Working with digital images

[Shrek]

I am in the market to buy a digital camera for personal use. I am considering the Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ3 camera. I have looked at the reviews both here and other places and also reviewed comments from other TZ3 users. I am not a professional photographer and I am just looking to get good quality pictures. The type of pictures that I usually take are outdoor, scenic nature type pics. I do like sunset pictures as well. I am not afraid learning how to get the most out of this camera. I like the 10x optical, Image Stabilization, and wide angle lens. I am aware of some of the flaws such as poor low light pics, no view fiender, glare on the LCD, etc. My two main concerns that have me waivering are: Can this camera take decent low light pics when needed? Are the reproductions such as 8x10 or 11x14 made from this camera good quality? If you have any sugestions or comments, I wouls really appreciate your feedback. Thank you.

Mark

[bdery]

Hi and welcome!

Most cameras will perform comparably well in most situations. As you said, the main "flaw" of Panasonic cameras is the low light peformances. If you're willing to use the flash, there's no problem, if you prefer to use ambiant light only the camera will increase the ISO value, thus increasing noise. That noise will probably show to some extend on large pics, but some noise removal programs (many of them free) will greatly help with this.

The effect of noise on your pictures is very subjective, and your tolerance might vary. I suggest you look at sample pictures taken with the camera (you can find some here http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/Panasonictz3_samples/)

I hope this helps!