Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Review

Review Date: March 26th 2007

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Page 1
Introduction / Ease of Use
Page 2
Image Quality
Page 3
Sample Images
Page 4
Design
Page 5
Specifications
Page 6
Conclusion

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 7M Fine (3072 x 2304) JPEG image size option, which gives an average image size of around 3-3.5Mb.

Noise

There are 5 ISO settings available on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 which you can select at any time if the camera is in the normal shooting mode, plus a High Sensitivity scene mode which shoots at ISO 3200. There is virtually no discernible noise at the slowest settings of ISO 100 and 200, but noise and slight loss of detail is apparent at ISO 400, particularly in the shadow areas. At ISO 800 image quality has deterioated quite a lot as the camera blurs detail to try and hide the noise. ISO 1250 should be used only as a last resort, and the High Senitivity mode should be avoided at all costs. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 1250 (100% Crop)

High Sensitivity - ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

   

High Sensitivity Mode

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 has a High Sensitivity scene mode which promises to reduce blurry images, particularly of moving subjects indoors, by raising the ISO speed to a maximum of 3200 and therefore allowing for a faster shutter speed. This mode allows you to handhold the camera without using the flash and get more natural results, whilst at the same time freezing subject movement more successfully. There are some obvious drawbacks with this special scene mode - Panasonic state that "Pictures may appear slightly grainy due to high sensitivity". You also need to select the scene mode and therefore have some idea about when it is applicable to your subject. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels:

Original

(100% Crop)
   
   

Sharpening

Here are two 100% Crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are quite soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Unfortunately you can't change the in-camera sharpening level.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

   
   

Chromatic Aberrations

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 dealt exceptionally well with chromatic aberrations during the review, with only very limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, especially at the telephoto end of the 10x zoom.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)
 

Macro

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 5cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro

Macro (100% Crop)

   

Aspect Ratios

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 has 3 different image aspect ratios, as shown below. They are worthy of mention because the TZ3 actually has an 8 megapixel, 1/2.35" sensor, and it then crops the different sizes out of the middle of the sensor, rather than simply crop from the top and bottom of a standard 4:3 image. This CCD, which is larger than those in conventional 7 megapixel and 6 megapixel cameras, can reproduce images shot with the lens set 28mm to 280mm in any of the three aspect ratios without altering the angle of view.

16:9 (3328 x 1872)
3:2 (3216 x 2144)
4:3 (3072 x 2304)
   

Flash

The flash settings on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 are Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction, Forced Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (28mm)

Auto Flash - Wide Angle (28mm)

ISO 64
ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (280mm)

Auto Flash - Telephoto (280mm)
ISO 64
ISO 64
   

And here are some shots of yours truly. As you can see, neither the Flash On setting or the Red-Eye Reduction option caused any red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
   

Flash - Red-Eye Reduction

Flash - Red-Eye Reduction (100% Crop)
   

Night Shot

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds in the Starry Sky Mode scene mode (there are also 15 and 30 second options) and 8 seconds in the Night Scenery mode, which is good news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 1 second at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like. The camera takes the same amount of time again to apply noise reduction, so for example at the 8 second setting the actual exposure takes 16 seconds.

Night Shot

Night Shot (100% Crop)
   

Anti Shake

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here is a 100% crop of the image to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length

Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)

Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/13th / 55mm
1/8th / 77mm
     

Overall Image Quality

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 produced images of good quality during the review period. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 dealt extremely well with chromatic aberrations, with very limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with very little red-eye and good exposure. The night photograph was good, with the maximum shutter speed of 60 seconds allowing you to capture plenty of light. Anti-shake is a feature that sets this camera apart from its competitors and one that works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. Macro performance is average, allowing you to focus as close as 5 cms away from the subject. The 7 megapixel images were quite soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, as you can't change the in-camera setting. The 1/2.35 inch, 7.2 megapixel sensor used in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 produces noise-free images at ISO 100 and 200, with ISO 400 also looking quite good. ISO 800 does have easily visible noise and ISO 1250 is best avoided at all costs, but overall this is an improvement on the DMC-TZ1 and the previous generation of Panasonic compacts. The new High Sensitivity mode extends the ISO range to 3200 and allows you to freeze subject movement effectively, but does so by significantly blurring detail and increasing noise (so much so that the image is virtually unusable).

Page 1
Introduction / Ease of Use
Page 2
Image Quality
Page 3
Sample Images
Page 4
Design
Page 5
Specifications
Page 6
Conclusion

DIWAPhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 have been submitted to DIWA for comparison with test results for different samples of the same camera model supplied by other DIWA member sites.

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