Metering / Exposure / Focus

**Multi-Pattern Metering
**

*Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Panasonic Lumix FZ7

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 *

• Center-Weighted Metering*
  

  

*Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Panasonic Lumix FZ7

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H5

Spot Metering

Canon PowerShot S3 IS
**

Panasonic Lumix FZ7

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 *

Though the Cyber-shot DSC-H5 performed best in this test, all of the cameras meter consistently, which is good. None of the cameras will always yield perfect results without user intervention, though. Expect to over-ride the meter in contrasty or odd lighting. Each camera will do best in the hands of a user who has experimented with it, and gotten to know its limits.

Exposure*(Advantage: Draw)*
We shot a few scenes with each camera on manual, relying on a handheld ambient light meter to set the camera's exposure. We found that each camera delivered good exposure with ambient readings, indicating that the camera's ISO settings are well-calibrated. Because we did not see a significant difference between the cameras, none has an advantage in this category.

**Focus
***Autofocus (Advantage: Panasonic Lumix FZ7)
*The Sony H5 has a cool feature – the autofocus point can be moved around the frame with the 4-way controller. Unfortunately, the H5 did not perform well in our low-light autofocus test, delivering a much less sharp image than the other two cameras. We also had trouble getting the H5 to focus on low-contrast subjects. The Canon S3 IS also offers a moveable AF point, which can be moved to 273 different spots around the frame, and also had trouble in low contrast. Its autofocus sensors are small, and we had to move the camera slightly to get it to pick up a bright or contrasty detail.

The Panasonic FZ7 did best in our tests. It hunted less in low light than the other cameras, and generally hit focus faster in most situations. 
**
***Manual Focus (Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS) *

Electronic display cameras typically don't do well with manual focus. Any SLR camera is easier to focus manually than these three cameras.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 magnifies part of the live preview to improve manual focus, and the enlarged area takes up the full frame, so the user can't see the edges of the image while focusing. The magnification is significant and helpful, but the live preview is so noisy and aliased that it is hard to see details small enough to judge focus, even on the H5's enormous LCD. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 shows a small magnified patch in the center of the viewfinder, leaving the edges of the frame unmagnified. Since the FZ7 has the smallest LCD of the bunch, the focusing area looks very small, but it's useful to be able to see the corners of the image all the time so users can properly frame subjects. It was difficult to focus at the wide-angle setting. When the camera was close to the correct focus, small changes in the focus setting didn't change the view on the display, but they would be visible in the final shots.

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS also magnifies a small area in the center of the frame, but with a larger display and better display performance than either the H5 or the FZ7, it was easier to see the effect of small changes in the focus setting. The PowerShot S3 IS has an advantage in manual focus.

Still Imaging Performance / Image Quality

**Speed / Timing
***Start-up to First Shot (Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS) *

In our tests, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS came to life in 2.4 seconds, while the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 took 2.8 seconds each. A 15 percent difference isn't a huge advantage, but it's something. Any of the delays would seem like a long time if a user were anxious to take a once-in-a-lifetime shot. Users should turn these cameras on well before the action starts.

*Shot to Shot (Advantage: Panasonic Lumix FZ7) *

The Lumix DMC-FZ7 shoots up to 3.3 frames per second, for 7 shots. The PowerShot S3 IS shoots at 1.6 frames per second, but it goes along at that clip until its memory card is full. The Cyber-shot DSC-H5 is slower at 1.3 frames per second, and can only manage that rate for 5 frames.

For many uses, the FZ7's faster burst will be a bigger advantage than the PowerShot S3 IS's unquenchable buffer. The Sony H5’s so-called burst mode is quite disappointing.

*Shutter to Shot (Advantage: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5) *

The ideal camera would capture an image the exact moment that the user presses the shutter. Unfortunately, no camera can do that – there is always a delay. When the delay gets shorter than 1/10th of a second or so, it's not noticeable for most users. Unfortunately, all three cameras in this test have longer delays than that. In our tests, the Sony DSC-H5 delayed 0.42 seconds, the Panasonic DMC-FZ7 delayed 0.47 seconds and the Canon S3 IS delayed 0.46 seconds. These delays will make action shots tricky – users should anticipate the action, and press the shutter slightly before the moment they want to capture.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 has the best result by about 10 percent.

**Resolution ***(Advantage: Panasonic Lumix FZ7)*

Resolution isn't the number of pixels on the imaging chip; it's the amount of detail in the final image. We photograph standard resolution charts and then analyze them with Imatest software to determine how many line widths per picture height the camera can resolve. For head-to-head reviews, we report resolution in the corners, at various focal lengths, and with the lens at its widest aperture.

*Resolution: Maximum Aperture 
*The Sony H5's lens scored best when the cameras were tested at maximum aperture, but it also showed significant oversharpening, which makes post-processing impossible. The PowerShot S3 IS, which performed worst in this test, showed equally significant undersharpening.

The Panasonic Lumix FZ7 takes resolution honors, not due to any outstandingly good scores, but because it didn't have the significant flaws we found in the other cameras. 

 *Resolution: Corner Sharpness
*The edge sharpness test revealed a problem we have been looking for, but hadn't seen in previous tests: one of the cameras performed very differently from corner to corner. This may indicate that its sensor is not well-aligned with its lens. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS performed much better in the upper left corner than in the lower right. Both the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 showed smaller disparities.

 

*Resolution: Focal Range
*In tests across the zoom range, the Panasonic FZ7 and the Canon S3 IS traded honors for best performance, while the Sony H5 took second place in two ranges, and last place in two.

Image Stabilization*(Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)*

With the equivalent of a 432mm telephoto lens, all three cameras need and have optical image stabilization, using motion sensors and moving optical elements to compensate for camera shake – not for subject motion. We shot all three cameras at their maximum zoom with a shutter speed of 1/100th of a second. Our illustrations show a crop of the center of the shot. One sample without stabilization shows significant motion blur, while the stabilized images are sharp. The Canon S3 IS is slightly sharper than the Panasonic FZ7, and the Sony H5 trails behind, again, by a slight margin.  

