Mini Digital Camera
Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 is well known for 2 main features. It has the highest optical zoom among any mini digital camera at 12X and it is also one of the few mini digital cameras that offers ultra-wide-angle lens.

Needless to say, with such high optical zoom capabilities, the image quality of the DMC-ZS3 is excellent. Not much use having 12X optical zoom if images are just going to come out crappy. So the DMC-ZS3 gives you 10 megapixels sensor resolution, and to add the icing to the cake, the camera allows you to adjust the megapixel count quickly and easily from 10 to 7, 5, and 3 to increase maximum optical zooms of 14.3, 17.1, and 21.4 respectively. And all this; without much loss of detail.

The DMC-ZS3 also features Panasonic’s Intelligent Auto mode plus face recognition. The face recognition feature allows the camera to "remember" faces from previous shots. When a face is recorded several times, the camera will prompt the user to register the face. After registering the face, when the camera recognises a “registered” face, it will prioritize focus and exposure on the face to enhance brightness and sharpness. The question comes when, what if, you don’t want to focus on the face?

The Intelligent Auto mode is also available in video mode. It automatically selects the most suitable scene mode for video recording and also helps to correct common problems like handshake, focus and brightness problems. Most mini digital cameras take good photos and end there, but the DMC-ZS3 features HD video recording, optical zoom in video mode and its Auto mode allows even a newbie to take a great video. No more shaky, fuzzy and low quality home videos on mini digital cameras.

The camera also comes with a 460,000 pixels LCD screen that not only allows you to playback your photos to see them as them would nearly appear on your computer, it also facilitates possible video recording with a decent playback screen. But the high resolution LCD screen also means shorter battery life, especially if you keep playing back on your screen. It doesn’t help that some modes continually focus the object when zooming, which might be great for help to position a scene, but this drains the camera's battery life much more rapidly than usual.

In short, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 is really one of the best mini digital cameras for taking scenery shots. Most mini digital cameras lack the optical zoom to capture scenery over distances, and the DMC-ZS3 even features wide angle lens for broader view. If used to take portraits, it may not be as powerful as some other cameras out there, and it does lack manual functions for fine-tuning. But the automatic mode takes decent photos and most users will be satisfied with automatic features. Battery life may be an issue, but it’s no big deal carrying an extra battery pack around for additional usage. Given its advance video recording capabilities, you want to be using the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 for video. And when it comes to video on digital cameras, you should be carrying extra battery packs no matter which camera you’re using.