Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS3A 8.1MP Digital Camera with 3x MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Light Blue)

I am very pleased with this camera. I have had it for almost a year and have found the picture quality very good and the camera and controls very easy to use. The stabilizer works very well. The battery seems to have a long life. It is fairly small and I keep it in my purse. The only complaint I have is that it sometimes has a hard time focusing on something very close that is moving (example: swaying flowers) if you try to use it in the intelligent auto mode. I liked this camera so much I bought one for each of my children.

I've been a fan of Panasonic's Lumix line and after living with a Canon Powershot for a couple of years (a gift to replace a stolen Lumix), found myself pining for another Lumix camera.
My main camera(s) are SLR, so I was looking for a solid performer that would work for any occasion in which an SLR really is just too much camera. And the FS3 seems to fit the bill. Reasonably fast start up (not instant, but good), accurate focus even in low light, video capability and a good lens. This covers my demands quite well. Even in basic auto mode, I got some very satisfying results during an evening of cosmic bowling.

My only complaint is that the "review/playback" is a switch so it is possible to start the camera up and be right in playback, unable to take a picture since you have to switch it over to the camera function. This is a slight annoyance compared to the "ready to shoot" functionality of other cameras. Nothing too serious, just the one nit I have to pick with the camera.

Since this is now one of the slightly older models of Lumix cameras, it can be had a phenomenal price. I would definitely recommend it.

I like a lot of things about this camera. 1) The menu is simple enough to use without a bunch of reading 2) It takes photos pretty quickly, so you can capture action shots without missing the moment 3) It's small and light and fits in my purse even with a case on it 4)It looks nice and feels fairly sturdy for a decently priced point and shoot. 5) Love the pet setting! I can save my dog's name and birthday in the camera! The things I don't like are that I wish it had a general "indoor" setting for taking indoor shots with flourescent overhead lighting. I haven't found the right setting for that yet and so can't seem to get a really great shot in those circumstances. I'm sure there's one available, but I'm going to have to research to find it and it seems that it should be a common setting. Great for party shots at the club! The party setting is fabulous with the dance lights. Never got good shots like that with my old Samsung but it's simple snapshots were great and this camera is a bit more advanced. I still have more to learn about using it correctly in certain situations.

Really great camera! Some of the pictures I took at an amusement park were unbelievable for a couple of reasons. First, most were clear with fast motion (some were blurry mostly because I don't think it had time to re-focus and I wasn't being as patient as I probably should have been) and also some that I took that I cropped WAY down, were still crystal clear! I am super impressed! I am not a big manual reader (I have four young kids, I'll get to manuals later) but the menus were fairly self-explanatory.

The only thing is that occasionally it gets lost on its way toward focusing. It's only happened a couple of times and I would still buy it again!

I researched cameras forEVER until I finally decided, above all, no matter zoom, screen size, weight, batteries, etc...what I wanted was a picture to take great pictures and that is what I definitely got with this camera!

I have the light blue model of this camera, and bought Amazon for $129. I am using it (with a friend's identical unit, I talked her into buying) to film her exercise classes. We ensure we have the same settings so when edited later, our colors match.

So think of using one of your cameras on tripod for overall scene, and use another camera or camcorder for another angle, zooms and closeups. Actually, we have two of these at different angles, and my Sony Camcorder handling details and roaming shots. Now I just have to learn Vegas 6 so I can use multiple cameras. (I think the latest iMovie will handle multi camera shots, but not any cheapo video editing programs).

So...when I talked my friend into getting this camera, the price was at $100. I didn't complain...I had paid $129. Prices drop. O well. But when her associate wanted to get one too, we discovered prices for the different colors very high...the FS3 ranged from $139 to $185 to $249. Why the price differences, when the only difference is the color. What happened to the $100 price? As new models are released, don't the older models drop in price?

Oh, when my friend and I went through the manual together at McDonald's... with this green camera and the blue one out on the table... we drew admirers. It is a nifty camera, nice feel, handsome. All metal.