*No Image Stabilization Overview

Canon PowerShot S3 IS - Image Stabilization On

Panasonic Lumix FZ7 - Image Stabilization On

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - Image Stabilization On*

**Color Fringing ***(Advantage: Panasonic Lumix FZ7)*

Color fringing shows up as tinges of color along the borders of two contrasting areas in an image. It's a fault of a camera's lens. Fringing can be distracting in a print if the colors are clear enough to see. Even if the colors don't show up, it affects the sharpness and resolution of the image.

Our dynamic range chart is pretty much an acid test for fringing. It is a piece of film that we light from behind to shoot. The numbers in the images below are printed in the film. They are clear, and the background is very dark. The FZ7's Leica optic doesn't show fringing in our sample. There is some color noise, but contrasted with the Canon S3 IS and the Sony DSC-H5, it’s clear that the FZ7 image is clean. The S3 IS's image shows a purple tint on the upper right of each border, and green at lower left. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5's Zeiss lens fringes much more boldly. Its fringing is more likely to be noticeable in a print.

PowerShot S3 IS, Lumix FZ7, DSC-H5 (from left to right)

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 has the advantage.

Moiré*(Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5)*

Moire is the commonly used, but not quite accurate, term for interference patterns that add color and sometimes lines to digital images. Moire effects can be distracting when they're obvious. When they're subtle, they can contaminate color and limit sharpness.

We shoot images of a converging line target to show moire patterns. We typically shoot it from 8 feet, with cameras set to wide angle. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS shows relatively little color contamination in the star pattern, but the way the diagonal lines seem to veer away from the center of the target is a moire effect. The Panasonic Lumix FZ7 shows color effects – the yellow and blue in the image is a moire effect, not part of the target – and line distortion. The Cyber-shot H5 shows less of each sort of distortion, giving the Sony model the advantage here.

*Canon PowerShot S3 IS - Moire

• *Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 - Moire
  

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - Moire*

**Distortion ***(Advantage: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 )
*Long zoom lenses tend to distort at wide-angle, bowing lines out toward the edges of the frame in "barrel" distortion, so-called because an image of a rectangle gets rounded sides, like a barrel. Most lenses resolve this issue at their non-wide-angle focal lengths. That's the case with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 and the Canon PowerShot S3 IS. All three digital cameras perform much better at any focal length above 10 mm.

*Canon PowerShot S3 IS (18 mm)

Panasonic Lumix FZ7 (21 mm)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 (14 mm) *

We shot a rectilinear grid with all three cameras set at their widest view, at 6mm. The Lumix FZ7 displays the most curvature, and the Cyber-shot H5 the least, with the PowerShot S3 IS falling in the middle, somewhat closer to the FZ7 than the H5. We find the difference significant. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 is the clear favorite in this test.

*Canon PowerShot S3 IS (6 mm)

Panasonic Lumix FZ7 (6 mm)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 (6 mm) *

Noise / High ISO Performance *(Advantage: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5)*

The photographic sense of the word "noise" comes from engineering, where data is described as a mixture of signal and noise. Signal is the stuff the engineers are interested in; noise is what gets in the way of the signal. In photography, the signal is the light and dark and color of the scene being photographed. The noise is any variations in light, dark and color that the camera adds to the scene accidentally. The most common noise in digital pictures looks a bit like grain in film-based photography – sort of a subtle, random speckling of subjects. It's most noticeable in subjects that viewers expect to be perfectly smooth, like a clear, blue sky. Noise increases at higher ISOs, so we test cameras throughout their ISO ranges.

We photograph a GretagMacbeth color chart, and process the images with Imatest software, which yields a noise rating. The Panasonic FZ7 has a top ISO rating of 400, while the Canon S3 IS goes to 800, and the Sony H5 goes to 1000.

The Lumix FZ7 delivers the worst results on this test. It has significantly more noise than the PowerShot S3 IS at ISO 80 and 200, though the two cameras were comparable at ISO 400. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 performed markedly better throughout its range, with nearly steady performance from 200 to 800.

*Night Scene
*We shot an outdoor scene with all three cameras set to take 8-second exposures at each available ISO setting. We also shot the Cyber-shot DSC-H5 and the PowerShot S3 IS at longer exposures. We set the white balance to auto, and shot in shutter-priority mode. The Panasonic Lumix FZ7 consistently shot 1/3 EV brighter than the other cameras. The Canon S3 IS's white balance was much bluer than the other cameras. In a mixture of mercury and sodium vapor lights, it's impossible to say which is more accurate, but the Canon image has a broader range of color, which is an advantage.

***Night Scene - ISO 80

---

*Canon PowerShot S3 IS - ISO 80

Panasonic Lumix FZ7 - ISO 80

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - ISO 80

**Night Scene - ISO 100
**

Canon PowerShot S3 IS - ISO 100

Panasonic Lumix FZ7 - ISO 100

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - ISO 100

Night Scene - ISO 200

Canon PowerShot S3 IS - ISO 200

Panasonic Lumix FZ7 - ISO 2**00

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - ISO 200

Night Scene - ISO 400

Canon PowerShot S3 IS - ISO 400

Panasonic Lumix FZ7 - ISO 400

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - ISO 400

Night Scene - ISO 800

Canon PowerShot S3 IS - ISO 800

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - ISO 800

Night Scene - ISO 1000

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - ISO 1000*

The Canon S3 IS’s image at ISO 200 looks noisier than the Panasonic FZ7’s, but it also shows more detail – the FZ7 looks as though it has been run through some "artistic" Photoshop filters – maybe the "Bob Ross" filter, followed by the pointillist filter. The Cyber-shot DSC-H5 is less noisy than either the FZ7 or the S3, with a bit more shadow detail than the Lumix FZ7.

