Lumix DMC-ZS3 comes up with long and wide-angle zoom lens in a compact body. 720p movies; lens can zoom during movie capture.However it has few manual controls.

Like its predecessor, the Lumix DMC-TZ5, Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-ZS3 offers a fascinating fusion of features, including a 12x zoom lens and 720p AVCHD video capture, in an interesting, compact body. And with better photograph quality, barely quicker performance, and a wider angle lens, the ZS3 does improve on the older model. It also holds pretty well compared to rivals like the Canon PowerShot SX200 IS.

Available in blue, silver, black, and red, the ZS3 ( aka the TZ7 some place else ) has a like tiny brother, the ZS1, which differs in some clear and not-so-obvious techniques for their roughly $100 price differential.

Though both shoot 10-megapixel pictures, the ZS3 really uses a 12-megapixel sensor to maintain the same angle of view 16:9 and 4:3 aspect modes. The ZS3 also offers a 720p HD movie mode with stereo and a mini HDMI output vs the ZS1′s monaural VGA, and has a bigger 3-inch LCD. The ZS3 has a selection of continuous-shooting modes : standard burst ( 3 best quality shots ) ; a slower infinite burst ( highest quality till the card is full ), which most closely is like a standard continuous-shooting mode ; and a high-speed burst scene mode, with mixes of diverse reduced resolutions and ISO sensitivity setting limits.

So long as you do not need much in the way of manual features, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 is a really pleasant camera that may handle a number of shooting scenarios.