Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver)
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Selected Color: Silver
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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 is a full-featured, compact digital camera with full high-definition video recording built-in. Available in 4 bold colors, the stylish, ergonomic body is easy to carry and fun to use. The 10.1 megapixel image sensor captures all of your memories with rich color and remarkable detail. Whether you're shooting wide landscapes or an action-packed sporting event, the 12x Leica VARIO-ELMAR zoom lens completely satisfies your vision.
Panasonic's newly developed Intelligent Exposure (iA) Mode simplifies face detection autofocus, AF tracking for moving subjects, optical image stabilization, scene mode selection, and ISO to make great pictures as simple as point-and-shoot. Concentrate on the subject in front of you--let the camera do the rest.
The DMC-ZS3 brings HD video to your digital lifestyle like never before. Recording full 1280 x 720 at 60 frames-per-second in AVCHD format brings smooth, broadcast video quality to your family vacations, sporting events, and other memories. The 12x optical zoom functions during video recording allowing you to get close to your subject without moving in. The included YouTube Uploader software and integrated HDMI port, it's easy to share your videos and pictures online or on your HDTV. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 meets all the needs of the 21st century digital lifestyle.
- 12x Optical Zoom Leica DC Vario-Elmar Lens
- Leica optics is world-renowned for their high quality and exceptional value. Coupled with the Lumix DMC-ZS3, the 12x Optical Leica Vario-Elmar lens provides dramatic wide angle to telephoto coverage. This range represents an incredible 35mm equivalent of 25-300mm. From landscapes to portraits, macro to sports action shots, this optic ensures first-class image quality in an ultra-convenient focal range.
- Intelligent Auto Exposure (iA)
- Taking great photos should be as simple as point-and-shoot. That's the philosophy behind the Panasonic's Intelligent Auto Exposure (iA). Combining face detection autofocus, AF tracking for moving subjects, image stabilization, scene mode selection, and auto ISO selection, the DMC-ZS3 delivers consistently beautiful photographs.
- MEGA Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.)
- The Lumix DMC-ZS3 is equipped with Panasonic's industry-leading MEGA Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) that automatically detects and corrects for camera shake. Even under low-light conditions, the DMC-ZS3 provides consistently sharp, crisp, photographs you can be proud of. The technology works seamlessly with or without a flash.
- HD Video Recording + Dolby Stereo Sound
- Using the professional AVCHD format, the DMC-ZS3 is able to capture stunning high definition video at 1280 x 720 resolution at a smooth 30 frames-per-second (Class 6 SD card required). A built-in stereo mic brings Dolby Digital sound to all of your video recordings.
- 45MB of Internal Memory
- With 45MB of built-in memory, the DMC-ZS3 has ample space for storing and sharing your favorite photos. Share holiday photos, vacation snaps, and other treasured memories without sacrificing space on your memory card.
Go To
| Camera Type | Point-and-shoot Digital Camera |
| Imaging | |
|---|---|
| Resolution | Effective: 12.7MP, Recorded: 10.1MP |
| Sensor | 1/2.33" CCD |
| Bit Depth | Not Specified By Manufacturer |
| File Formats | JPEG, AVCHD, QuickTime |
| File Size | ~5.2 MB at maximum resolution |
| Color Spaces | sRGB |
| Image Stabilization | Yes |
| Crop Factor | N/A |
| Optics | |
|---|---|
| Lens | 4.1-49.2mm f/3.3-4.9 (35mm film equivalent: 25-300mm) |
| Zoom | Optical: 12x, Digital: 4x |
| Lens Mount | N/A |
| Focus Type | Autofocus |
| Focus Range |
Normal: 20" (50cm) - infinity Macro: 1.2" (3cm) - infinity |
| Accessory Lens/Filter Mount | N/A |
| Shooting Controls | |
|---|---|
| Sensitivity | ISO: 80-6400 |
| Shutter Speeds | 1/2000 - 8 seconds |
| Metering | Intelligent Multiple, Center-weighted, Spot |
| Exposure Modes | Auto, Scene |
| White Balance | Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Halogen, White Set Selectable |
| Mirror Lock-Up | N/A |
| Burst Capability | Up 1.8fps |
| Self Timer | 2 seconds or 10 seconds |
| Interval Recording | No |
| Remote Control | No |
| Flash | |
|---|---|
| Built-in Flash | Yes |
| Effective Flash Range | 2' (0.6 m) - 17.4' (5.3 m) |
| External Flash Connection | No |
| Dedicated Flash System | N/A |
| Max Sync Speed | N/A |
| Memory | |
|---|---|
| Built-in Memory | 45MB of Internal Memory |