Low Light / Long Exposures* (Advantage: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5)
*As digital sensors work, there's a race going on. The sensor needs a certain amount of time to build up a signal from the light falling on it, but at the same time, the electric current running through the sensor builds up more and more noise as time goes on. That's not much of a problem for short exposures, but for long ones, it gets to be a big deal. In some cameras, the noise loses its random distribution, and starts to show up as stripes.

Click on the cropped images below to view the full resolution photographs.**

[

](https://www.reviewed.com/cameras/viewer.php?picture=Panasonic_LongEX_FullRes.jpg)[

](https://www.reviewed.com/cameras/viewer.php?picture=H5_LongEX_FullRes.jpg)
      Canon PowerShot S3 IS                Panasonic Lumix FZ7              Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5

         (*ISO 400 - 8 seconds)                   (ISO 400 - 8 seconds)                  (ISO 400 - 8 seconds)

*At 8 seconds, all three digital cameras are out of their comfort zone. The Panasonic FZ7 is at the maximum exposure it allows. The Sony DSC-H5 and the Canon S3 IS will go longer, but our Imatest results show that their noise levels are elevated at 8 seconds. Our real-world shots validated the Imatest results, with much nosier images from the S3 IS and the FZ7.  We also looked at long exposures through lab testing, shooting images of the GretagMacbeth color chart for analysis with Imatest software.

The Cyber-shot DSC-H5 delivered the best results from Imatest, showing low noise scores in exposures from 1 to 5 seconds, and then gradually increasing noise scores up to 25 seconds, with a big leap from 25 to 30 seconds. The Lumix FZ7 had significantly worse scores than the Cyber-shot DSC-H5, but its scores didn't deteriorate significantly from 1 second to its maximum exposure of 8 seconds. The PowerShot S3 IS performed as well as the Cyber-shot DSC-H5 at 1 second, but lost quality quickly as exposure time increased. At 5 seconds, it was as bad as the Lumix FZ7, and it was worse at 8 seconds. Its performance did not deteriorate as rapidly as the Cyber-shot DSC-H5 from 10 to 15 seconds, but the Cyber-shot DSC-H5 was still better.*
*
**Dynamic Range ***(Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7)*

Cameras' exposure is keyed to mid-tones, the ones that are neither too bright nor dark. When we evaluate a camera's exposure accuracy, we look at mid-tones. A camera's ability to show highlights, mid-tones and shadows simultaneously is its dynamic range, and we test that by photographing a test target with tonal values that range 13.3 EV from light to dark. We use Imatest software to measure how many values of exposure a camera captures. We look at Imatest's "Low Quality" setting, which shows the EV steps with up to 1 EV of noise, and "High Quality" setting, which includes steps with up to 1/10th of an EV of noise. Low Quality is important, because even with significant noise, the range adds texture to shadows and highlights – it prevents areas from blowing out. High Quality indicates the range of tones that appear at the camera's best quality.

The Lumix FZ7 delivers the best data points for both high and low quality. It's at its best at ISO 100, where it is more than a whole EV better than either the S3 or H5 at high quality, and more than 2/3 of an EV better at low quality. The H5 does marginally better at ISO 200 and significantly better at 400. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS is the surprise in the group – its scores are significantly inferior at every ISO. The H5 and S3 have high ISOs, but their dynamic range scores at their top ISO settings are much lower than their performance in the moderate range.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7's top scores at ISO 100 give it an overall advantage in dynamic range.  
Color *(Canon PowerShot S3 IS)*****

We test color by photographing a GretagMacbeth color target under controlled lighting, and analyzing the images with Imatest software. For comparison reviews, we report results for every ISO setting on each camera. Imatest reports results for three parameters: color error, color saturation and color noise. Color error measures shifts in hue, color saturation measures errors in color intensity, and noise measures accidental color speckling.

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 have good scores for color error at ISO 80 and 100. The H5's Natural and Normal modes both look good. The Panasonic Lumix FZ7 is not nearly as good at low ISOs, and its performance deteriorates even worse at higher settings. The Sony H5's performance deteriorates slightly at ISO 200, and then more significantly at 400, 800 and 1000. The Natural setting is less accurate than the Normal setting. The Canon S3 IS stays remarkably accurate all the way to 800, its top ISO.

The ideal score in our color saturation measure is 100 percent, which means that the colors in the image are just as bright, but no brighter than the colors in the scene. Most camera manufacturers boost saturation, because most consumers want bright colors, and are impressed by them. We argue that it's better to shoot accurate color, and then boost color after the fact with imaging software. Oversaturating color in the camera decreases the amount of detail recorded in the image, and it can't be fixed in editing software.

The H5's Natural mode goes overboard to avoid oversaturation, turning in a maximum score of 91.59 percent score at ISO 400. Its scores at higher ISOs are really gloomy: 79.93 percent at ISO 800 and 74.29 percent at ISO 1000. The camera overshoots saturation with its Normal setting, running about 110 percent up to ISO 400, and generally performing about the same way the Canon PowerShot S3 IS does. The Panasonic Lumix FZ7 is very, very oversaturated, with scores hovering around 120 percent – its colors tend to look like cartoons.

Overall, the Canon and Sony models have a strong edge in color reproduction. The PowerShot S3 IS scored significantly better in color accuracy, but the Cyber-shot DSC-H5's score is still a solid performance. Still, the Canon has the advantage here.

White Balance*(Panasonic Lumix DSC-FZ7)*

Every light source has a distinct tint. Light bulbs and halogen lights lean toward orange, fluorescent tubes are greenish-blue, and outdoors in the shade shows blue. Sunlight seems neutral, compared to the others. Digital cameras can adjust to various light sources, and we test them to see how well they do. We run Imatest software to analyze images of a GretagMacbeth color checker shot under various light sources, with white balance set to automatic.

