Panasonic - LUMIX SZ3 16.1-Megapixel Digital Camera - White
Model: DMC-SZ3W
SKU: 1502425
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As expected, the high megapixel count and Leica lens deliver great photographs in nearly any condition, even macro closeups are sharp. The flash is very well balanced, I have yet to have one picture overexposed by flash. The main issue that lets this camera down is the movie mode. It records movies in 1080p 24fps, which is great, but it uses MJPEG compression, meaning video files cannot exceed 2GB, this translates to a maximum recording time at 1080p of about 10 minutes, regardless of SD card capacity. The MJPEG size limitation would not be such a bad issue if the camera had an option to continuous record in sequential video files until SD space is filled up, such as many competitor cameras do, but in the SZ3, you have to press the record button again once the time limit is reached to continue recording, this is not good for someone who wants to set the camera on a tripod and let it record, or wants to use it as an alternative to an action camera. The CCD is also very sensitive to sunlight in movie mode, and will produce green and purple banding if there is too much sun being reflected towards the lens, this is not an issue in picture mode. The SZ3 is a great camera for pictures, difficult to find better at this price range, but for an all in one camera that you would use for video recording, look elsewhere.
This review is from Panasonic - DMC-SZ3K 16.1-Megapixel Digital Camera - Black
Posted by BenCasey