Pansonic ZS3, ZS1, TS1

Why is'nt camcorderinfo.com covering these?

I really don't know. I do not have anything to do with reviews. They are not camcorders, they are Point & Shoot, Compact, Digital Cameras.




Rich

I believe the Panasonic TS1 deserves a video performance review :)

First of all, its new and its made with the intention to act as a camcorder as well as a PS camera. It has lots of video camera functions, like stereo sound, wind cut filter, scene modes that can apply to video, zooming during video just to name a few.

It certainly rivals things like Flip HD, or Sony's, or Kodak Zi6 etc.

Also given its large CCD imager, it can take as good video in low light as home 1080i camcorders.

Certainly deserves a review! Cmon there has to be a first hehe.

Hey again guys,

After receiving my TS1, I have just posted a low light video comparison between TS1, Canon HG10 and Panasonic SD3 (similar to sd1) on vimeo. Heres the link:

http://www.vimeo.com/4962113

Make sure to download the raw file from the link below instead of watching it in the browser window which is lower quality.

It basically produces video that easily keeps up with big boys at low light conditions. Bright light shots a different story though, 1080i camcorders pull away there (as they should!).

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/2017/panatz7.jpg

Panasonic Lumix TZ7 (in PAL zone; ZS3 in NTSC countries) is a rather impressive high definition uuhm... well, camcorder. A real hybrid cam that fits in your shirt's pocket! With an impressive 12x zoom range beginning at 25 mm (35-equiv) wide angle!! Unlike other pocket cams you can zoom during video recording (incl. AF) and it has very good Dolby Stereo sound.

Intelligence Automatic (iA) detects scene and changes mode.

I've made some demo footage with TZ7. Almost all shots taken with full iA and MJPEG format (720p). Edited with iMovie '09. Don't forget to switch YouTube to HD and put on your best headphones or switch on sound power amplification.

Oldtimer streetcar in Vienna tramway museum:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JALetYmPih8

Second clip: A sound, wide angle and o.i.s. demo. All shots made in the streets of Vienna, Austria, without tripods or any other stabilization. At the end a church choir. They stood in a very dark corner with heavy and direct backlights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEDt7Qp2Ad4

Last clip: The last minutes of Joseph Haydn's "Kaiserlied" (nowadays the German national anthem) in the Votiv church in Vienna. I was really surprised because the church is mostly closed and I didn't even know (although I am living just around the corner) that they have such an impressive organ in it. The sound was recorded live together with the pictures (no dubbing). Very difficult lights in the church. Actually my very first shot with the Lumix TZ7/ZS3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg3icGqjufI

Pros:
Size, price, performance. Very good images (video and photo) and sound. 25 mm are really impressive together with the high resolution. Image stabilization works pretty well. iA mode works perfect - pan from macro in shadows direct to landscape in bright sun, move from artificial tungsten light to outside in one shot without adjusting anything. Very easy to handle, very lightweight. Bright, large and sharp monitor (glossy). I can hold it for a long time without any efforts. HD video in you shirt pocket! Option: Underwater casing available. Unobtrusive, non-prof appearance (nobody believes that you are making a high res movie, they think you need decades for a simple photo ;)

Cons:
Very hard to get accessoires, no original battery (very expensive) available in complete Europe! (I bought a third-party product that works very well but with the latest firmware updates Panasonic rules out third-party batteries--they simply won't work.) Vertical smear artifacts on video when there are direct and intensive sources of light (or reflections) in the image. Microphones very sensitive for wind noises (as almost all camcorders--I try to get some fitting windscreens for it). Some shots seem to be jittery (no smooth movements, "display judder") but that is a HD artifact seen on almost all (even dedicated) consumer HD camcorders. (Any details on that topic? Has something to do with HD sharpness, shutter speed, PAL/NTSC, 24p/25p/30p, p/i...)

What do you think about the demo shots?

Three photos showing the zoom range. Belvedere Palace, Vienna. Full iA. No cropping, no sharping, no color correction; image quality straight out of TZ7--just adjusted size.

4.1 mm (max wide), iA: landscape mode, ISO 125, f/4.5, 1/500
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l169/bahnfrei/P1000621.jpg

7.3 mm, iA: landscape mode, ISO 80, f/4.5, 1/400
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l169/bahnfrei/P1000623.jpg

49.2 mm (max tele), iA: landscape mode, ISO 125, f/4.9, 1/400
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l169/bahnfrei/P1000622.jpg

Some indepth reviews on that fancy cam that I've found:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_zs3-review/
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Panasonic_Lumix_DMC_TZ7_ZS3/
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/ZS3/ZS3A.HTM

But I agree -- there really should be a professional and dedicated video and sound performance review for that camera.

Manufacturer's product info:
http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/compact/zs3_tz7/index.html