The camera worked fine for 3 months, then I could not get the pics into my PC. The problem is the cameras' USB cable port or some internal connector issue. After 90 days you have a PARTS ONLY WARRANTY. Labor costs $90 (plus S&H). My palmcorder also broke recently ($200.00) so I am now finished with Panasonic. Good features,but low manufacturing quality.

I did extensive research on large zoom digital cameras, and this one came out on top. The other choices included a Fuji Finepix 3100 and an Olympus zoom camera. This camera, while only being 3MP, has 12x stabilized zoom and operates well in low light. That means that you can zoom all the way out to 12x and get a clear, bright pic. I found out how much this matters when I went to circuit city and tried out the cameras -- the fz3 was the best by far. I've been happy with the macro mode, the video recording is fluid, and the pics are amazing.

The only reason IMHO why you might want a larger megapixel camera is if you are taking pics without the optical zoom, e.g. exclusively in macro mode. For example, if you plan on doing a lot of close-up/insect shots, then go for a 4 or 5 megapixel camera with a good macro mode. Otherwise, this camera is perfect.

Panasonic has crafted a splendid camera in the 3MP Digital class, relying again on its partnership with Leica for superb optics. And yet, best of all, it also has an image stabilization feature which will allow you to hand hold this camera at a relatively low shutter speed and get some great images via "panning", that is, tracking a moving subject with your camera. I've handled the camera at a camera store and was impressed by its ease of use and compact size. If I was interested in a 3MP digital camera, I wouldn't hesitate buying this one.

This camera is ideal.

3 mp is enough for excellent photo quality prints up to 8x10 or even 11x13. Megapixel resolution is only one part of final picture quality--the lens is very important as is image stabilization and the camera's image processing software

Lens and image stabilization-The lens is excellent and the image stabilization system really allows 12x magnification to produce crisp, unblurred pics.

Size--just right. Not bulky. Certainly bigger than 'pocket', but finds easily in a small camera bag.

Focusing--extremely accurate and consistently accurate--Has a very effective AF assist lamp for dim scenes.

Features--very complete. Plenty of opportunity to choose various settings--more than enough for a sophisticated user. Almost as many as its bulkier and more expensive big brother 12x panasonic fz20--

Picture quality--really the bottom line for a camera--consistently excellent. Good realistic colors (can be adjusted--there is a 'vivid' option if you like 'snappier' color.

Speed--very fast--very quick focus and shot to shot times.

LCD--on the small side--but quite usable.

Viewfinder-EVF-with ability for real time histogram while focusing, a nice feature to get proper exposure.

Burst mode-- very fast and effective.

Battery life--quite good.

Movie mode-320x240 30 or 10 fps with sound. No 640x480-- 320x240 at 30 fps is adequate for me,

Flash-strong, and intensity can be adjusted. Gets excellent indoor pics.

Price--very right for the features.

Overall, a really excellent, full featured, 12x, image stabilized camera. The only rap is the 3mp--but that is really plenty for all pictures to be viewed on computer monitor or printed to 8x10. The 3mp hurts the ability to severely crop the image, but that's about it. The average pics from this camera are the same or better (because of the lens and image stabilization) as 4 and 5mp cameras that I have or have used.

Highly advised for the user who wants excellent pic quality, a lof of feature control and the high zoom, but not a high priced or bulky unit.

I wanted a digital camera for Christmas, and had a heck of a time deciding what to get. The camera was to replace my old Canon EOS film camera, which was a pain to drag around, and which really wasn't giving me very good pictures for all the effort required.

So I wanted something easier to take along on vacations and family outings, but packed with features so I could take great pictures of the outdoors, and of the kids playing sports, and whatever else caught my eye. After some research I decided I wanted as much optical zoon as possible, and I wanted image stabilization so that my pictures would still be crisp at high zoom. I narrowed my search to this camera, the 5 MP version from Panasonic (Lumix DMC-FZ20) and the Canon PowerShot S1 IS.

