Landscape: 3.24MB, Normal, 1/800, f3.3, ISO 100, 4.6-46mm at 4.6mm (equivalent to 28mm)

						This shot was taken with the TZ3 zoomed-out to its wide angle equivalent of 28mm and it's captured a large field of view - an important ability since if we'd stepped back any further, we'd have needed the waterproof housing! The crops are sharp and detailed, and as you'd hope at 100 ISO there's little noise to worry about. Despite the high contrast areas, there's also no coloured fringing.

Portrait: 3.00MB, Portrait Preset, 1/320, f4.7, ISO 200, 4.6-46mm at 18mm (equivalent to 109mm)

						There's no aperture priority mode on the TZ3, so for this portrait shot we selected the Portrait preset and zoomed-in to an equivalent of 109mm. The TZ3 selected the smaller of its two apertures, but the background isn't as blurred as we'd like. The increase to 200 ISO hasn't resulted in any loss of quality here though and the crops are again sharp and detailed.

				Illustrating the flexibility of the TZ3's optical range we noticed this distant parapente and zoomed-in all the way to an equivalent of 280mm to grab this shot. There's plenty of detail in the crops, but like other TZ3 samples taken at 280mm, the overall image is lacking contrast. This appears to be one of the few compromises of the TZ3's lens though and it's easily boosted in software afterwards if desired.

				To test the TZ3's macro and stabilisation capabilities, we took this shot of mushrooms growing in a dark woodland. Even with an increase to 400 ISO, the low light meant an exposure of 1/8, although the stabilisation has kept the image sharp. The increase in sensitivity has however resulted in noticeably higher noise levels, and some smudging due to noise reduction.

Indoor: 2.74MB, Normal, 1/100, f3.3, ISO 800, 4.6-46mm at 4.6mm (equivalent to 28mm)

						Pushing the TZ3 further to a sensitivity of 800 ISO and the noise levels - along with their accompanying noise reduction artefacts - take a step for the worse. To be fair to the TZ3, we've seen worse, but that said, it's still best to reserve 800 ISO for smaller prints or emergency use.

				Finally we have the TZ3 operating at its maximum 'normal' sensitivity of 1250 ISO. Unsurprisingly the noise levels have once again increased with the result you'd only really want to use this under emergencies. Sadly the image stabilisation hasn't managed to completely protect the 1/8 exposure from all wobbles, but the exposure and white balance are spot-on.