In general, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS and the Panasonic Lumix FZ7 handled white balance better than the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5. The H5 was slightly blue under sunlight, firmly green in fluorescent light, and orange under tungsten light. The S3's sunlight and fluorescent balances look very similar, and very slightly blue, while its tungsten balance is orange. The FZ7's sunlight and fluorescent are similar, and neutral, while it over-compensated its tungsten balance, which looks green.

***Daylight White Balance Error

---

*Canon PowerShot S3 IS - Daylight White Balance

Panasonic Lumix FZ7 - Daylight White Balance

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - Daylight White Balance*

*

Fluorescent White Balance Error

Canon PowerShot S3 IS - Fluorescent White Balance

Panasonic Lumix FZ7 - Fluorescent White Balance

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - Fluorescent White Balance

*

**Tungsten White Balance Error*

Canon PowerShot S3 IS - Tungsten White Balance

Panasonic Lumix FZ7 - Tungsten White Balance

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - Tungsten White Balance*

The clear loser is the Sony H5, which gave poor results in two lighting types. Identifying a winner is tougher. Both the FZ7 and the S3 gave good results in two lighting types. Both cameras imparted color casts on their tungsten shots, but the under-corrected PowerShot S3 IS shot looks more errant than the Lumix FZ7's over-corrected one.

Portrait*****(Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)
*The human face must be the most common subject for both amateur and professional photographers, and there really isn't a substitute for looking at images of people to consider how well a camera performs at portraiture. The images below are 100 percent crops from each camera, and they show several characteristics of the cameras that affect their usefulness for portraiture. We shot the images by window light.

*Canon PowerShot S3 IS - 100% crop

Panasonic Lumix FZ7 - 100% crop

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - 100% crop*

Our shot from the Panasonic Lumix FZ7 looks more sharpened than the other two – not simply sharper, but in-camera sharpening has brought up some highlights and speckles. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS imposes less in-camera sharpening, but has about the same level of detail. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 looks soft in comparison. The FZ7 delivered higher contrast images, with highlights on the nose that might print too close to pure white. The H5 gives a much flatter rendition, and the S3 IS somewhere in between. The three cameras handle color shifts from highlight to shadow differently – in the lighting we had available, the shadows are cooler than the highlights. That's most noticeable in the FZ7 shot, where the lower eyelid takes on a cool hue. The effect is much more subtle in the Canon S3’s portrait, and hard to discern in the H5 shot.

We find the portrait from the Canon PowerShot S3 IS the most appealing, with good detail, but smooth transitions of color and tone as well.

Video Capture

VIDEO CAPTURE
**

Control Options - Capture*** (Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)

Focus / Zoom
*Only the S3 IS by Canon will provide its users with a manual focus control when recording video clips. It is a bit awkward to adjust while simultaneously manipulating the zoom, but it can be accomplished with some practice. The Sony H5 will allow for focus to be adjusted manually before shooting although once recording begins the control will not be accessible. With absolutely no manual focus control, the Panasonic FZ7 probably won’t appeal to the hybrid enthusiast.

All three digital cameras compared in this review have 12x optical zoom lenses, though they vary in the degree of control available to users during video capture. The Panasonic FZ7 is the least impressive of the three cameras with adjustments to zoom levels only being available when the camera is in still recording mode. The H5 and the S3 IS both allow for control over zoom levels when recording and both have a smooth and well-paced zoom that slows as either end of the spectrum is reached; this keeps the end points in the zoom range from showing quick jarring like on cheap camcorders.

*Exposure Compensation
*The Sony Cyber-shot H5 has a +/- 2 EV scale controlled by the dial on the front of the right hand grip, complete with numerical guide points and simple navigation. This differs from the less logical and unlabeled Exposure Shift feature found with the Canon S3 IS, which opts to provide users with a small general sliding scale that is controlled via the left and right arrows on the four-way controller. This S3's exposure adjustment is less smooth and harder to transition than the H5's dial operated exposure scale.

The FZ7 also allows users to adjust exposure compensation on a +/-2 EV scale like the one found with the H5. The difference between the two is in the quality of the control design. With the Sony H5, adjusting exposure is accomplished quickly by spinning the dial while the FZ7 requires users to press the left or right arrow of the four-way controller - a process more like a point-and-shoot and slightly more time consuming than the dial setup of the H5. 

White Balance
*White balance control in movie mode will provide users with the same manual and auto options found in the still shooting modes. This means that the Panasonic FZ7 has the fewest preset white balance modes with daylight, cloudy, flash and halogen. The Sony H5 has options for incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy and daylight settings. The Canon S3 IS has the most presets with one more white balance option than the H5 with daylight, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, and fluorescent H. In addition to the full auto and manual options found with the H5 and the S3 IS, the Panasonic FZ7 comes with a second manual white balance setting and a white balance adjustment scale which allows users to select a setting on a scale which transitions between red and blue. Although light on preset options, the Panasonic Lumix FZ7 will definitely give more adept users the most control over the white balance setting. *
*Metering
*Metering options for the three cameras will provide users a varied palette of options depending on which camera is selected. The Canon S3 IS has evaluative, center-weighted, and spot metering options. The spot metering option allows users to fix it to the center, like on most cameras, or move the point with the Set button. The Panasonic FZ7 has multiple, center-weighted and spot metering modes that produced predominately similar results with minimal alteration when attempting to compensate for complicated or backlit subjects. Producing the most marked metering results displaying the greatest ability to compensate for scenes which are backlit or otherwise compromised was the Sony H5 which comes with metering options for spot, center, and multi.

*left to right: Canon PowerShot S3 IS, Panasonic Lumix FZ7 & Sony Cyber-shot H5

cropped stills from video footage at 100%*
*Image Size / Quality *

All three digital cameras shoot video at the consumer camcorder standard of 30 fps at 640 x 480 resolution – although the Sony H5 requires a Memory Stick Pro Duo card to do so. In addition to this setting, the Panasonic FZ7 also has options of 640 x 480 at 10 fps, 320 x 240 at 30 fps, and 320 x 240 at 10 fps. In addition to these 4:3 aspect ratios the Panasonic FZ7 also has a 16:9 format option for widescreen viewing that has an advertised pixel count of 848 x 640.

