Camera Labs

I have been eyeing the dmc-tz3 (black) and I have a few questions.

1) Does anyone know how well it takes indoor pictures, like for birthday and x-mas and other occasions? I have been reading this camera is not so good with indoor picutures.

2) I also will be using this to take pictures of my 12 yr old son playing soccer (fast moving action pics). I would like to know how well this camera does with fast action/fast motion pictures?

3) I have been eyeing sd cards that have 133x (min of 20 meg/sec read and write. Reason being is I think I understand that you need that speed for taking 2 or 3 pictures a sec @ 7mp for continuous shots. Is this overkill and only need 10 meg/sec read and write? Anyone have suggestions about this

Thanks

Hi GemInI70, welcome to the Cameralabs forums!

You can see examples of the TZ3 indoors in the Gallery section of our review here: http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Panas ... age5.shtml

Like most compacts, it isn't great at focusing on fast action. If you're serious about this, you should consider a budget DSLR like a Nikon D40.

A 133x card can read and write data very quickly, but is unlikely to be exploited by a TZ3...

I really liked the TZ3, but it's not great for fast action. But then not many compacts are...

Gordon

Thanks for the welcome Mr. Laing.

So what speed of read/write would you recommend for the tz3?
Do you know the speed the tz3 writes at?

I am new to digital camera's. So can you explain why the tz3 is not good for action shots (i.e. soccer games)?

I thought since this tz3 camera took 2 to 3 shots per second, that it could take action/moving shots very well and the memory speed would be crucial to taking these shots.

What is it that I should be looking for in a camera for good indoor pictures and what should I be looking for in a camera when taking moving action shots.

Thanks again.

Hi GemInI70, the problem with most compacts for action is they don't focus very quickly - especially super-zoom models when they're zoomed all the way in. There can also be a delay between rpessing the button and the camera taking the shot. So by the time they've focused and taken the picture, the action has often finished!

Pop into a camera store and try one out to see what I mean. Also compare it to a budget DSLR.

As for a memory card, a mid-range one like SanDisk Ultra II should be fine for the TZ3.

Gordon