| Memory Card Type | SD/SDHC (Class 6 required for HD video) |
| Still Images per GB | JPEG: High Res:370 |
| A/V Recording | |
|---|---|
| Video Recording | Yes |
| Video Resolution | 1280 x 720 @ 30fps, 848 x 480 @ 30fps, 640 x 480 @30fps, 320 x 240 @ 30fps |
| Video Clip Length |
AVCHD: Limited Only by Memory Card (Class 6 SD card required for HD video) SD Video: Up to 15 minutes |
| Audio Recording | Dolby stereo audio with video only |
| Viewfinder/Display | |
|---|---|
| Viewfinder Type | None |
| Viewfinder Coverage | N/A |
| Display | 3" LCD |
| Connectivity/System Requirements | |
|---|---|
| Connectivity | USB 2.0, A/V Out, HDMI (Type C) |
| System & Software Requirements |
Windows XP, Vista Mac OS X (10.4 or later) |
| Environmental | |
|---|---|
| Operating/Storage Temperature | 32-104°F (0-40°C) & 10-80% humidity |
| Weatherproofing | Not Specified By Manufacturer |
| Durability | Not Specified By Manufacturer |
| Power | |
|---|---|
| Battery Type | DMW-BCG10 Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery |
| Power Adapter | AC Adapter DMW-AC5 (optional) |
| Physical | |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 4.07 x 2.35 x 1.29" (103.3 x 59.6 x 32.8mm) |
| Weight | 7.3 oz (206g) |
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®
by PowerReviews(based on 51 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
100%
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Pros
- Zoom range/performance (39)
- Image stabilization (32)
- Easy to use (27)
- Large clear LCD (25)
- Good in low light (19)
Cons
- No viewfinder (9)
- Short battery life (9)
Best Uses
- Family photos (44)
- Travel (37)
- Landscape/scenery (28)
- Video (27)
- Low light (21)
- Reviewer Profile:
- Casual photographer (26), Photo enthusiast (17), Semi-pro photographer (4), Pro photographer (3)
Most Liked Positive Review
It's all about the zoom!
I bought this camera for my wife after she lost her Sony T50 - a camera we were never happy with due to low image quality and excessive flare. She wanted another touch-screen camera, ...Read complete review
I bought this camera for my wife after she lost her Sony T50 - a camera we were never happy with due to low image quality and excessive flare. She wanted another touch-screen camera, but she also wanted more zoom - like 10X or above. We couldn't find a touch screen with that level of optical zoom, so I prioritized image quality and zoom above everything else, and decided to find a camera that compensated for lack of touch screen with exceptional automatic capability. After using this camera for a couple of weeks, I am highly impressed with its "Intelligent Auto" function, which is perfect for my wife. The camera automatically recognizes the scene and makes adjustments accordingly. Brilliant! Image quality is consistently excellent, and I am especially impressed with shots that use flash. The face DETECTION capability works great, but the face RECOGNITION capability is pretty flawed. The face detection consistently detects people, but the face detection consistently gets the exact person wrong. I disabled that feature - and it's not that critical so no big loss. My wife also complains about the zoom switch - it seems to have a bit of lag in that you bump it towards the tele direction, and it hesitates before beginning to zoom and then zooms slowly. Perhaps we just need to get used to how it functions. So bottom line, this is an excellent camera and the zoom range is fantastic. Highly recommend this.
VS
Most Liked Negative Review
Nice Sturdy Camera but Battery Lacks
I have been owners of Canon Powershots for several years and wanted something with similar zoom capabilities but smaller. This Lumix DMC-ZS3 fits the mold for small but sturdy camera very well. Low light ...Read complete review
I have been owners of Canon Powershots for several years and wanted something with similar zoom capabilities but smaller. This Lumix DMC-ZS3 fits the mold for small but sturdy camera very well. Low light pictures are average at best but the movie mode takes excellent video and the pictures are as sharp as Canon. The 12X is not quite as powerful as the 12X zoom on Canon-you get less detail but adequate. My biggest complaint about the camera is the Panasonic Battery pack, which you are required to buy as third party batteries will not work now. They are horrible and last only a few hours with average use. I took the camera with fully charged battery to a ballgame to shoot the game and by the fifth inning the battery was dead- less than a hundred fifty shots taken. The batteries are overpriced and panasonic is making huge profits on them obviously, but you will need to buy a few backups if you want to use this camera.