The Canon S3 IS doesn’t have the 16:9 mode found with the FZ7, but it does have an option for shooting 60 fps video with 320 x 240 pixels. In addition to the fast frame rate mode, the S3 IS user will also have standard options such as 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 – both at 30 or 15 fps. The Canon S3 IS features a dual shooting control setup that separates the movie start/stop control from the shutter button and places this mode control on the back of the camera body. This dual control setup provides users with the ability to capture full resolution still images in movie mode and movies without switching out of still modes. This is certainly helpful when shooting still images and wanting to immediately begin video capture without turning the mode dial and suffering through several seconds of warm up delay. This instantaneous switch isn’t as great when shooting in movie mode though. When stills are captured in the middle of a video, the final video file will display a stutter wherever still images were captured. Additionally, there was a tendency to forget about the special movie recording button when shooting since the natural tendency is to activate the shutter button positioned on the top of the camera body.

The Sony H5 will provide its users with alternate video size and quality parameters for 640 x 480 at 16.6 fps and 160 x 112 resolution with a paltry 8 fps. With a Memory Stick Pro Duo card, this Cyber-shot can also record television-quality 640 x 480-pixel video at a more standard frame rate of 30 fps. The H5 definitely provides the least options with more limited parameters; if aspect ratio or frame rate choices are wanted the FZ7 or the S3 IS will be far better options.

Editing / Playback Features*(Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)*

The video editing options on the Canon S3 IS provides users with a variety of control features, offering more flexibility than the other two models. The Canon S3 IS enables users to scan video clips with play, slow motion, first frame, previous frame, next frame, last frame, and exit. Editing controls allow users to scan video clips frame by frame to select the appropriate point for cutting and cropping videos (from either the beginning or end of clips) and will also allow for previewing newly cropped video prior to saving to memory. The Sony H5 has similar playback and control features although the "divide" feature found with this camera will only provide the user with the ability to scan video files second by second before choosing a spot to split the file in two. Bringing up the rear with no in-camera editing options is the Panasonic FZ7 which will merely allow users to play back video files.

Video Performance
*Outdoor Scene (Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)
*We tested the video performance of these three models in a sequence of outdoor evaluations, as well as in controlled studio setups, with similar results garnered - in terms of resolution, noise and color - in both situations.  In our outdoor evaluations, the FZ7 displayed the cleanest transitions, exhibiting the least amount of jagging on diagonal edges. The Panasonic also maintained focus well, with subjects in the background remaining far more legible than those captured by the H5, for example. The Canon S3 IS turned in respectable results in terms of noise and resolution performance, but did display heavier noise than the FZ7; however, the S3 did produce footage noticeably better than the Sony H5. The FZ7 also handled the borders between subjects without less distortion and discoloration than either the S3 IS or H5.

The major issue beyond resolution and jagging with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 is the under-saturated nature of its video, even when shooting on a well lit afternoon. The other two cameras were much more capable of producing footage with legible detail in the foreground, a basic feat that the H5 grappled to succeed at. With the Sony H5, the planes and dimensions of the moving cars are reduced to stark contrasty two-dimensional forms that have little to no shading and transition between surfaces. These transition lines between planes, when cropped and expanded, display further distortion and color inconsistencies that weren’t in the original scene. These problems appear as a halo on either side of the subject like those displayed in the images below. In addition to these problems, the clouds in the upper left corner become overloaded and blow out to pure white without any subtleties in tonality. This problem was also notable throughout the recordings done with the Panasonic FZ7 and only marginally apparent when recording with the Canon S3 IS.

Motion / Compression*(Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)*

Motion was an area of interesting separation with the Canon S3 IS having a unique edge with its fast frame rate mode. The 320 x 240-pixel resolution captures 60 fps and turns in a smooth clean video when capturing moving subjects. This lower resolution will be a problem if being output straight onto a television screen where it will be translated to 640 x 480, it shouldn’t be a huge concern if intending to use these video files for online sharing services where resolution is often 320 x 240 at a maximum. Video clips captured in this mode displayed only an occasional digital artifact and for nearly all of its footage, the motion was smooth and clean.  Interestingly, a continuity skip occurs in the Panasonic FZ7's recordings at 640 x 480 at 30 fps that will cast this camera’s hybrid potential into question. The highest quality shooting mode with the Sony H5 was not able to overcome the limitations found elsewhere with this digital camera’s movie mode. The video results for the H5 display a tendency to create digital artifacts with moving subjects and a somewhat stuttering delivery when compared to the other two cameras, although this camera didn’t have the major hiccup that occurred with the FZ7. ****

*Canon PowerShot S3 IS
**click image for 640x480 at 30 fps, 36.1 MB file size

approx. download time: 2 minutes

 **click here for compressed 3.17 MB file
**approx. download time: 30 seconds
http://www.apple.com/quicktime">*click here for Quick Time Player

[*

Panasonic Lumix FZ7*](http://media.camcorderinfo.com/media/DCIreviews/FZ7_FieldVideo_WA.mov)
*click image for 640x480 at 30 fps, 30.4 MB file size

approx. download time: under 2 minutes
*click here for compressed 3.14 MB file
*approx. download time: 30 seconds
http://www.apple.com/quicktime">*click here for Quick Time Player

[*

Sony Cyber-shot H5*](http://media.camcorderinfo.com/media/DCIreviews/H5_FieldVideo_WA.mov)
*click image for 640x480 at 30 fps, 30.4 MB file size

approx. download time: slightly over 2 minutes
*click here for compressed 3.19 MB file
*approx. download time: 30 seconds
**click here for Quick Time Player
*

• *

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Image Stabilization* (Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)
*Each of the cameras being reviewed here is equipped with an image stabilization feature that can be engaged to help combat hand shake and jarring movements when shooting without a tripod. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS turned in the best video results for both image stabilization on and off. The improvement from image stabilization off to image stabilization on was slight for the S3 IS when compared to the dramatic results of the Panasonic Lumix FZ7. The FZ7’s video quality with image stabilization off was atrocious when shooting handheld and the footage was blurred and lacked any level of sharpness. When image stabilization was turned on the video footage become markedly sharper and while a definite improvement for the FZ7, it wasn’t quite able to produce the level of quality found with either the S3 IS or the H5.

