rwcat's Full Review: Panasonic Lumix® DMC-LZ3 Digital Camera
I seem to have very bad luck with digital cameras and it has continued somewhat with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ3. My previous camera, which this one replaced because the previous one went dead for virtually no reason, was a Canon Powershot. I bought the Lumix about a year ago.
To start, I am an amateur and just want something that is easy to use and takes decent pictures. These are two areas where this camera does very well. The buttons and menus are pretty easy to learn and pick up quickly. I like that the different modes are built into a rotating switch that gives a fairly clear picture or description of the mode you have selected. The buttons, although serving multiple functions depending what menu or task you're in, are labeled clearly enough for most users. For the record, I am quite experienced at using electronic and computer equipment, just not at photography itself.
The camera takes nice looking pictures. I take most of my pictures when on vacation or at special events. Sometimes the pictures are a bit dark under high contrast conditions, such as a mountain with a bright sky behind it. Under regular daylight and well-lit indoor conditions, the pictures are clear and well-lit. In some indoor conditions, the flash sometimes washes out the subject a bit. I'm sure there are ways to correct this. Like I said, I am not an experienced photographer, so I am sure I need to learn how to take better pictures under different conditions.
The optical zoom works great. My previous camera had digital zoom, so anything is better than that! The 6x zoom really brings far away objects in close and clear. The image stabilization also works quite well and is very useful with the zoom.
The camera also takes movies, which I only use occasionally.
I got a 2 gigabyte memory card for the camera, which will store almost 800 pictures at high quality. What's really nice is that there is an economy mode, so if you're running out of space, a quick switch will help you reduce the amount of memory used. But with 2 GB, I've never even been close to running out of space. Another nice feature is the camera uses standard SD cards which are very common and have become quite affordable. I simply remove the memory card and pull the pictures (and videos) onto my PC with my card-reader. For this reason, I have not installed or tested the software that comes with the camera.
Battery life seems to be pretty reasonable with this camera. The original included batteries (Panasonic Oxyride batteries) lasted quite a long time. After those went dead, I switched to nickel-metal hydride rechargeables and I keep some alkalines in my camera case just as backup.
The resolution (5 megapixels), while sort of low by today's standards, is still enough for me. I rarely if ever print pictures, so they are just fine for PC viewing and making picture CDs. I doubt other amateur photographers would need higher resolution unless they make larger prints or enlargements.
Now for the "hate" part of my experience with the camera. Sometimes the camera will get stuck in some sort of phase where it will keep telling me to "turn camera off and then back on again." It did this to me this past weekend at the NAMM show in Anaheim while I was in line to get an autograph and meet an admired guitar player. This will happen whenever the camera is on and the lens is out and the camera auto-shuts off. It also does it when the camera is on and the lens is out and the batteries die. Apparently the mechanism that tells the camera the position of the lens gets confused when power is interrupted. I tried powering off and on the camera over and over with no success. Finally I manually pushed the lens back in and closed, turned it on and it spent about 10 seconds moving the lens in and out and eventually settled back into regular operating mode. I'm sure it's not good to manually (even gently) push the lens back into the camera, but it was the only way to close it and get it to work again. It's also out of warranty, so I guess I can't make it much worse since fixing it would likely cost more than replacing it.
Overall, I am a bit dissatisfied with this camera because the reliability is just not there. I found many discussions online about people having the same problem I am having with my camera. I am going whale watching this weekend and I'm not sure if I trust this camera to work when I really need it to work. If it leaves me high and dry (no pun intended) I will most likely replace it with a new, non-Panasonic camera.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 129 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
5.0-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 13 x 17-inch prints 6x image-stabilized optical zoom; 2.0-inch LCD display Playback of 9, 1...More at Amazon Marketplace
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