Panasonic Lumix UK

The new Panasonic DMC-TZ3 camera is a significant update of last year’s popular TZ1 model. The most significant change has been made to the Leica lens. It still offers 10x focal length in a compact body, but instead of starting at 35mm, the Panasonic TZ3 now offers a range of 28-280mm. Sure, you lose 70mm from the telephoto end, but many photographers will applaud Panasonic’s move to a more wide-angle field of view. The megapixel count has increased from 5 to 7.2, and the LCD screen is now a massive 3 inches in size (up from 2.5 inches on the old model). The Panasonic TZ3 also features a new Intelligent ISO shooting mode to help prevent motion blur, and Extra Optical Zoom, which uses the central part of the CCD sensor to extend the zoom up to 15x (although only at 3 megapixel resolution). The main problem with the DMC-TZ1 was noisy images at relatively low ISO speeds, so does the new Panasonic DMC-TZ3 improve in that crucial area, despite the megapixel increase? Read the rest of my review to find out.