Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ3By: Dave Etchells(none) <<Video, Power, Software :(Previous) | (Next): Reference: Datasheet>> Page 12:Test Results & ConclusionReview First Posted: 11/03/2004 |
Test Results
In keeping with my standard test policy, the comments given here summarize only my key findings. For a full commentary on each of the test images, see the Lumix DMC-FZ3's "pictures" page.
Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the FZ3 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!
As with all Imaging Resource product tests, I encourage you to let your own eyes be the judge of how well the camera performed. Explore the images on the pictures page, to see how the DMC-FZ3's images compare to other cameras you may be considering.
- Color: Generally good color, minor color shifts and
slightly pink skin tones. The DMC-FZ3 produced good to very good color throughout my testing. It tended to leave slight color casts in its images, but they were very subtle, less than I saw in its big brother the FZ15, which were not bad to begin with. Skin tones were just slightly warm, and the blue flowers in the bouquet had more of a purple cast than in real life. Under the difficult Incandescent lighting of our Indoor Portrait test, the camera's Auto and Manual white balance settings both produced very good results. (Most cameras' Auto white balance systems have a very hard time with this subject.)
- Exposure: Generally accurate exposure, and good highlight
detail, even without a contrast adjustment. The DMC-FZ3 did a good job
with exposure, accurately exposing my studio shots and requiring only a small
amount of positive exposure compensation for the "Sunlit" and Indoor
portraits. Though the high-key lighting of the "Sunlit" Portrait
resulted in high contrast, highlight detail was good, but the midtones were
left slightly dark. (Still, the results were quite good for a camera with
no contrast adjustment option.) Shadows typically showed moderate detail,
and the camera captured a good tonal range on the Davebox target. The one
notable exposure error I encountered with the FZ3 was its overexposure of
my "Far Field" test shot of the house in outdoor sunlight.
- Resolution/Sharpness: High resolution, 1,050 lines of
"strong detail." The DMC-FZ3 performed pretty well on the "laboratory"
resolution test chart. It started showing artifacts in the test patterns at
resolutions as low as 600~800 lines per picture height, in both horizontal
and vertical directions. I found "strong detail" out to at least
1,100 lines horizontally, although only to about 1,000 lines in the vertical
direction. "Extinction" of the target patterns occurred around 1,300
lines.
- Image Noise: Generally good image noise, with a good tradeoff
between image noise and subtle subject detail. The DMC-F3Z generally showed
pretty good image noise levels. Noise was low at the 80 and 100 ISO settings,
increasing to a moderately high level at ISO 200. Noise became quite strong
at ISO 400, with a full grain pattern and bright pixels. Even at that though,
it wasn't as bad as ISO 400 noise in some competing models, and Panasonic
has generally seemed to do a very good job of preserving subtle subject detail,
rather than reducing everything to mush as part of their noise-reduction strategy.
(This latter being an approach adopted by an unfortunate number of camera
manufacturers.)
- Closeups: A very small macro area with excellent detail,
but the flash is blocked by the lens when shooting close. The DMC-FZ3
performed very well in the macro category, capturing a minimum area of only
1.6 x 1.2 inches (41 x 30 millimeters). Resolution was very high, and the
coins, brooch, and dollar bill showed a lot of fine detail. The coins and
brooch were slightly soft due to the close shooting distance, and also from
some lens distortion that softened details toward the corners of the frame.
The camera's flash was too far behind the lens to be effective at closest
approach, being mostly blocked by the lens barrel. (Definitely plan on using
external lighting for close-in macro shots with the FZ3.)
- Night Shots: About average low-light performance, with
good color, better than average low-light focusing. Equipped with an adjustable
ISO setting and a maximum exposure time of eight seconds, the DMC-FZ3 performed
about average in the low-light category. The camera produced clear, bright,
usable images down to the 1/16 foot-candle (0.67 lux) limit of my test, with
good color, only at the ISO 400 setting. At ISOs 80 and 100, images were bright
as low as 1/4 foot-candle (2.7 lux), and at ISO 200, images were bright down
to 1/8 foot-candle (1.3 lux). Given that average city street lighting at night
corresponds to a light level of about one foot-candle though, the FZ3 should
do just fine for most outdoor shooting at night under artificial lighting.
Color was good with the Auto white balance setting. Image noise was low to
moderate at the lower ISO settings, but increased quite a lot at ISO 400.
The FZ3 focused down to a bit darker than 1/4 foot-candle with its autofocus
illuminator turned off, and in complete darkness with the AF illuminator on.
- Viewfinder Accuracy: Excellent accuracy from the electronic
viewfinder. The DMC-FZ3's electronic "optical" viewfinder (EVF)
was very accurate, showing about 98 percent frame accuracy at wide angle,
and about 99+ percent at telephoto. The LCD monitor was also very accurate,
since it shows the same view, just on a larger screen. Given that I like LCD
monitors to be as close to 100 percent accuracy as possible, the DMC-FZ3's
LCD monitor performed well here.
- Optical Distortion: High barrel distortion, low pincushion,
good corner sharpness, and very low chromatic aberration. Optical distortion
on the DMC-FZ3 was higher than average at the wide-angle end, where I measured
approximately 1.07 percent barrel distortion. The telephoto end fared better,
as I measured approximately 0.2 percent pincushion distortion there. Chromatic
aberration was quite low, with only very faint coloration on either side of
the target lines. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe
around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.)
The corners of the images were generally sharper than I'm accustomed to seeing
in consumer digicams, although at maximum telephoto, detail in the corners
softened somewhat. (Actually, the full images were noticeably less crisp at
full telephoto.)
- Shutter Lag and Cycle Time: Reasonably good shutter response, particularly for a long-zoom model, and very good shot to shot performance. While the FZ3 is very sluggish when operating in its 9-area autofocus mode, all of its three other AF modes show good shutter response, with lag times ranging from 0.53-1.0 second. The longer end of this range is still somewhat slow, but not out of line with the performance of most other long-zoom digicams. For fast-paced action, you can choose to preset focus via the rear-panel Focus button, rather than when the shutter button is pressed, which cuts shutter lag to between 0.07 and 0.14 second. - And if you "prefocus" the camera in any of its autofocus modes by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button prior to the shot itself, lag time drops to a blazing 0.037 second. Likewise, if you avoid its slow autofocus mode, shot to shot cycle times are extremely fast as well, as high as 2.4 frames/second in single-shot mode, and as high as 3.75 frames/second in high-speed continuous mode. (Note though, that the FZ3 is a camera that "penalizes" you for pressing the shutter button prematurely when shooting in single-shot mode.)
- Battery Life: Good battery life. With a worst-case run time of 129 minutes (2.2 hours) in capture mode with the EVF on, the DMC-FZ3 does better than most digicams, but serious users should still plan on buying a second battery to bring along as a spare on extended shooting sessions. (Oddly, the FZ3 seemed to consume more power when the EVF was used, rather than the LCD. - Run time in capture mode with the rear-panel LCD on was 140 minutes.)
Conclusion
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