Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 / ZS3 review: sample images gallery

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 / ZS3 Gallery

The following images were taken with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 / ZS3. The Lumix TZ7 / ZS3 was set to 10M Fine JPEG quality, Auto White Balance and Multiple metering. Optical Image Stabilisation was enabled for all these handheld images.

The individual exposure mode, file sizes, shutter speeds, aperture, ISO and lens focal length are listed for each image.

The crops are taken from the original files, reproduced at 100% and saved in Adobe Photoshop CS4 as JPEGs with the Very High quality preset, while the resized images were made in Photoshop CS4 and saved with the default High quality preset.

The three crops are typically taken from far left, central and far right portions of each image.

Note: you may wish to open a number of galleries for direct comparison of detail and noise: Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 sample images .

Landscape: 5.02MB, Normal, 1/800, f5.6, ISO 80, 4.1-49.2mm at 4.1mm (25mm equivalent)

						This first shot was taken with the Lumix TZ7 / ZS3 with its lens zoomed all the way out to an equivalent of 25mm. This is comfortably wider than most compacts and allows you to grab large compositions - it's also ideal when you can't step back any further. As seen here and on our first results page, the Lumix TZ7 / ZS3 remains sharp into the corners when fully zoomed-out. The crops are also detailed here, although they're lacking the ultimate crispness of some rivals. Conversely at least there's no concerns over sharpening.

Landscape: 5.91MB, Normal, 1/500, f5.6, ISO 100, 4.1-49.2mm at 4.1mm (25mm equivalent)

						Another shot taken with the Lumix TZ7 / ZS3 fully zoomed-out, and another that captures a larger field than most compacts at the same distance. We increased the sensitivity to 100 ISO and there's a faint smattering of noise artefacts in areas of flat colour, but nothing to overly be concerned about. Again there's lots of detail here and well-corrected optics.

Landscape: 3.65MB, Normal, 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 200, 4.1-49.2mm at 49.2mm (300mm equivalent)

				For this shot of an approaching boat we zoomed the TZ7 / ZS3 into its longest focal length: an equivalent of 300mm. Set to the default Continuous AF, the TZ7 / ZS3 kept the subject sharp as it approached, allowing us to grab several sharp shots. The increase to 200 ISO has resulted in more noise artefacts and a loss of the finest details. But optically the lens is still performing respectably.

Wildlife: 5.04MB, Normal, 1/1000, f6.3, ISO 100, 4.1-49.2mm at 49.2mm (300mm equivalent)

				Having 300mm at your disposal allows you to zoom-in and grab details with ease. For example, while shooting wide landscapes, we grabbed this spontaneous shot of a bird with the camera fully zoomed-in. Despite switching down to a relatively low 100 ISO, pixel-peepers will spot some noise textures in the crops, but they'll also see fine details and an absence of optical artefacts.

Portrait: 4.90MB, Normal, 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 200, 4.1-49.2mm at 32mm (195mm equivalent)

						For this portrait we zoomed the TZ7 / ZS3 to an equivalent of 195mm and enabled face detection. The TZ7 / ZS3 locked-on easily and since the person was already registered with the camera, their name appeared under the focusing frame. Even zoomed-into 195mm and the subject at relatively close range, the depth of field has remained quite large. The TZ7 / ZS3 has a wider aperture available at this focal length, but you can't manually adjust it. It wouldn't have made much difference here though - like most compacts, it's difficult to achieve a truly blurred background.

Macro: 5.27MB, Normal, 1/10, f3.3, ISO 400, 4.1-49.2mm at 4.1mm (25mm equivalent)

						The Lumix TZ7 / ZS3 has a closest focusing distance of 3cm in its macro mode. This photo was taken from that distance with the lens fully zoomed-out. The sensitivity was increased to 400 ISO. Across the plane of focus, the crops are sharp and detailed, while the increase to 400 ISO hasn't been detrimental to this particular subject matter.

Indoor: 4.72MB, Normal, 1/60, f3.3, ISO 400, 4.1-49.2mm at 4.1mm (25mm equivalent)

						Our first indoor shot was taken with the Lumix TZ7 / ZS3 at 400 ISO and the lens zoomed-out. The AF mode was switched to Face Detection and the camera had no problem locking onto the subject. The increase to 400 ISO has resulted in an increase of noise artefacts and a lack of sharpness around edges of subjects. There's also a slight loss of saturation in this particular image.

Indoor: 4.22MB, Normal, 1/6, f3.3, ISO 800, 4.1-49.2mm at 4.1mm (25mm equivalent)

						Our second indoor was taken with the TZ7 / ZS3 increased to 800 ISO. Once again the lens was zoomed-out to its widest equivalent of 25mm, which has captured a larger field of view than most cameras we test from the same position. As you'd expect, at 800 ISO there's a noticeable increase in noise and processing artefacts. Areas of flat colour can look quite patchy, but there's still a fair amount of detail in some of the crops. It's also worth noting the stabilisation has ironed-out any wobbles from the 1/6 shutter speed.

Indoor: 3.81MB, Normal, 1/60, f3.3, ISO 1600, 4.1-49.2mm at 4.1mm (25mm equivalent)

						Our final shot was taken with the TZ7 / ZS3 at 1600 ISO, where there's a much bigger drop in quality. Noise artefacts have now become quite obtrusive and fine detail has become lost. You'd only want to use 1600 ISO for smaller online or email images, such as the shrunken version, left. The TZ7 / ZS3 then goes onto offer a High Sensitivity Preset that operates between 1600 and 6400 ISO at a reduced resolution of 3 Megapixels. You can see an example at 2000 ISO in our High ISO Noise results page.

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