The H5 turned in admirable results with both image stabilization on and off and users should find that the footage captured with this feature turned on is nearly as clear and sharp as the S3 IS. The only major concern with the H5 exists along the vertical division between foreground and background on the left side of the image. The S3 IS was able to establish the physical separation between these two depths in a manner that just wasn’t present with the H5. In addition the overhanging metal at the top of the image is not nearly as crisp or concise as footage shot with the S3 IS. That said the footage for the H5 is certainly better than the FZ7 with image stabilization on and off.

Image Stabilization: On

from left to right: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7,

Sony Cyber-shot DSC H5, Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Image Stabilization: Off

from left to right: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7,

Sony Cyber-shot DSC H5, Canon PowerShot S3 IS *

*Color (Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)
*To test for color accuracy, each digital camera captured video footage of the standard digital camera still color chart in addition to the color chart standardized for video camcorders. The results from the still camera chart were taken and results were extracted using Imatest. When shooting at a strongly lit 3000 lux, all three cameras tended to over-saturate colors. The Panasonic FZ7 displayed results with the most color error, also varying between under and over-saturation depending on light levels. The S3 IS and H5 strayed from the ideal colors a bit, although they had the most overall consistency when examining the entire color spectrum. The Sony H5 showed slight under-saturation and tonal inaccuracy within the yellow, green, and blue areas of the spectrum while  the magenta section of the spectrum presented the most difficulty for the Canon S3 IS.

When the cameras were tested at the lower light levels, footage produced by the Sony H5 was consistently under-saturated and dull. The Panasonic FZ7 once again turned in a potpourri of results that were both under and over-saturated depending on the area of the color spectrum. Tonally, the FZ7 suffered in low light and the results strayed markedly from the ideal marker designated by Imatest. Producing the best color results of the three digital cameras in low light was the Canon PowerShot S3 IS with minimal tonal inaccuracies and nominally off-axis saturation levels in low light conditions. Although its color performance was not quite as strong as the Sony H5's in bright conditions, the S3 IS produced more consistently accurate colors in varying light levels.   

***Color Performance - Video Capture

**

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 - 3000 lux

Pansonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 - 3000 lux

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - 3000 lux

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - 3000 lux

Canon PowerShot S3 IS - 3000 lux

Canon PowerShot S3 IS - 3000 lux*

The following charts were captured using a Sony DCR-HC46 camcorder that captured video footage of our still image chart for comparison to our three digital cameras.

Sony DCR-HC46 (camcorder) - 3000 lux

Sony DCR-HC46 (camcorder) - 3000 lux*

*Resolution (Advantage: Panasonic Lumix FZ7)
*When shooting a standardized video chart with a light level of 3000 lux, the camera results were revealing in terms of resolution and sharpness as well as tonal transitions. The resolution trumpets below indicated our results, with the Sony H5 struggling with pronounced jagging on the horizontal trumpet.

The clarity of the overall trumpet for the Sony H5 displays resolution distortion that results in discoloration and produces both red and green tonalities. Improving upon the results found with the H5 is the Canon S3 IS which shows slightly more subdued jagging near the wider end of the trumpet. The camera did struggle to maintain clarity at the small end of the trumpet which resulted in a slight amount of discoloration although not as pronounced as the results found with the Sony model. The Panasonic FZ7 turned in the best resolution results, displaying the greatest amount of clarity and crispness without the moiré problems of distortion and discoloration found with the H5 and the S3.

The fourth trumpet in each of the following two resolution charts is the Sony DCR-HC46 a mid-level point-and-shoot friendly camcorder with comparable pricing to the three digital cameras we compared to.

from top to bottom: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7, Sony Cyber-shot H5,

Canon PowerShot S3 IS, and Sony DCR-HC46 *

When examining the vertical trumpets, the marked discoloration found with the H5 is absent although the camera still fared the worst of the three models tested. The trumpets display jagging along their edges and the clarity of the trumpet quickly falls into foggy incoherence. Noise is definitely present along the edges of the trumpet in the gray area and the overall image is hardly impressive. Once again, the Canon S3 IS came in second with an interesting moiré pattern at the narrow end which reconstructed the tightly packed resolution lines as three bold black bars. The jagging is once again smoother than the H5 at the wide end of the trumpet and the clarity of the trumpet does extend further than the Sony. The Panasonic FZ7 again turned in the best resolution results with an image that displayed minimal jagging and the least distortion and moiré when compared to the other two ultra-zoom models.

*

from left to right: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7, Sony Cyber-shot H5,

Canon PowerShot S3 IS, and Sony DCR-HC46*

**

Low Light Performance (Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)

During in-studio testing for noise and color in low light, the Canon S3 produced a remarkably clean chart with strong color accuracy and clean tonal distinctions. At 60 lux, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 displayed the least amount of noise, but was not as bright or as tonally accurate as the Canon S3. The H5 produced video with the highest levels of noise while the S3 IS came in a close second with the major saving grace of this ultra-zoom camera being its ability to capture impressively accurate colors in low light situations - a feat not shared by the H5. While the FZ7's low light footage contained the least amount of noise, it did display blurring along the edges of the color tiles and lacked the general color accuracy of the Canon model.

