Last year the TZ5 took the market by storm and was the best in its class. Panasonic is back again this year, only better with the new ZS3.

Canon is now trying to catch up with the Canon SX200 IS, leave it to Panasonic to stay ahead of the competition with the new ZS3.

The benchmark has been raised, yet again!


Rating: 5 / 5

THINK TWICE BEFORE BUYING the PANASONIC DMC-ZS3!!!

It CAN take FANTASTIC photos (and video), BUT…

(1) YOU *MUST* USE at least “CLASS 6″ or higher media to get a good quality photo at 10 MP. I did not realize that when I bought it, except that I noticed at the store that photos looked FAR BETTER at 5 MP than 10 MP! It is even better to opt for the “Class 10″ media. I bought one Panasonic 16 GB “Class 10″ media when I bought the camera. I WISH I had bought more and used THEM instead of the 8 GB, “Class 4″ or “Class 6″ that I had brought with me from home. If you’re going to spend the money for the camera, use the BEST media you can get!

(2) YOU CANNOT GET EXTRA OEM *PROPRIETARY* BATTERIES, CHARGER or POWER SUPPLY!!!

I have been reading that the “over-the-counter” batteries will not work with the ZS3 due to a “Firm Ware” upgrade, so, since I spent what I did for the ZS3, I wanted to get OEM Panasonic batteries, charger and power supply. I had also heard that the “over-the-counter” batteries would overheat and cause problems.

Unfortunately, because of ONLY having ONE battery (DMW-BCG10PP), and having to carry the OEM charger (DE-A65B) around with me every time I want to take photos, I lost my OEM charger and have not been able to charge the ONLY battery supplied for several weeks.

After an EXHAUSTIVE, but unsuccessful search since then, and because I could not find another OEM charger (DE-A65B) ANYWHERE locally or online, last night, I ordered an OEM PROPRIETARY power supply (DMW-AC5PP) that was SUPPOSED to fit the ZS3, and got it overnighted. It DID NOT fit!!! It wasn’t even close!!!

The fitting on the power supply I received looks like what you would plug into a portable hard drive (sort of a small trapazoid shape). The receptacle on the camera is about 50% larger and more rectangular with slight extensions on the bottom at the left and right edges. There is NO comparison in size or shape.

The ZS3′s instructions say/show that DMW-AC5PP is the correct part number, and the DMW-AC5PP power supply itself says/shows that it is a DMW-AC5PP (as do its instructions), but the BOX says/shows it is a DMW-AC5 (i.e. without the PP) and it DOES NOT FIT!!!

I WANT to order a couple of extra batteries and OEM charger, but I am VERY leery now. Even Panasonic said THEY don’t even have extra batteries or another charger, and that it would take 3+ weeks for THEM to get any. Interestingly, they told me I needed to order a DMW-BCG10 (i.e. without the PP at the end), but suggested I order it from a local dealer. They don’t have either the DMW-BCG10PP or the DMW-BCG10, and after my experience, I don’t TRUST what Panasonic says is the correct size!

My daughter’s 10 year old birthday party is THIS coming Sunday (four days from now) and I CAN’T GET ANY MORE BATTERIES and I CAN’T GET ANYTHING to charge the ONLY battery I have!!!

I had bought the ZS3 on the first day of our vacation in Vancouver on 05/30/2009, because I had accidentally left my camera in my car at the airport in the US.

I tried buying a couple of extra batteries and another charger when I bought the ZS3, but Panasonic had not even made them available at all yet!

Since they ONLY supply ONE battery, and you can’t even BUY spares, and I was going on an Alaskan cruise (and wanting to take LOTS of photos), I had to keep charging my ONLY battery every time I stopped to eat, then make sure I remembered to retrieve it before leaving the restaurant. Thankfully, it only happened twice, and there were only so many places I would have had to go to to retrace my steps to find it.

Unfortunately, I have now lost the charger and have no idea where. It wouldn’t be so bad if you could just easily BUY another one—that FITS!

And, of course, I would NOT have lost it at all had I been ABLE to buy extra PANASONIC OEM *PROPRIETARY* batteries and charger (and/or power supply) when I bought the ZS3, so I could leave the charger AT HOME.

Rating: 1 / 5

A large reason I decided to buy the ZS3 over some other manufacturers was the waterproof diving case.

BOHICA

The linked case, MCTZ5, does NOT work with the ZS3 (I’m now eating amazon’s return fee).

And now I’m trying to find something to fill the need.

Partly my fault. I didn’t read the VERY fine print.

Definitely Amazon’s fault, the ZS3 has at least 2 different product designations.

“people who bought this, also bought:”

I suspect amazon had quite a few pissed of customers for this item
Rating: 1 / 5

2 of the 6 may Not be a problem for those who just take a picture or 2 here & there,

** However the other 3 Problems many have been up in arms ABOUT,

#1 owners know that this camera focus is varry slow, =minor problem?

#2 owners know this camera Shot to Shot is varry slow, =minor problem?

#3 firmware bug was updated by panasonic so you cant buy reasonably priced batterys?

#4 Design Flaw=the Zoom level return spring used is to weak & flimsy & level sticks,

#5 Design Flaw=NO Solid Click notches on the scene option wheel & moves to freely

#6 Design Flaw=The Scene option wheel has been allowed to freely move out of bounds

not allowing you to shoot missing your opertunity to catch that rare SHOT

Instead the Lumix gives you a ERROR Messege on the Screen display that tells you that yours Option Scene Wheel is Out of Bounds

************************************************************************************

[...]

