matter, being a proprietary battery I suggest keeping a charged back-up with you. The battery must be removed from the camera for recharging.

Conclusion
Are there compromises to be made? Sure there are. But this “little big man” packs an awful lot of versatility into a surprisingly small package. Whether you’re an ambitious snap shooter or a professional desiring a high quality, easily carried back-up, it’s hard to go wrong with this beauty from Panasonic. After several thousand shots I’m still impressed with this camera.

Regards,
Rudi

© Rudi Xeno 2008