For the price, this camera is pretty good value for the money. Then again, after having used it for about two weeks and having shot under various circumstances, from bright sunlight to low light, I am not impressed. In fact, I used a Canon S230 Powershot before. I am happy that the Panasonic is so much faster and responsive. But that's to be expected. Other than that, I find no remarkably different picture quality. And the lens is virtually the same.

I LOVE my little new toy. I was debating to get this or Canon SD600, both in the same price range and same megapixel. After doing a lot of research online and seeing the actual models in store, I decided to get this one and I am really glad I did. What I really like about this camera so far:

1. the optical image stabilization really works wonder! at least for me who used to get a lot of fuzzy pix from my old fuji. I was able to get a too-good-to-be-true pix of my cat yearning in motion!! This may not work for everything (if there's a lot of jittering/shaking) but it sure works for what I was looking for (without compromising the quality). One of the most common probs with compact cameras is jittering/shaking hands, and this certainly takes care that for you!

2. GREAT battery life, which is what I really love and care about. I was able to point and shoot over 100 pix so far (half of them with flash, though not consecutively) and plus some video clicks and still have full battery signal on. It's amazing! I also compared the battery life with the canon sd600 online.. it's about double according to some standard.

3. Nice LCD. For those of you who might be worried about missing the viewfinder on this toy, the battery life certainly makes up for it (plus the viewfinder usually doesn't get you 100% of the actual picture anyway). Some review said that LCD playback quality is not as good, but I find no problem with it. (from a pair of non-prof/average eyes, that is)

4. Very user-friendly. I didn't really need to read manual to figure out most features of the camera. I just got it on the hand for less than 2 days and I am already feeling like a pro with this camera.

5. fast start-up and little shutter lag~ which is also important to me.

6. a lot of features. allow you to quickly change to different scene modes/effects.

Some cons that I can think of:

1. I think maybe some people will think brands like Canon has better image quality? I don't have a new model Canon to compare with but with the previous models (in Canon & Fuji), I can't tell much difference. (looks great to me for what I can tell)

2. No optical viewfinder (for the people who really want to have viewfinder).

3. the size of the camera is a little bigger than SD600 (and cannot compare to credit-card size casio Ex-Z60. though this can be a pro & con depending on each individual's preference. I have small/medium hands and the camera feels just fine (I was able to use one hand to navigate the bottoms/menu and to take pix). But I can see probs with bigger hands

4. the control bottoms are kind of small (which is typical in compact cameras). Again, might be problematic with bigger hands.

***

Over all, for the price in this range, I think this is one of the best value on market right now that has a nice package of what typical people are looking for (user-friendly, long battery life, anti-shake, great/decent pix quality). You usually have to pay for an extra $100 to get that optical stabilization feature in other model (i.e. Canon SD700).

No camera is perfect but this camera has definitely come close to that! I'd definitely recommend this for anyone. I just hope the magic will last me for the years to come! have to wait to see about that!

This is the wife writing and you will be glad I said that as you read on. I just purchased this camera a few weeks ago. I had a Sony Cybershot camera which was stolen recently and this was what I chose to replace it. I loved my cybershot, but it wasn't small enough to fit in certain purses I own. This camera is the perfect size! Not small enough to miss the buttons, but just right. The image quality is wonderful and better then my old cybershot. The screen is huge and the menu print is large and easy to read. There are even icons in the menu that are a little animated. It is VERY user-friendly and it has so many ways to customize your picture-taking! It comes with the cables you need to connect it to your computer & your TV to have digital slide shows, you actually don't have to buy those seperate. There is a setting for everything you can think of and it can take short amounts of video shots with audio. I am very happy with it and I will definetly keep Panasonic in mind for future needs. The zoom on the camera says it can go to 3x, but there is a setting in the menu for a digital zoom which can go all the way to 12x! The image stabilization setting that Panasonic touts really does work. It has been very very handy when you can't quite steady your hands. The "scene" mode on the camera lets you chose from; party, candle light, fireworks, starry sky, baby1, baby2, snow, high sensitivity, portrait, soft skin, scenery, sports, night portrait, night scenery, self portrait, food, and UNDERWATER. (There is a special case you can buy to take it diving with you!) There are too many great things I could fill this space with about this camera so I will just say this - wonderful quality and worth every penny!

This is a very beautiful camera. The camera is very nice fully automatic, and the optical stabilization is good. I own a D SLR, and though this does no compare, it is small and very sleek. Good image quality, noise at higher ISO, Leica makes good little lenses.

I was looking for a slim camera that would take quality pictures anywhere I went.
The DMC-FX3K is a very slim camera, and I can carry it either in my front pocket of my jeans, or in my inside pocket of my jacket. With a newborn baby in my household and several vacations planned, I'll have no worries of being cameraless anytime soon.
With the Mega OIS as well, blurred pictures for me have become a thing of the past!
It comes with a nice compact wall charger, and the battery is quite excellent, as I have not had any issues of battery drainage after even a day of picture taking.
I highly recommend it for an all around camera you can always have available!
The flash works well if you are within a 10ft radius of the subject, of course, that pretty much goes with all Point and Shoot cameras as well.