REVIEWS
Reviewed by 51 customers
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Displaying reviews 1-20
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Pros
- Great Zoom
- Nice Body Color
Cons
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Landscape/Scenery
- Travel
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
Large clear screen allows you to see subject.Extremely clear pictures even when using zoom lens up to 12x.
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Good in Low Light
- Great Zoom
- Nice Body Color
- Short Lag Time
Cons
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Indoors/Low Light
- Landscape/Scenery
- Sports/Action
- Travel
- Video
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
This is a Prosumer quality camera from the lens to the settings and the lcd screen. Buy it.
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Great Zoom
Cons
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Indoors/Low Light
- Landscape/Scenery
- Sports/Action
- Wildlife photos
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
I have been carrying this camera with me at all times. I haven't used the more advanced features yet, but for normal, basic, every day photo's, it's easy to use, and the quality of the photo's is great.
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Good in Low Light
- Great Zoom
Cons
- Too Large / Bulky
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Landscape/Scenery
- Travel
- Video
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
I bought this camera after a great deal of research on products of this nature. Previously, I had a Casio for about four years, which suddenly and for no reason, quit on me - all still photos came out white! I liked the Casio for it's size and ease of use. The Lumix is a little better, but has a great zoom and its photos are clear with great color. I would absolutely recommend it.
Pros
- Great Zoom
Cons
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Video
- Weddings/Events
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
I had the previous version of this camera, which I loved, but lost on a plane. This camera seems even better than my original. The first time I used it was at my son's college graduation as a video camera. I am thrilled with the quality of video it takes even in bright straight up sunlight. And, the zoom allowed me to get great shots from up in the stands. I am still exploring the other options, but know this will be another great camera.
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Good in Low Light
- Great Zoom
Cons
- A little bulky
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Indoors/Low Light
- Landscape/Scenery
- Travel
- Video
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
I got this camera for my wife in replace of her nikon coolpix S200. The difference of the two is night and day. Very good image quality and the video quality is unreal.
Pros
- Great Zoom
- Nice Body Color
Cons
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Travel
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
Pretty much all the Panasonic point and shoots offer a lot of bang for the buck, and this one is no exception! It won't give you the quality and speed of a full-size Digital SLR, but that's not why I bought it. It's a great camera to carry in a pocket on days when you're not in the studio or on location doing a "real" shoot. It works perfect for everyday snapshots.
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Great Zoom
- Short Lag Time
Cons
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Landscape/Scenery
- Travel
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
Point and shoot with great capabilities.
Great optical zoom.
Rich color pictures.
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Good in Low Light
- Great Zoom
- Nice Body Color
- Short Lag Time
Cons
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Indoors/Low Light
- Travel
- Video
- Weddings/Events
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
It takes awesome photos, great auto settings, face detection with recently remembered face priority makes it great for those who will never manually set anything.
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Great Zoom
- Nice Body Color
- Video quality
Cons
- Low light
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Indoors/Low Light
- Landscape/Scenery
- Travel
- Video
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
We bought this camera for everyday use but also because of the video. The quality is good and you can zoom while recording. The pictures also look good.
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Good in Low Light
- Great Zoom
- Short Lag Time
Cons
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Indoors/Low Light
- Landscape/Scenery
- Travel
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
Great point & shoot camera.
Lots of flexibility if you want.
Very easy to use, intuitive.
Love the 12X telephoto
Be careful you don't turn the Mode Dial accidentally
Good battery life
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Great Zoom
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
I will be using the camera for photographs to be used by local magazines. So far the auto mode gives me clear photos with good color. I'm still trying out other modes. The manual is mediocre and traversing menus is not always clear cut. Diane Rapaport
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Good in Low Light
- Great Zoom
- Nice Body Color
- Short Lag Time
Cons
- Short Battery Life
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Landscape/Scenery
- Travel
- Video
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
Finding a 'pocketable' companion to my DSLR that did HD video proved to be quite a challenge. After trying a few others, I settled on the ZS3 and found out why they are so popular. If you are a pixel-peeper, nothing in this frame size is going to please you. However, if you want great colors, awesome quality HD video and strong flash power with even distribution... this is the one!
