$699
Available at all authorised Panasonic dealers

Before you leave for your next overseas trip, you might want to checkout the new Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

This 7.2- megapixel compact digital camera sports a Leica DC Vario-Elmar zoom lens that starts at just 28mm (compared to the more common 35mm), so you can easily pack more into those obligatory large tour group photos.

Or, zoom in up to 280mm to capture interesting close-ups of distant landmarks.

So you could, for instance, admire the gothic details that adorn the walls of the Notre Dame in Paris , which you normally won't be able to get.

In fact, if you lower the resolution of the camera to three megapixel, you can push the optical zoom up to a whopping15x!

But the best part is, even with its powerful zoom, this camera is relatively compact.

While it may not be as small as those anorexic models that are so popular now,it's a a decent size (at 105 x 59.2 x36.7mm), considering the optics required for the mighty zoom.

And when you suddenly spot interesting street scenes out of your rickety tour bus window, the TZ3's Mega EGA O.I.S (Optical Image Stabiliser) should come in handy too in preventing blurred photos.

What's more, you also won't have to worry about dealing with complicated settings while trying to capture the sights on your camera.

Essentially the TZ3 i s a point-and-shoot, and it is also effortless to use. The menu design probably won't win awards, but it's intuitive enough.

The camera's huge and bright three-inch LCD makes it easy to compose pictures.

It even comes with a Power mode that increases the brightness by 40 per cent,and a high angle mode that makes the screen much easier to see when you take overhead shots.

Its 20 scene modes should be adequate to tackle most shooting conditions.

I had fun with the modes, which range from the practical (scenery, night portrait),to rather fanciful ones (starry sky mode for exposures up to one minute).

In its macro mode, you can get close-ups to about 5 cm, but this isn't very impressive, considering that some brands boast a 1cm macro mode. But I found the TZ3's 1m telephoto macro useful.

I could take close-ups without having to squat or stoop in weird positions. All-in-all, the TZ3 is a well-built camera.

As far as quality goes, the camera takes great pictures. Test shots turned out razor sharp with strong colours. Even at its widest angle at 28mm, I found minimal distortion. This means the people at the edges of your group shot won't appear as if they have their faces are stretched.

The auto white balance is generally accurate,plus there's a manual option if you are really particular about the settings. The image stabiliser also works well. My telephoto and low light shots were mostly sharp. But once I turned them off, I wasn't able to get good shots in these conditions.

Video quality is also very good. Images were smooth and clean. The TZ3records in QuickTime Motion JPEG at a maximum of 30fps (frames per second),and in a widescreen 16:9 (848 x 480 pixels)format.

Auto focus is generally fast, but sometimes it takes a while to focus at the high end of the zoom range. Start-up speed is just about bearable at almost two seconds, partly due to the time taken to extend the lens.

Under the Cipa IPA standard established by the Camera and Imaging Products Association as a standard for measuring battery consumption of digital cameras),Panasonic claims the TZ3 will take270 pictures on a single charge. I managed to shoot just over 200 pictures over three days before the battery died on me.Most of my shots were taken without the flash.

There's nothing much to dislike about this camera, really. My only gripes were its slightly laggy zoom controls, and the rather outdated and uninspired boxy design.

It's also relatively heavy at 257g with battery and SD card.

FINAL SAY

Highly recommended. I loved the TZ3's powerful zoom, wide angle, excellent picture quality and ease of use!