PANASONIC’S NEW LUMIX ZS-SERIES, THE ULTIMATE COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERAS, SUCCEEDS POPULAR TZ-SERIES

New LUMIX ZS3, With Impressive 12x Optical Zoom is Slimmer Than Predecessor and Adds AVCHD Lite High Definition Video Recording Capability

MIAMI, FL (January 27, 2009) – Panasonic today introduced the LUMIX DMC-ZS3 and DMC-ZS1, both members of the new ZS-Series, the successor to the acclaimed LUMIX TZ-Series and Panasonic’s newest ultimate compact and powerful digital cameras. The LUMIX ZS3 features 10.1-megapixels, a 25mm ultra-wide-angle lens and 12x optical zoom, meaning it has added 2x optical zoom to the award-winning TZ-Series camera, yet reduced its size. The ZS3 also features a LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR lens and High Definition (HD) video recording ability, known as AVCHD Lite.

“The LUMIX ZS3 is a powerhouse performer with enormous versatility. Compared with the TZ-Series, it extends the power of the optical zoom from 10x to 12x and expands the wide-angle lens from 28mm to an ultra-wide 25mm, giving it the range for virtually any shooting situations,” said David Briganti, National Marketing Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “Despite its superior lens specifications and functionality, the ZS3 is remarkably smaller and lighter than its predecessors, making it easier to carry on travels and everyday shooting opportunities.”

The ZS3 is the world’s first digital camera to feature HD video recording in “AVCHD Lite*2”. Compared with the conventional Motion JPEG format, AVCHD Lite allows longer recordings with breathtaking HD visual and audio quality. This combined with a well-considered control interface, which includes a dedicated movie recording button on the camera’s back panel, makes the ZS3 a hybrid model that performs admirably for both still and motion image capture. 

The ZS3 also expands Panasonic’s popular Intelligent Auto (iA) mode with the addition of Face Recognition – a feature that “remembers” faces from previous shots*1. When a registered face appears in the frame, the camera will prioritize focus and exposure to capture it beautifully. With Face Recognition, when a familiar face is recorded several times, the camera will prompt the users to register the face. Once registered, if the face appears into the frame again, the camera will display the name specified for that person and prioritize focus and exposure so that the registered face is bright and sharply focused.

New this year to the ZS-Series, iA mode is also available in Movie Mode. It automatically selects the most suitable Scene mode and helps to correct handshake, focus and brightness problems - making iA mode your one-stop solution to capture beautiful still and motion images. In Movie Mode, the ZS3, Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) helps prevent handshake when using the high-powered zoom. Face Detection automatically detects a face in the frame and adjusts focus, exposure, contrast, and skin complexion so it turns out perfectly. Intelligent Exposure continually checks the ambient light level and adjusts the exposure setting as conditions change to prevent blown highlights and blocked shadows. And Intelligent Scene Selector automatically switches between Normal, Portrait, Macro, Scenery, and Low Light modes according to the situation to optimize visual quality.

The imaging power of LUMIX has further evolved with the Venus Engine HD, which boasts two CPUs to provide approx. 2.4x processing capability and support for AVCHD Lite and HDMI output. It integrates all the advanced functions and camera operations with high performance and low-power consumption. In image processing, luminance noise and chromatic noise are reduced separately before and after signal processing. This is further refined by separating noise two-dimensionally into high-frequency and low-frequency noise. The circuits then effectively reduce only the low-frequency noise to minimize the unwanted noise and help produce beautiful, sharp still and motion images.

Playback with the ZS-Series is also easy.  Simply insert the camera’s SD Memory Card into the VIERA® HDTV’s Image Viewer SD Card slot for a photo slideshow*3. Alternatively, connect the camera via an optional HDMI mini cable, the DMW-HDC2, to a VIERA Link™-equipped Panasonic VIERA HDTV and use the television’s remote control to run mixed slideshows of photos and videos. The ZS3 features a 3-inch, high resolution 460,000-dot Intelligent LCD with a wide viewing angle, improving visibility during recording and playback.

Other features of the LUMIX ZS3 include:

• Increased Scene modes for both still and motion image shooting – optimized for a variety of situations. There are 26 scene modes for still image and 17 for motion image (Portrait, Soft Skin, Transform, Self portrait, Scenery, Low light, Food, Party, Candle light, Sunset, High sensitivity, Beach, Snow, Aerial, Pin hole, Film grain and Underwater)
• Two new My Scene settings let users assign their two most frequently used Scene modes to the setting, and with a simple switch, allow access to either scene instantly.
• New Panorama Assist scene mode allows users to shoot a number of consistent photos, either vertically or horizontally, by aligning them according to a guide that overlaps the screen.  Then using those photos and the bundled PanoramaMaker software, users can create dramatic panoramic images.
• High-Speed Burst (Speed Priority) that fires off approx. 10 shots per second*4.
• Menus are clearer and easier to navigate with the Display Size option.
• Macro Zoom function lets users pull subjects even closer to capture dramatic close-up shots by using the 3x digital zoom in the wide-angle.
• Bundled Software: The latest version of PHOTOfunSTUDIO 3.0 HD Edition allows users to view, edit and archive captured content with greater ease and fun. Still and motion images can be transferred to the computer via a USB cable for viewing and archiving. Using PHOTOfunSTUDIO 3.0 HD Edition, users can edit and remove unwanted portions of video clips recorded in AVCHD Lite. Contents recorded in AVCHD Lite can be burned directly onto a DVD disc or the software can convert contents to MPEG2 format.  The software also incorporates the Face Recognition function, which recognizes registered faces in photos stored on the computer, making organizing and archiving photos with a specific person much easier.  Additionally, motion pictures can be uploaded directly to YouTube.

The ZS1, like the ZS3, features a 25mm ultra-wide angle, 12x powerful optical zoom.  Distinguishing it, the ZS1 features a 10.1 megapixel CCD, a standard iA mode (no Face Recognition) for still image recording and a 2.7-inch, 230,000-dot Intelligent LCD. 

*1 Depending on background and facial expression, camera may not recognize a registered person. For family members with similar facial features, camera may not correctly identify the intended subject.
*2 The "AVCHD" is a high definition (HD) digital video recording / playback format jointly established by Panasonic Corporation and Sony Corporation. The “AVCHD Lite” is a subset of the “AVCHD format” for HD digital video cameras with HD video recording restricted to 720P. The new “AVCHD Lite” Logo and the “AVCHD Lite” License are restricted to devices within the AVCHD Video Camera category. Digital cameras have now been added to the AVCHD Video Camera category.  For more details, please refer to the “AVCHD Information Website”. http://www.avchd-info.org/
*3 AVCHD Lite motion images recorded onto an SD Memory Card or a DVD disc cannot be played from a device that does not support the AVCHD standard.
*4 3-megapixel (4:3), 2.5-megapixel (3:2), 2-megapixel (16:9) recording. (10fps in Speed Priority mode / 6fps in Picture Priority mode)