First off, for what it does, this is a great camera. So, I may keep it, even if it doesn't do what I bought it for. I wanted a replacement for my Sony DCR-HC90, which has live firewire output. The ZS3 has live composit output that monitors what you see on the LCD display. But, it doesn't send out live HDMI output. Why is this important? Well, if you want a higher quality source for video conferencing, the ZS3 won't work! As for me, I VJ at concerts, so need a digital input into my laptop to tweak live video. Both use cases are not your typical point-and-shoot fare, so I can understand why Panasonic would leave it out. But, I suspect this could be fix in firmware, which make the ZS3 a must-have for VJs. On the plus side, is that recording off a computer screen with Motion JPEG (not AVCHD) is a dream, even when handheld. This is a great little product!
Tech support, on the other hand, is the pits! After waiting for 21 minutes on the phone, I get an agent who was very please with himself, would used acronyms like VOC (voice of the customer), would answer questions with absolute certainty, yet was absolutely wrong! First question: will the ZS3 send out monitor on HDMI? His answer: yes. Real answer: no. Second question: the meter bars clutter up the live signal when sending out via composit, is there a way to get rid of it? His answer: no. Real answer: change metering to average mode and the meter bars will go away. After his answers I asked him to forward my suggestion to Panasonic. That is when he starts in with the "VOC" nonsense. Sorry but, I really don't want learn how to speak in Pana-pep-talk, just forward the suggestion. Two days later, the mini-HDMI cable came. So, I hooked up the ZS3 to my HDMI projector to confirm that: no, there is no HDMI output and, yes, the support agent was BS'ing his way through a support call.
Get more detail about Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 10MP Digital Camera with 12x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3 inch LCD (Silver).
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