The Lumix ZS3 is well-built and comfortable to hold and use. While not a small camera, it's surprisingly compact for having an amazing lens that zooms from 25mm wide to 300mm telephoto. On the hills overlooking Prishtina, we were able to shoot sweeping city views with the wide end, and also pull in distant buildings with the telephoto end.

 

In Kosovo, our attractive blue ZS3 was responsive and easy to operate, so we could just concentrate on taking pictures. Mostly, we shot in Normal auto mode. Exposures in a moving car were made with Sports mode to minimize blurs. Night exposures on tripod were made with Starry Sky mode. All yielded excellent results.
 
While we don't shoot much video, HD capability is definitely welcomed. The smooth optical zoom feature of this Lumix is very nice.
 
We love this versatile camera which sets the standard for a new breed of compact superzooms - cameras with huge zoom range but small enough to be pocketable.

 

>> prishtina photo gallery

HIGH

• responsive, easy to use
• very good image quality
• compact, attractive, well built body
• excellent, versatile 25-300mm zoom lens
• effective optical image stabilization
• 720p HD video
• smooth optical zoom for video
• excellent 3.0" LCD
• long Starry Sky exposure: 15, 30, 60 sec.

 

MIND

• no manual exposure mode

WISE

• great travel camera