Monday, November 9, 2009

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Packs a Lot into a Small Package

By Reina Mae Apaitan

If you are in the market for a new camera, you might consider the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3. This model is a follow-up to the DMC-TZ5, which was extremely popular. There were numerous benefits to the TZ5, including a 10x zoom lens, HD movie recording and an extremely nice 3" LCD. While these were all great advantages, the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 takes all of those great features and improves upon them in order to produce a camera that with even more benefits. With the new ZS3 you will also be able to enjoy a zoom lens that is even more powerful, an improved face detection, a new and advanced image processor and a mode just for HD movie processing.

The camera comes with quite a bit straight out of the box, meaning that you can begin to take quality pictures straight away. Out of the box, the Lumix DMC-ZS3 comes with the following:

Wrist strap A/V cable Battery charger USB cable CD-ROM with PhotoFunStudio Manual DMW-BCG10 lithium-ion rechargeable battery Lumix DMC-ZS3 camera

Memory Panasonic has long been known for producing cameras with excellent built-in memory. This camera, like all previous models from Panasonic, also features a good amount of memory. At 40MB you will be able to take plenty of pictures to get started, but you might be interested in upgrading to a larger memory card at some point. The DMC-ZS3 will support MMC, SD and SDHC memory card formats. The exact amount of memory that you may need will be based primarily on how the camera is used. If you will not do a lot of movie recording, it is a good idea to use a 2GB card. On the other hand, you will usually need at least a 4GB card, possibly even a 8GB card, even you do perform a significant amount of movie recording.

Battery The new DMW-BCG10 lithium-ion battery is used in the DMC-ZS3. This battery offers an ample amount of energy. If you do need to charge the battery, all you will need to do is place the battery in the charger. The charger is included out of the box with the camera. The battery should be charged for approximately 2.5 hours in order to fully charge. The charge plugs straight into the power outlet, making the process of charging the battery extremely simple.

Software There are many excellent features included on the Lumix DMC-ZS3 but the software products included by Panasonic really make it stand out. PhotoFunStudio 3.0 HD can be easily used in conjunction with windows. You will be provided with a thumbnail view once you have imported photos from the camera or the memory card. In addition, you can also upload photos to a video sharing service or to the Internet as well as view a slideshow. Furthermore, this camera makes it possible for you to use a new face recognition system that identifies people in photos. You can then easily perform searches at a later date. PhotoFunStudio gives you the ability as well to search through photos for a variety of different items such as a name, date, scene, etc.

You can even retouch photos that you have taken with this camera straight from the editing window. As a result, you have the choice to adjust items like brightness, contrast, color and sharpness. It is also possible to change items to sepia, negative color and black and white. Just the click of a mouse makes it possible to eliminate red eye problems with this model camera.

The DMC-ZS3 is a small camera, but that does not impact its power, especially with the presence of a 12x zoom lens. The built-in lens cover allows you to take this camera wherever you might want to go. In other countries, the Lumix DMC-ZS3 is known as the DMC-TZ7.

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