THIS part of the Review was not written by me

but rather by Doctor Jerry,

you can find at the web address of this review i’v included for you above,

the messege at DP REVIEWS reads as follows,

Doctor Jerry wrote,

I recently ordered and then canceled the order for a Panasonic ZS3.

My reason for backing out of the order was a bunch of noise on the Panasonic forum site about batteries being unavailable for the ZS3.

I checked and sure enough no batteries for the Camera made after April 09.

No generic nor Brand batteries.

Apparently Panasonic did a firmware upgrade in April which rendered any generic battery useless for the ZS3.

And Panasonic can’t or will not supply brand batteries.

My point in this is if Panasonic can do that for a really fine camera

what might they have in store for their LX3? To my knowledge,

Canon has never done this with any of their cameras.

There may have been and probably were good reasons to disable generic batteries,

but one would think that in 4 or 5 months, replacement brand batteries would be available.

I, for one, always travel with a spare battery since the ability to recharge a battery when desired.

in some 3rd world country is always questionable.

as far as I Know the CGA-S005A battery used in the LX3 is not chipped and is used in many other Panasonic cameras

so there should never be a problem with third-party batteries being locked out with a firmware update.

The S90IS uses a NB-6L which is used in the SD770IS and SD1200IS

so it should be widely available from third party manufacturers and also isn’t chipped as far as I Know..

If that battery is so easily available then why all the complaints on the Panasonic Forum site?

The Panasonic battery for that camera is listed as out-of-stock

while all the generic batteries have the caution “not for cameras put into service after April 2009″.

People who own the ZS3 are complaining to Panasonic & have not received any answers about when spare batteries would be available.

Signed

Doctor Jerry,

********************************************************************************

AGIN The above part of this Review was Not done by me,

although I to am varry concerned about these compelling issues

as i to am or was Varry interested in buying the Lumix ZS3 till i read this

& I can only hope this saves others from making a huge mistake in buying Lumix ZS3 if this is indeed true i myself find it horrable that a company would do this?

2 things I myself will add to this is that iv confirmed as true are the 2 Problems everyone have been complaining about the Panasonic Lumix ZS3

#1 are the WEAK SPRING USED IN THE ZOOM LEVER CAUSING IT TO STICK & NOT AUTOMATICLY RETURN TO ITS PROPER POSITION,?

#2 PROBLEM,

IS WHERE PANASONIC GOT STUPIDLY LAZY

When Panasonic Noticed the Option scene Dial Wheel allowed to moves out of bounds beyond its intended Position & in return gives you an Error messege

causing you to mis that special one time rare shot.

instead of Limiting the dial from goiing out of bounds,

instead PANASONIC spent more time making the Camera A.I Smart to it will display this Error Messege instead of just limiting the dial,

HOW FOOLISHLY LAZY IS THAT?

Panasonic has still not Fixed either of these other additional Design Flaws

todate as this messege was Posted, NOVEMBER-15-2009

HAPPY CAMERA HUNTING TO YOU ALL

I HOPE YOU ALL GET A VARRY NICE CAMERA YOU ARE HAPPY WITH

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL

Rating: 2 / 5

Added 11/20/09:

On impulse, I bought the zs3. I was swayed by the many 5-star reviews. As I said before, I want RAW, but I figured I would live with the jpeg until the manufacturers get their trip together.

But then something happened I find disturbing.

Amazon shipped it without any packing, and the unpadded camera box was just thrown into the Amazon ship box. The camera rattled around inside the bigger shipping box.

I see a number of reviews of defective cameras on this site, and I wonder what the packing was like – or wasn’t.

Now, this has become all too common a practice in careless sweat shop operations. I once bought a $800 Nikon lens from Adorama that was shipped like this – toss and forget.

I am sure these items are too fragile to be treated like this. If I bought this camera at a Radio Shack, and the sales person just tossed it on the floor rather than handing it to me, I would blow my stack. After all, I just paid for this item, it is now my property, and you are treating it in a destructive and careless manner. And this is exactly what Amazon is doing with my purchase.

Jeff Bezos built a great company, Amazon, and unfortunately obviously incompetent managers are busily undermining it. sad. Score one for the Lilliputs.

Added 11/23:

HaHa I have to laugh at the snarling Besenjis of mediocrity! Just kidding. Everyone has potential, so have hope. About the camera:

The lcd is good, and the depth of field for close shots is excellent, if you want that. One commenter, a rare observer not suffering from a tightie, said that a Nikon is gonna be like hauling a big load around. I agree totally.

But then I noticed something disturbing about the pictures of the zs3.

When I zoomed a pic all the way, the edges were not “tack sharp.”

So I shot the same thing (a fern plant) with a $3000 Nikon. Same result.

Why? The explanation I come to is that the lcd screen can’t track the higher magnifications. The check on this will be to print out the pic even at 8.5×11 size and see how sharp it looks. That’s critical, because people notice subconsciously whether a photo is not sharp, and photographers have a bag of tricks to get sharpness. First, pics in low light suffer most from this, since the shutter is open longest, and hand-shake introduces blur. Ways to get sharp photos: hold your elbows tightly to your body, exhale and hold your breath, easily, squeeeze slowly the button like a sniper, if possible, brace the camera against anything solid (not your dog), use flash can help.

I offer these tips in case a reader has not heard them. I mean, while any reader is whining and spending time thinking how to censor my reviews, they may learn something, besides amusing me. Any substantive thoughts? (Look that one up)
Rating: 1 / 5