Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 14 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5.5Mb.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3 produced images of very good quality during the review period. The 1/2.33 inch, 14 megapixel sensor used in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3 produces noise-free images at ISO 100 and 200, with ISO 400 also looking good, although there's slight loss of saturation. ISO 800 shows some quite obvious noise and softening of fine detail, and ISO 16000 is even noisier, although still OK for small prints and web images. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3 dealt extremely well with chromatic aberrations, with limited purple fringing effects appearing only at the edges of the frame in high contrast situations. The built-in flash is rather under-powered but worked fairly well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate exposure. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 60 seconds allowing you to capture plenty of light. Anti-shake 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 good, allowing you to focus as close as 3cms away from the subject. The images were a little soft straight out of the DMC-ZX3 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 new Intelligent Resolution feature either makes a standard image look sharper, albeit with some un-wanted artefacts appearing, or it digitally increases the 8x optical zoom to 10x, again with a slight loss in quality.

Noise

There are 6 ISO settings available on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

ISO 80 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (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 a little 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)

Focal Range

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3's 8x zoom lens provides a versatile focal length of 25-200mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

25mm	200mm

File Quality

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3 has 2 different image quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

10M Fine (5.87Mb) (100% Crop)	10M Normal (2.82Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3 handled chromatic aberrations excellently during the review, with very limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, as shown in the example below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 3cms 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 Shot	100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3 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.

Forced Off - Wide Angle (25mm)	Forced On - Wide Angle (25mm)
Forced Off - Telephoto (200mm)	Forced On - Telephoto (200mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On or the Auto/Red-eye Reduction settings caused any red-eye.

Forced On	Forced On (100% Crop)
Auto/Red-eye Reduction	Auto/Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3's 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 great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 15 seconds at ISO 80. 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 15 second setting the actual exposure takes 30 seconds.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3 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 are some 100% crops of the images 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)
1/2 sec / 25mm
1/2 sec / 200mm

Intelligent Resolution

The Intelligent Resolution feature either makes a standard image look like a higher resolution one by processing the contour areas, texture areas and smooth areas individually, or it digitally boosts the zoom magnification from 8x to 10x.

Off	On
i.Zoom
Off	i.Zoom

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3 camera, which were all taken using the 14 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera / Lens Extended

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / Quick Menu

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3 remains an excellent compact camera, but it's much less of an enjoyable surprise than its predecessor, with little really new on offer except for videographers.

Still bridging the size gap between the smaller FX and larger TZ series cameras, the ZX3 inherits the 720p AVCHD Lite movie format, bringing with it a much-needed reduction in file size plus a very welcome one-touch record button, HDMI port and simple in-camera editing options. There's no stereo sound or full 1080p HD, but the improvements have definitely made the ZX3 a more appealing option in terms of moving footage.

Still images are a different story, however, with the move to 14 megapixels and the new Intelligent Resolution feature bringing few actual benefits. While the photos produced by the ZX3 are slightly higher-resolution than the ZX1 without any drop in quality, most users won't see any benefit from the extra pixels. The ability to increase the zoom range without having to decrease the image size is the main benefit of the Intelligent Resolution function, but the quality does noticeably degrade.

Thankfully all of the other appealing aspects of the ZX1 are present and correct. The combination of an ultra-compact, lightweight and well-made body with the 8x, 25-200mm lens remains a real winner, with few real rivals from other manufacturers, although we'd have liked to see some of the flaws of the ZX1 addressed in this version, most notably the slow burst shooting speed (even slower now), flimsy battery compartment cover, and the annoyingly loose Mode Dial.

The lack of significant improvements aside, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3 remains a compelling point-and-shoot camera thanks to its winning combination of small size, quick speed and big zoom.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	5
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	4

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX3 from around the web.

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