My biggest debate was whether 3 MP would be enough for my needs? Or did I need to bump up to 5 MP for really good pictures? I view my pictures primarily on my computer, printing out some smaller prints (up to 5 x 7), and I e-mail pictures to family and put some up on the web. In the end I chose this 3 MP camera and am very happy.

This camera is significantly smaller and lighter than the FZ20 (besides being cheaper), so it is much easier to carry around and thus it is much more likely that I will grab it on my way out the door to the Little League game or the beach. So I'll get more pictures. The 256 MB card I bought with the camera holds about 155 photos at highest quality, which is plenty. The 3 MB resolution means more photos fit on a memory card, and your pictures won't take up as much space on your computer.

But what is really awesome about the camera is the performance! The 12X optical zoom is a marvel. You can zoom in on a barely visible speck on the horizon and see that it is really a small hut with broken windows. Because the zoom is so powerful, you can fill the frame with your subject when you take the shot, eliminating the need to crop and blow up the picture digitally on your computer. The image stabilization allows you to crisply capture your subject despite having shaky hands. On my computer, the pictures are absolutely crisp, and show no pixelation until I get past about 4X digital zoom

My favorite feature is the "burst" mode that lets you take up to four frames per second, which is very fast for a digital camera. It's fantastic for capturing those action sports shots.

You'll want to buy a bigger memory card for the camera. It comes with a nearly useless 8 MB card. The 256 I bought is working really well, but more is usually better when it comes to memory. The included battery recharges in about two hours, which is pretty quick, but you'll want to buy a backup so you can keep shooting after the included battery dies.

All in all, I am thrilled with my purchase, and I recommend the camera to anyone who wants a lot of features and performance in a point-and-shoot digital camera.

I am using this camera for 6 months. I wanted a camera with good lens and higher optical zoom. It didnt take much time, and I made a brilliant choice.

Somebody asked me "CP, I am looking for a very very good digital
camera in 50-60 dollars price range". I replied, "Would you mind if it has a cable attached to it?, And People call it Webcam"

If you fall in this category, just know the 2 very basic things.
One: Know for what purpose u need a cam, If u r interested in
photography-looking to make lasting impressions-Go for a Camera that would allow you to experiment and learn things. If u want to take a picture of white house and show to ur neighbour no matter even if white house falls black, there are cameras to choose from.If u want to gift it to someone and want not to be disturbed by him anymore, wow..u hav lot more choices. And finally if u want a camera just because jess has one, Dont ask my help!
Two: Always sort models by Features that you would Prefer, You can choose based on MP, Zoom, Compactness, Price etc, interestingly u can make a combination of searches . example, you can get a 3 MP listing and go for 6X zoom list from that 3 MP listing. Most websites offer this.

FZ3 Qualities:

Point Zero: You got to learn taking a picture first-atleast not to shake it while clicking. Even if u r MISS AMERICA, I swear- I can make you look so so awful with a $2000 Camera.(Interested? For appointments, e mail CPT@vt.edu)

Point One: Both Megapixel and quality of lens are equally important. A 3 MP with good lens can beat a 5 MP camera in quality. This FZ3 has a very good picture quality.

Point Two: Photographers recommend tripod for Zoom greater than 6X. BUT, I have never used tripod, still got good pictures-Image
Stabilizer works good. 12X zoom is really amazing- My car got a problem on highways,I stopped, wanted to call roadside assistance. I noticed a Sign Board at distance, couldnt read it. Guess What? I took the cam and zoomed in, Terrific zooom..

Point Three: Really Really Nice Features-It has Shutter speed and
Aperture size adjustments along with interesting Scene modes like Panning Mode, Night scenery Mode, Fireworks Mode, Party Mode, etc. Color Effects,AF Mode, Flip Animation, Guide lines(grids-so that u can position the subject easily), Diopter adjustment, Histogram display, Trimming, Re-sizing, lot more good stuff..My Professor asked me,"Hey.. How that Light shines like a star?"..Who Knows... but picture looked so pretty.