Only grip is the video format doesn't play well with MAC OS.
Pros
- Great Zoom
- Nice Body Color
- Short Lag Time
Cons
- Poor Image Stabilization
- Short Battery Life
Best Uses
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
We are intermittent users of the digital camera. I am trying to get a feel for it by going through the manual, camera in hand, to learn about the features within the many menus. It is great that it has many options for optimizing one's shot - for shooting in moonlight, inside, at sunset, etc. I called customer service about the "auto focus" feature; the LCD looks blurry a lot of the time and I am still trying to figure out if it is a defect in the camera or a drawback of the feature. The customer service person stated that if I'm looking at something too close or too far away or in "low light", the autofocus would not focus. When I asked him if indoors would be considered "low light", he stated that it would, and one would want to use the flash.
While I am still working through the bells and whistles, hoping to solve the blurry LCD image problem, I am not sure I would recommend this camera to a friend who just wanted to point and shoot.
Pros
- 25 mm Wide angle
- All metal body
- Good Image Stabilization
- Good in Low Light
- Good Size
- Great Zoom
- HD Video
- Low light settings
- Nice Body Color
- Short Lag Time
Cons
- No antireflective coating
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Indoors/Low Light
- Landscape/Scenery
- Sports/Action
- Travel
- Video
- Weddings/Events
- Wildlife photos
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
I bought the ZS3 to replace my againg Lumix FZ5. I like its small size, solid feel, and high quality picture. Pictures turn out good at defalut setting. When shoting indoor and lighting condition not ideal, there are settings to adjust for bright and quality pictures. The only quibble is the LCD screen is difficult to see under direct Sun light.
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Great image quality
- Great Zoom
- Nice Body Color
Cons
Best Uses
- Family Photos
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
This camera is easy to use especially with the 3
inch view finder. With a great Leica lens and the ability for distance and wide angle views, how
can you gp wrong! Love the compact size, too.
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Great Zoom
- Nice Body Color
Cons
- Short Battery Life
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Sports/Action
- Travel
- Weddings/Events
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
This camera fits all the requirements I was looking for great optical zoom, fast shutter, and the quality of pics are great!
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Good in Low Light
- Great Zoom
- Nice Body Color
Cons
Best Uses
- Indoors/Low Light
- Landscape/Scenery
- Video
- Wildlife photos
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
This camera was purchased to take to clean sharp photos that could be used in PowerPoint presentations requiring landscape and option to enlarg photos (not losing sharpness) for large venue presentations. It does everything it said it would and more....
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Good in Low Light
- Great Zoom
- Nice Body Color
- Short Lag Time
Cons
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Indoors/Low Light
- Landscape/Scenery
- Travel
- Video
- Wildlife photos
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
Nick does alot of closeup shots and loves the camera!
Love the instant aperture!
Extraordinary clarity from LCD screen
battery charger is straight forward.
Pros
- Good Image Stabilization
- Good in Low Light
- Great Zoom
- Short Lag Time
Cons
Best Uses
- Family Photos
- Video
Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Digital Camera (Silver):
I am just a recreational photographer, but I love this camera. It takes great pics of my kids and is very easy to use. Love the zoom. Haven't found there to be too much of a delay. Video is very convenient to use. Instruction booklet is great.
Displaying reviews 1-20
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Batteries & Power
Always keep a spare battery handy so you won't get caught without power.
- Price: $35.88
-
- Original: $19.95
- Save: $1.99
- Price: $17.96
Bags & Cases
Carry, store, and protect all your equipment with a bag or a case.
-
- Original: $10.99
- Save: $0.55
- Price: $10.44
Lenses & Adapters
Capture the right view with a conversion lens.
- Price: $13.98
Screen Protectors
Protect your LCD screen from scratches and finger prints.
- Price: $7.49
Card Readers
Download your pictures faster and save battery life.
- Price: $8.99
What's in the Box
- DMW-BCG10PP ID Secured Battery
- Battery Charger
- Wrist Strap
- USB Cable
- A/V Cable
- Software CD-ROM
- 1-Year Panasonic U.S.A. Warranty
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