Very satisfied with this purchase. The best thing about this camera is its image stabilizer - it works magic. I was shaking it as hard as I could while shooting and yet the shots are all in focus. The camera is small & stylish, easy menus, cool panoramic and macro modes, good battery life, decent picture quality.

Cons are all those of digital cameras in general: some noise at low-light situations, red-eye reduction not completely effective, several seconds of delay between shots when using a flash (though much faster than my old Nikon Coolpix).

Overall: an excellent deal at the price around $[...]

Takes crystal clear pictures and the dummy-proof "Scene" settings actually work pretty well. Great size, too. Not so small that I'll snap it in half, but small enough to fit nicely in my purse. So far the battery life seems to be decent, too, considering I took a handful of pictures with the flash, but we'll see if that holds up.

I bought this camera for a trip to London which I've just retutned for. The camera was perfect: small, light weight, quick, and enough settings to get great pictures. For such a price this camera is a really good choice. The stabalizing is really nice and there are enough other settings to make it pretty well suited for taking any picture. For a compact camera at a low (realtivley) price this is awesome!

This is my first digital camera. I did a TON of research before settling on the lumix dmc fx3. It has more features than I really need right now but I figure I can grow into them. The best feature is the stabilization. It works great! I'm disabled and my hand strength isn't that great. The OIS is a lifesaver. Other cameras have stabilization but none rate as high as the OIS. I have had this for a month or better and am still combining and working with the features and doing some cool stuff. I would highly recommend this camera.

I bought this camera because of the reviews, since last time I didn't read the reviews, and got stuck with a terrible Samsung model. Most of the reviews are very accurate. The camera may not be much to look at, but it's a solid model. Photo quality is very good, and the image stabilization is very helpful indoors. The LCD screen is huge--2.5 inches--and despite that, the battery life is the best I have ever seen in a compact digital camera. I took quite a few good pictures today, mostly of puppies, and they came out very nicely. I really don't have any complaints with the camera, and the battery life is good enough I would bother buying an extra battery--which I usually do. I would definetly reccomend this camera.

I already had one before and got this one for one of my family members. the only flaw is that pictures taken inside rooms are not that of high quality as compared to the pictures taken outside.
otherwise a great product.

I returned this product twice; once for a replacement and the second time for a refund. My research pointed to this camera as being able to meet my needs, however it did not. One was a feature oriented problem, in that it took way too long to cycle between photos. I missed some really good memories at my son's high school graduation because of that. More importantly, both cameras had lens problems that manifested in opaque circles showing up in photos that had a solid background. Sorry, but this camera just did not make the grade. I ended up with a Canon.

The Lumix FX3K is a great camera especially for the price that I got it ($165.00 including shipping). I have had it a few weeks and I am still learning what settings work best. So far, I have used the movie feature a lot and it takes awesome movies at the highest setting. Much better than my previous camera. Also, I agree with other reviews about the battery life....it goes for a long time. I would definitely recommend this camera.

I got this camera for Mother's Day and what a suprise! I have a two-year-old and my old camera never took the picture fast enough. But this Camera keeps up with my busy daughter no problem! The picture quality is great and there are many extra features that make this camera well worth it. There is a setting that puts a year stamp on my daughter's pictures, the picture will say two-years and one-month ect. In years to come when I look back on my pictures I wont have to guess how old she was or do the never ending task of handwriting the age on the back of each photo. I love it, it fits nicely in my purse and I take it every where. I no longer miss out on those cute photo moments!

This camera is very easy to use, and I love the large display. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a viewfinder, so in bright sunlight, it is hard to see what you are taking a picture of. But the pictures it takes are very clear, and the controls are intuitive and easy to get used to.

I bought a new piece on amazon and used it for not more than 2 months and it doesn't work anymore. I haven't droped it or mis used it or anything. One day I was clicking as usual and instead of taking the picture, when i click it zooms in and stays like that. I called up Panasonic, and they had me send the camera at my own shipping expense and re-soldered the parts (thats what they told me they did) and sent it back after 20 days or so. Please make a better choice.. Don't buy this camera.

I bought this camera because I got tired of buying disposable cameras and paying to have the pictures printed. Once I used it, I fell in love with it instantly. I dropped it several times, and it didn't break or malfunction. What a wonderful product and I recommend this camera for everyone.

I bought this camera as a gift and it failed in a matter of months. I sent it back and after hearing nothing at all from customer service for months, the camera was sent back unrepaired. They claimed they had tried to contact me several times (nonsense, I gave them my cell number AND email address) and that the camera was "unrepairable" due to "moisture damage". When I asked if this could be caused by airborne moisture, they said yes. I live in Oregon, and none of my other digital cameras ever had any problems with this. They stonewalled me on fixing the camera. You have been warned: NEVER buy Panasonic junk!