| | |  | Point-and-shoot Digital Cameras | Home » » » » Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ3S 5MP Digital Camera with 6x Image Stabilized Zoom | | | | | | | Features: | |
• 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, 16, and 25 images is possible on a multi-split screen
• Consecutive shooting feature lets you take up to five shots per second
• Powered by 2 AA-size batteries; stores images on SD memory cards (includes 14 MB of internal memory)
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 5.0 inches | | Product Width:
| 0.5 inches | | Product Height:
| 4.0 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.5 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.4 inches | | Package Width:
| 7.5 inches | | Package Height:
| 5.3 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.4 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 51 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 51 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
161 of 162 found the following review helpful:
 Love the Lumix lineup!May 03, 2006
By Brian Kerecz
I bought this camera last year, and returned it because it did not have a Leica lens, which I wanted. However, after a family member bought a Lumix camera sans Leica lens, I was a convert. For the money, you simply cannot beat it!
What makes this camera special for the price is the 6x optical zoom (up to 24X in conjunction with the digital zoom, though that causes degradation), and the Mega-OIS, or more precisely Optical Image Stabilization. This feature adjusts the camera to compensate for imperceptible hand shakes which occur inevitably on every push of the button. I believe that in the future, all cameras will have this function as it is the single most common cause of blurred photos. I have a Panasonic LC80 with a Leica lens, but one of the reasons I went looking for another camera was the blurred photos I got, even though I was as steady as I could be. I cannot overstate the importance of this feature.
The burst mode is a very nice aspect of this camera too, one mode allowing sequential shots until the entire card is filled. There is absolutely no excuse not to "get that shot" with this camera.
Also nice is the ability to use AA batteries instead of proprietary batteries which cost $60 or more. A power supply which can be easily replenished is a necessity if you plan on being out of touch with civilization for any length of time.
If you want a "Con" to go with the "Pros" it would have to be battery life....battery life is very low and even moreso in colder weather. But this should come as no surprise as this camera does not use a viewfinder; instead it uses a 2 inch LCD screen to compose pictures. Because of this, battery life will necessarily be much lower than with a camera which uses a viewfinder for composition.
Batterly life per manual under normal conditions:
Panasonic Oxyride: 250 pictures or 125 minutes
Alkaline batteries: 155 pictures or 77 minutes
Ni-MH batteries: 400 pictures or 200 minutes
When the temperature is 32F:
Panasonic Oxyride: 45 pictures or 22 minutes
Alkaline batteries: 35 pictures or 17 minutes
Ni-MH batteries: 360 pictures or 180 minutes
One other thing I would change is the On/Off switch....it can too easily be hit sideways which would open it in the case. If this happens, it could all too easily damage the motor of the zoom lens. To obviate this potential danger, simply keep the dial mode at "play" when the camera is off, and the lens will not open.
And it should be noted that this camera does NOT have a microphone for recording in video mode; if this is what you want look at the DMC-LZ5. Because I did not plan on using this feature very often, it did not present an issue for me.
For picture taking, this is a 5 star camera. For design, there are a few possible improvements which give it 4 stars.
4 1/2 stars overall.
64 of 66 found the following review helpful:
Overall great camera that takes beautiful photos!Jul 20, 2006
By M. Walton
My previous camera before owning this one was a Canon Elph S230, so my comparisons are with that camera in mind.
PROS:
-A great price for 5MP and 6x optical zoom
-The 6x optical zoom, up to 24x digital zoom is awesome
-No time limit on movies, as long as you have memory
-Takes beautiful photos (Macro mode work great)
-Has some neat settings like fireworks, portrait and scenery that adjust everything automatically for you
CONS:
-Bigger than the Canon Elph series, can't really stick it in your pocket
-AA batteries (a pro for most people, I actually preferred the rechargeable Lithium battery on my Canon that already came with a recharger);
-no eye-hole (technical term?), only display to take photos (I got used to this real fast; most people only use the display anyways)
-only one movie size, and its not very big
What you need to buy along with the camera...
-AA rechargeables and recharger
-camera case
-SD memory card (size depending on how many photos you take at a time)
27 of 27 found the following review helpful:
Very Good CamJun 12, 2006
By Juan F. Cordoba
I bought this Camera almost one month ago after selling my old HP 307 camera. Compared to my old camera this one rocks!!! Macro mode is excellent, and it's got 11 scenery modes which work really well.
Battery life is very good with the Oxyride batteries and rechargable batteries.
The M.O.I.S does it's job.
It's got 6x optical zoom when most cameras under $200 have 4x max and if you change the aspect ratio you can get a total of 7.5x optical zoom which is very good to say the least.
Would i recommend this camera: Yes, definitely
Only negative i've seen after having this camera for some months now is that it doesn't record video with audio
22 of 22 found the following review helpful:
Great camera, but a cautionary noteJul 26, 2006
By J. Sherman
I've been playing with this camera for about a month. My previous camera was an Olympus Camedia 720, which I decided to replace because of its frustratingly slow lag time between shots and its expensive CR-V3 batteries (it was a battery hog).
The LZ3 is much faster (even has a 3- or 5-shot burst mode). In good light, without the flash, lag time has been barely noticeable. And it uses less expensive rechargeable AA batteries.
Another poster, Brian Kerecz on May 3, 2006, has a good analysis of battery usage.
This is my first camera without an eyepiece; it only has an LCD screen.
Two problems with the lack of an eyepiece:
1) I wear reading glasses. With an eyepiece, there's no problem focusing on the subject; however, with an LCD screen, you'll need to put on your reading glasses.
2)On a bright sunny day out in the open (on a veranda overlooking a field), there was so much glare on the LCD screen that I could barely see the subject. To work around this, I'm buying a "Delkin 2.0" Universal Pop-Up Shade", and I'll update this post after I've used it.
**UPDATE**
The pop-up shade helps a little bit, but I really miss having an old-fashion optical viewfinder.
The camera itself fits into cargo pants pockets. The controls and LCD screen menus are easy to follow. And being able to hold the camera up high, using the 'high angle' feature on the lcd screen, allowed me to get some pretty good photos at crowded family gatherings.
**2nd Update, 1/25/07**
I'm giving this camera to a family member and looking for one with a viewfinder. It's become way too inconvenient, especially while skiing or hiking or at parties, to put on my reading glasses every time I want to snap a shot.
Also (and this may apply to all digital cameras with a "movie" function), I love the movie function, but I couldn't adjust the zoom during the movie shot. This was a problem with I started a shot of my son skiing towards me down a hill, and as he got closer I couldn't pull the shot back, so by the end all that filled the screen was his smile. Artsy, but not what I wanted.
22 of 22 found the following review helpful:
Good zoom and OIS works wellJun 22, 2006
By Encrypted
One major selling poing of this camera is its 6x zoom and OIS (Optical Image Stablization) combo. The tendency is that higher the zoom, easier it is for your picture to bet blurry. OIS does a good job preventing this common problem.
Also, it is kind of nice that I can use AA batteries. I already have sets of rechargeable from my old camera, so I didn't need to spend extra for proprietry batteries.
See all 51 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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