Camera Labs

Thanks for your reply, bikerag. That's encouraging to hear.

Jack Bauer

No problem. I put up a few comparison pics here. http://www.cameraduel.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=24

Thanks, bikerag! Please don't go to any trouble, but if you have any more comparison images taken indoors with low light, I'd greatly appreciate it. And they don't all have to be extremely low-light...let's instead say, less than ideal light. It's probably best if I give you an idea as to why I'm inquiring, which is because I'll be taking low-lit social images in bars with a flash, but also softly-lit pieces of art in museums with NO flash.

Much obliged!

Jack Bauer

I can tell you right now, if you use the flash, there will be no issues. And taking pictures of art without flash should be fine because the image stabilizer is so good, you dont even need to use super high ISO's. I just took some pictures mountain biking pretty late in the day, in the woods, action shots. Its one of the more difficult scenarios for any camera. I used shutter speed set at 1/250, ISO 200 & ISO 400.. the shots came out better than any camera I have owned.

Here is a shot at 1/250 ISO 400 at about 7pm. It has been resampled (not cropped) by 33%
http://pics.bikerag.com/Uploads/data//617/P1010430.JPG

Ill try and get some more side by side shots while I still have the tz5. Might be selling it soon - Jon


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Great review Gordon... bought one!
The TZ7 is a very nice camera for my requirements... but is there any support to decode AVCHD Lite 720p 50fps PAL on a PC (under Vista)? FDDshow and MPlayer Classic has a go but it looks like 2x25fps with 2 frames the same. I can't find any conversion method for a more compatible intermediate format whilst maintaining 720p @ 50fps which should yield fresh motion and panning compared to interlaced or being forced to drop down to 25fps (which tends to be the only option with more noticable pan blur).

I want to hold on to 50fps progressive whilst editing even as the final format will be for internet transport 640x360 @ 50fps WMV.
25fps is an option but if you have 50fps progressive scan then why not be able to use it? Seems a waste to capture 50fps and not be able to exploit it.
If not now then when?

Apologies if this is a repeat question, please post links to relevant information. Thanks.

Jack - Ive added some comparison pics of some artwork at different ISO's

http://www.cameraduel.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=24

DH - You may want to check out magix movie edit pro 15 plus. It has support for avchd. I have magix 14 plus with the mpeg4 plugin and it is SUPPOSED to work with avchd but in reality it does not. I wasnt even able to edit video that was converted from avchd to avi - not sure if it was the FPS or the file size that was the issue..

Bikerag,

I purchased my ZS3 I believe the same time you did from Crutchfield also i sent in the rebate for the free camera case and Sd card from Pannasonic. So I filled out the rebate forum, included the camera serial number , cut out the UPC code from the OEM box and sent the rebate in on th4/22/09

Last Friday I went into the rebate site and entered my information to see the status of the rebate and it came up that my camera has a dupilcate serial number ( I guess or sombody entered the same S?N as mine) and the rebate in not valid. I was just wondering if you had the same problem.

I contacted Crutchfield and they said that that the only sold a few camera's and that was it ( I remember when I ordered mine they only had 6 in stock) so I do not know what is going on and have yet to hear back from Pannasonic.

Rebate Froum:
http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/offers/000LUMIXSD.PDF

You can check rebate status here:
http://www.panasonicconsumerrebates.com/

Here is my info from the rebate:

Panasonic Rebate Status Information
Current Status: Non-Pay Audit
An audit notice has been mailed to you.

Retailer: ALL OTHERS
Product Model: DMC-ZS3K
Date Entered: Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Check Number: 0
Current Dollar Amount: $0.00




Exception Type Description
Duplicate Serial The serial number you have submitted has already been used in this program.

_____________________________________________________________

What a RIP-OFF

_________________
JJR

JJ - I got the same thing but no exception like yours.. I would give it some time, they usually wait at least 30 days to make sure you didnt return the camera for these rebates..

I already found a good case on ebay for $7.50 shipped

bikerag,

Thanks for the info, yeah the free case is a cheapie I have been looking at the DMW-CT3-K but waiting for the price to come down. For now I'm using a case logic MP3 player case.

_________________
JJR

> added some comparison pics of some artwork at different ISO's
Good demonstration of the image and lens improvements over the TZ5 , thanks.

> magix movie edit pro 15 plus
I've tried to evaluate 10+ editing application and many converters...
may well have missed a trick somewhere during my brief encounters.

Applications played with so far:
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3
AVS Video Converter v6.2.4.330
Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 12.0.98.0
Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 12.0.0.6163 (can not read frame rate correctly, double speed)
Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition Pro_9.0a (fine for 25fps destinations)
MAGIX Movie Edit Pro 15 PLUS 8.0.5.8 (fine for 25fps destinations)
TMPGEnc XPress 4.6.3.268
RipBot264 (awaiting this particular stream support)
WinFF (no luck yet)
and a few more I've forgoten the names of.


The most convenient temporary compromise is to render to 25fps .
Also, I am still yet to prove that there really is 50fps in the source m2ts files other than the information reported in the header.

Funny, I was in the process of trying to figure out the 25/50fps comparison and basically concluded that my software just couldnt handle the higher frame rate, even if converted to avi.. Have to wait for the software to catch up - Maybe ill try the evaluation version of magix and see if that works for me.

Thanks a ton, bikerag! You da man. And yes, I can definitely concur that the ZS3 performs better in low-light environments than the TZ5 does. That's great news! I'm finally sold on the ZS3!

By the way, here's the type of low-light photos I need a camera for--either a museum setting in which flashes are prohibited, or on a film set where you don't want a flash to wash out the subjects. The first pic is in a museum...I'm the Chewbacca standing on the left beneath the wookiee display. And the second pic is of me on a film set.

I think the ZS3 is gonna be great for my needs, and will fit neatly into my Chewie pouch.

Jack Bauer

Jack did you take those pics in iA mode or Normal mode?

Good reviw, but I thought both the Lumix and the Sz200 have the same 12M chip, just Lumix is only using 10M out of it for better performance or something like that. Anyway the flash popping out of the Cannon everytime seems annoying, I prefer the built in flash over that. I do think manual control is something that Lumix missed the boat in, but that was not a deal breaker for my, I use an SLR when I want to get fancy with my pics. Just my 2cents

Hi whiterabit1,

I didn't take those pics--I'm the one in the Chewbacca costume. Moreover, the photos were not taken with the ZS3. They weren't even taken with a Panasonic. I was merely posting the photos to show the "types" of low-light environments that I will need the ZS3 to perform well in, when I do get the camera.

Jack Bauer