Point Four: Battery life is so good. you can recharge it in AC
supply. No wasting money for Batteries.

Point Five: Its more durable, I guarantee that. In 6 months I have taken around 4K pictures. My fingers pained one day but the shutter button is still there.

Coming to the other side-

Point Zero: Your camera dont have to have what you dont prefer. This cannot be a minus point. "Do your cam record sound in video mode?" FZ3 does, but I have never used video mode. I dont look for MP3 capability in mobile phone either.

Point One: FZ3 looked so so attractive when seen from front.But Lens look lengthy from the sides. Look at it from all angles before u buy. (12X zoom dont come in Exilim Models)

Point Two: fz3 has amazing features, may be 3 MP look odd here. 5
MP shud be good, Go for it if you can pay some more.

Thats all! I havent had any problems till now and the one same thing what my friends say is 'its little bulky', But I know they compare mine with basic camera models.

I recommend this camera. very very good products dont come in deals and dont keep reading reviews until the company declares bankruptcy.

I bought this camera for my 16 yr old daughter 6 months ago, and I couldnt be more pleased. I wanted a camera she could begin photograhy with, one that she could really grow with. This camera has it:
- point and shoot mode to begin with or for quick reaction
- excellent quality. this 3 Mpix usually looks better than other 5's
- manual controls. she can see what shutter, aperature, etc does.
- lots of scene presets
- great batterry life
- pretty good movies, for fun
- looks really great

The advice that a good lense and CCD are more important than pixels is true. With 12x zoom, we have never needed more than 3Meg. The zoom also emphasizes photography (shooting) rather than image processing (which you can still do anyway)

After falling in the river with, I will pay the $169 to get it repaired/refurbished. Or get another one!

I also have the panasonic SV10. I will probably get more of these. I think panasonic is still "slightly ahead of the time". I recommend them.

I love this camera. The 12X zoom is the feature I could not do without. Image stabilization is a must with the zoom, and its IS seems to work quite well. I took pretty good photos of glowing lava from my ship balcony. My friend's 3X zoom photos showed nothing.

The only improvements I would suggest are: smaller size, a little more MP - although 3 MP is sufficient.

This camera is exceptional. It takes great picures in the easy mode and allows for you to change the settings if necessary. There is hardly any delay, which allows me to capture my fast moving kids. I changed the speed setting to 400 for even better capture of my very wiggly baby. It also does well indoors. My one complaint is that the picures will not show the date. It just doesn't have that option available. Now if you want to print them yourself with a DPOF printer, you can force a date print on the front of the photos, but what a pain. So for this reason alone I am only awarding it 4 stars.

I used to use film SLR cameras with autofocus and all the gadgets until I got my second digital camera - an Olympus C2100 UZ with a 10x zoom and 2 megapixels. After that the film cameras gathered dust.

I decided to replace the Olympus with a lighter, more modern camera at the beginning of 2005. This camera was similar to a more updated c2100, and I had heard that the recent Olympus cameras were not as good. I had printed out letter-size printers on my computer printer with the c2100, so I knew that 2 megapixels and a good zoom lens were better than more megapixels.

I was also pleased that the Panasonic had image stabilization, because my experiences with the Olympus taught me that I could take sharp hand-held images at 400mm focal lengths around 70 percent of the time.

The Panasonic has an f2.8 lens across all of its focal length, which is better than lenses used for digital SLRs like the Canon Rebel XT. Because of this and the high-quality Leica lens, I can take pictures that used to require flash just with the room lights in my house.

The lens is fantastic. Sample pictures at [...] show that it loses little against the lenses for digital SLRs, and the quality will save you from bad pictures time after time, while giving you more versatile options for picture-taking.

