A vacation camera should have a wide angle lens with the ability to zoom to 10x or 12x. It goes without saying that a camera in the travel category should also take great pictures. Panasonic released two cameras at the same time that fill the vacation camera (or travel camera) niche. The cameras are upgrades of the very popular Lumix TZ5, which was arguably king of the point and shoot zoom camera category.
The cameras we are referring to are the Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS1 and Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS3. If you check the camera review sites, you will find that both are highly rated in terms of image quality. In fact, they were dual winners in the “super zoom” cameras for travel videos.
Both cameras have 10.1 megapixel image sensors. However, the ZS3 has a slightly larger sensor which makes for better quality pixels (more room equals more quality). They also have identical zoom ratios at 12x – that is 25mm at the wide angle end and 300mm at the long end. This gives the photographer plenty of photo taking power whether capturing a breath-taking panorama at 25mm or zooming in at 300mm to get a close-up of the newest baby panda at the zoo. Other similarities are Optical Image Stabilization and 27 Scene Modes.
The differences, however, are significant, which makes for a difference in price of about $125.
LCD Screen: 2.7″ with 230,000 pixels vs 3.0″ with 460,000 pixels – a major advantage for the ZS3.
Video Capture: while both have video capabilities, the Lumix ZS1 captures 848×480 video with mono sound, but the Lumix ZS3 captures video with industry leading 720p (HD quality) at 60fps and stereo sound. This video can be shown on your HDTV with excellent viewing quality.
Bottom Line: the Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS1 is an awesome choice for a vacation camera, but the Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS3 offers much better video and LCD screen. The price for these two advantages is about $125. When there is talk about digital compact cameras, the discussion always includes Panasonic cameras. They have managed to produce quality point and shoot cameras in every category. The “vacation camera” category is no different.