If you're still clinging to film cameras, note that digital quality now exceeds film. However, the best part of digital is the ability to charge the battery, use a 512MB memory card like I bought, and not be conscious that you have 36 chances to get a decent photo before the film runs out.

The Panansonic has several things I like. The controls are simplified, so you can lend your camera to a snapshotter without having them be confused. The weight and size are not off-putting, so a newbie can be taking good pictures from the beginning. And the whole package does enough thinking for you, so you're unlikely to make a mistake when you look through the viewfinder.

Would I change anything? Sure, but this is true of every digital camera over a year after it was introduced (8/2004). I run Adobe Photoshop CS2, so I'd like the ability to use Camera RAW format. I'd like a hot shoe so that I could put a powerful flash on it. And I'd like a bigger LCD screen so that I could see how good my pictures were.

However, could I say that I'd take better pictures if these features were there? I'm not sure. The Panasonic FZ-3 is the rare sort of camera that allows you to point and shoot and gradually build up your knowledge to use its advanced features. Definitely a great bargain, and the newer Panasonic FZ series continue this trend.

I have owned a few cameras but this one takes the cake. I'll keep this short

- fast start up
- takes SD cards and can run them at high speed
- optical image stabilizer works wonderfully
- very long 12x zoon
- solid and takes nice pictures
- has video and full manual mode
- cheap

I really enjoyed this camera. It's well made and is small enough to carry around. Only wished it had manual focus.

This is a great camera but it has only 3.1 MP. It takes nice pictures though I want more then 3.1 MP.
Also, always use the flash when taking pictures at night and you can get nice pictures (I didn't tried a tripod yet).

I had some problems with OCZ cards. I got some errors 'Error reading flash' or 'Write error' . I also tried with my friend's OCZ card (which he uses it with a Canon) and I got same errors. Problem was solved after I changed the 2.0Gig OCZ card with a KingStone 2.0G SD card.

This camera recently broke down. I am giving it 5 stars. Because, Hey it broke after like 5 years. I suppose it gave me ten thousand impressions of sweet memories. Basically, I wanted a camera with higher optical zoom. It didn't take much time, and I ended up with such an amazing camera that literally transformed me to an enthusiastic photographer.

Before we see this reviewing thing, some basics.

Somebody asked me "CP, I am looking for a very good digital camera in 50-60 dollars price range". I replied, "Would you mind if it has a cable attached to it? And People call it Webcam"

If you fall in this category, just know the 2 very basic things.

One: Know for what purpose you need a camera, If you are into photography - Go for a Camera that would allow you to experiment and learn things - the one that gives you more and more freedom in making screen settings. If you want to take a picture of white house and put in on My Space/ Facebook there are $100 cameras to choose from - sure good bet for the purpose.

Two: Always sort models by Features that you would prefer, You can choose based on MP, Zoom, Compactness, Price etc,u can also make a combination of searches. For example, you can get a 3 MP listing and go for 6X zoom list from that 3 MP listing. Most websites offer this.

Plus

Point One: Both Mega pixel and quality of lens are equally important. A 3 MP with good lens can beat a 5 MP camera. Example: FZ3

Point Two: Photographers recommend tripod for Zoom greater than 6X. BUT, I have never used tripod, still got good pictures-Image Stabilizer works good. 12X zoom is really amazing- My car got a problem on highways, I stopped, wanted to call roadside assistance. I noticed a Sign Board at distance, couldn't read it. Guess What? I took the cam and zoomed in, Terrific zoom.

Point Three: Really Really Nice Features. My Professor asked me,"Hey.. How that Light shines like a star?"..Who Knows... but picture looked so pretty.

Point Four: Battery life is so good. You can recharge it in AC supply. No wasting money for Batteries.

Point Five: It is more durable, I guarantee that after all these years of usage.

Minus

Well, it is bulky and nothing else. Look at it - before you buy.

Bottom line: I recommend this camera. Thats it folks.