***Low Light Performance - Video Capture

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*Pansonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 - 60 lux

Pansonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 - 60 lux

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - 60 lux

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 - 60 lux

Canon PowerShot S3 IS - 60 lux

Canon PowerShot S3 IS - 60 lux

Sony DCR-HC46 - 60 lux

Sony DCR-HC46 - 60 lux

*

Audio (Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)

The microphones for the Canon S3 IS are a stereo pair that record audio from the left and right side of the top of the lens barrel and are far superior to the single mics on the Panasonic FZ7 or Sony H5. Their spacing and location improve the potential to really notice auditory panning and other acoustic phenomena which occur based on spatial positioning and movement through a recording field. This design actually gives the camera an advantage over many pure camcorders which place the left and right microphones in close proximity on the front face of the camcorder body; even if physically panned hard left and right these microphones won’t perform in quite the same way as those found with the S3 IS.

The quality of audio in playback is markedly better when shooting with the Canon and the microphone position is far enough away from fingers so users won’t need to worry about handling noise. The camera does suffer from wind striking the microphone, however the internal wind filter did cut down on this problem to a large extent. In addition to the wind cut filter, users can select between three audio sampling rates as well as five audio recording levels for both microphones.

Both the Sony H5 and the Panasonic FZ7 have only one microphone which is certainly adequate but will be more revealing whenever audio inconsistencies, glitches, or other mistakes occur during recording. The audio quality with the Panasonic FZ7 displayed a distinct prevalence of wind noise on the audio track and while it did pick up audio from fifteen feet away, the muffling tendency of the distorting wind on this marginally breezy day resulted in unusable audio content. The Sony H5 suffered from the same debilitating wind noise found as the FZ7. While the distortion caused by wind noise was less marked on the H5, neither model approached the S3.

Components

Viewfinder* (Advantage: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5)
*The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5’s electronic viewfinder has a 201,000-pixel display, according to the specs, but we didn't find it particularly sharp. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 have much lower-resolution displays – the FZ7 is listed at 114,000 and the S3 is about the same – but both aren't as sharp as the H5. The S3 has a comfortable cushioned eyecup, while the other two cameras use hard plastic to frame the viewfinder’s window. The FZ7 and the H5 have convenient diopter adjustments, and the S3 has one but it is harder to adjust.

It's far from the best viewfinder we've ever seen, but the Sony H5's EVF is the best in this bunch.

LCD screen* (Advantage: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5)*The Cyber-shot H5's 3-inch, 230,000-pixel display is large enough for a PDA, let alone a camera, but it has a couple of drawbacks: it is not as sharp as its resolution suggests; its refresh rate is slow, making it hard to pan the camera or focus manually; and the live image is very noisy. The 2.5-inch, 114,000-pixel LCD on the Panasonic Lumix FZ7 isn't sharp enough for manual focus, and makes it hard to evaluate sharpness on saved images as well. The FZ7's LCD has a limited angle of view, but adds an "Overhead" setting, which boosts brightness so much that it can't be viewed from straight on, but works pretty well when seen from below. The PowerShot S3 IS offers a 2-inch, 115,000-pixel display, which swings out from the camera and pivots like a camcorder display. It's not sharp enough for focus or image review, and a 2-inch display looks tiny these days – even much cheaper cameras have bigger LCDs.

Again, though it is by no means an excellent display, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5's large LCD has the advantage by dint of its size and high pixel count.

Flash* (Advantage: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5)*The Cyber-shot DSC-H5's flash reaches out to nearly 30 feet, a good 10 feet past the Lumix FZ7's range, and close to twice that of the PowerShot S3 IS. All of the flashes are small and fitted in pop-up mechanisms that rise directly above the cameras' lenses – just where a flash should be to minimize shadows. They'll deliver light in dark places, but on-camera direct flash is ugly light. None of the cameras have hot shoes or flash sync termianls to connect external flashes, which is a significant drawback, and a big distinction between these cameras and the more expensive models in the manufacturers' lineups. The PowerShot S3 IS is compatible with a slave flash – and any of the cameras could trigger a slave, but managing exposure would not be as convenient as it should be. Photographers who plan to shoot flash regularly ought to invest in cameras that can accept an external unit with through-the-lens exposure control and bounce capability.

There are a few other distinctions between the flashes: The Cyber-shot DSC-H5 allows the user to set red-eye reduction separately from flash mode. The PowerShot S3 IS allows the user to sync flash to the beginning or the end of the exposure. The Cyber-shot DSC-H5 flash pops up automatically, the Lumix FZ7 pops up when the user presses a button, and the PowerShot S3 IS's flash must be pulled up manually. The automatic feature on the H5 ought to save a few shots for users who forget to turn on their flashes.

With a bit more power and automatic activation, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5's flash has the advantage.

**Lens - Controls / Handling ***(Advantage: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5)*All three cameras have 6-72mm zooms. The Sony has Carl Zeiss branded glass, the Panasonic is labeled Leica, and the Canon is a Canon. All three lenses are equivalent to a 36 to 432mm lens on a 35mm camera – an enormously long zoom range, running from a slight wide-angle to a long telephoto. All are equipped with optical image stabilization, which senses camera motion, and compensates with a moving element in the lens.

The maximum apertures of the zooms vary with focal length. The Canon S3 IS runs from f/2.7 to f/3.5; the Panasonic FZ7 runs from f/2.8 to f/3.3; and the Sony H5 runs from f/2.8 to f/3.7. All have a minimum aperture at the wide angle end of f/8.

The zoom control on the Cyber-shot DSC-H5 is the best of the lot. It's smooth, and has relatively little backlash. The Lumix FZ7's zoom controller is a ring around the shutter release, and it has a backlash problem. With both the FZ7 and the S3 IS, we found it difficult to hit exactly the zoom setting we wanted.

Other sections of the review cover distortion, color fringing, and resolution, each of which relates to lens quality and performance. As far as handling goes, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 has the best lens.

Macro* (Advantage: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7)*

We photographed a penny to demonstrate the cameras' macro capabilities. The penny takes up about half the height of the frame at each camera’s closest focus. Our crops show sections of the image at 100 percent. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS gets the largest magnification, followed in order by the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 and the Panasonic Lumix FZ7. On the other hand, the sharpness of the penny showed a reversal: the FZ7 delivers the sharpest image, followed by the H5 and the S3.

*Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5*

The advantage in sharpness is more significant than the magnification advantage, so the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 has the best macro performance.
Battery* (Advantage: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7)*The Lumix FZ7 ships with a lithium-ion rechargeable that is lightweight and long-lasting. Both of the other cameras use AA batteries, and require high-capacity NiMH rechargeable units for best

life. The Canon S3 IS takes 4 AA cells. Even with its small LCD, the S3 uses up batteries faster than the Lumix FZ7. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 uses only 2 AA cells, and with its 3-inch LCD, it needs battery changes very frequently.  Surprisingly, Panasonic publishes the least amount of battery life with 320 shots. Sony publishes 340 shots with its included rechargeable set, while Canon advertises 550 shots from its branded batteries. Unfortunately, the S3 IS comes only with a cheap alkaline set of AA batteries which only last a published 110 shots.

Despite its inferiority on the printed spec sheet, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 had the more convenient, long-lasting power supply during testing.

Model Design / Physical Tour

Model Design / Appearance* (Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)*

The Sony H5 is chunky, like other Cyber-shot models, and follows the company's style and typical layout. The curve of the fat lens barrel extends all the way to the back of the camera, so that the silhouette of the back is not rectangular. The Panasonic FZ7 looks like a very small generic DSLR with a flat back, square sides and viewfinder hump. The Canon S3 IS takes its cue from DSLRs as well, with specific points, like the sloped shoulders, from Canon's EOS series cameras. 

In terms of design, the H5 is clearly the most decadent, while the Panasonic is the most portable selection; all around, the Canon offers the most ergonomic design. 

Handling* (Advantage: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7)*

Handling comes down to basic controls and interface. Each of these cameras has a strong point or two. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 has that very large LCD, and a good zoom control – much better than the others. The H5 has a real control dial on the grip, which is a faster interface for exposure control than the other cameras have. The Panasonic Lumix FZ7 has a sparse, straightforward interface, plus a joystick that facilitates several operations. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has its tilt-and-pivot LCD, plus direct access to key features with dedicated buttons. The S3's dials and buttons are large and easy to use, and they're built well, so the user can operate them by feel.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5

*Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7
*

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

If the H5's LCD were as good as it should be, given its size and resolution, it would have the best interface among these cameras. It falls short, though. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS's articulated LCD seems like nothing more than a gimmick, given how small the display is. The Panasonic Lumix FZ7's clean, simple interface has the advantage.

Front* (Advantage: Sony Cyber-shot H5)
*The Cyber-shot DSC-H5 has a large grip and a large lens assembly. It has a control dial on its hand grip. The Lumix DMC-FZ7 and the Cyber-shot DSC-H5 have smaller grips and lens mounts, and lack the front control dial, though they both have zoom controls around their shutter releases, which require roughly the same motion to use. All in all, the Cyber-shot DSC-H5 has the less conventional, more appealing front.

**Back ***(Advantage: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7)*The most notable feature on the back of any of these cameras is the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5's 3-inch LCD. It's typical for the controls on super-compact cameras to have to make room for the LCD, but here, it happens on a compact super-zoom. The H5 has relatively few controls on the back, so the controls aren't crowded, but are fewer and closer together than the ones on the FZ7 or the S3. The FZ7 features both a 4-way controller and a joy stick, giving the designers a range of options for camera control. The S3 has a row of buttons like the ones on Canon DSLRs.

The Sony H5's 3-inch display is remarkable, but it's not a real advantage. It's not as sharp as it should be, doesn't refresh well, and it's noisy. The Lumix FZ7's controls are extensive and well-arranged; the FZ7's larger display proved much more legible than the rotating LCD on the S3. 

Sides* (Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)*The Lumix FZ7 has the least appealing sides of the three cameras, mainly because its ports are covered with a flimsy plastic door rather than the rubber covers that both the Cyber-shot DSC-H5 and the PowerShot S3 IS sport. The rubber covers seal out dirt and moisture better and are more durable. The S3's manual focus and macro controls are on the left side of the lens, which is a convenient spot for them.

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS's rubber port covers and focus controls exalt its sides above the competition.

Top* (Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)
*All three cameras have large mode dials on their top decks. The Lumix FZ7's dial is smaller than the others, and less convenient to use. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS's dial overhangs the back of the camera, making it particularly easy to operate. The Lumix FZ7's dial includes a setting for its playback mode. The S3 IS goes into playback through its power switch, and the DSC-H5 has a dedicated button for playback, so that users can enter playback without switching the shooting mode, so the S3 and the H5 are more convenient to use that way. Both the H5 and the FZ7 have switches for image stabilization on the top deck. It doesn't make sense that the switches have such prominent placement – most users ought to simply leave it turned on whenever they shoot, so it ought to be a menu item.

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS's top controls are the most convenient and sensible. 

 **Bottom*** (Advantage: Canon PowerShot S3 IS)*The PowerShot S3 IS's battery door has a separate latch holding it shut, while the Lumix FZ7 and the Cyber-shot DSC-H5 rely on friction and a sliding latch fit. Latches are more durable, more secure closures. The H5's door has a second hinge, to allow the user to change the memory card without opening the battery compartment. At the rate the H5 goes though batteries, that doesn't seem necessary. Worse, the door has more parts and is more breakable, and the added complexity doesn't add any useful functionality.

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has the advantage.   

 

Spec Comparison

Spec Comparison  

 

Overall Impressions / Conclusion

Advantages*

**Conclusion 
**The Canon PowerShot S3 IS, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7, and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 are closely matched in terms of image quality and performance. Their lenses have identical focal length ranges and very similar apertures. Their dimensions are close, and they are equally portable. For their target market, snapshooters who want some extra capabilities, all of the cameras are acceptable. However, there are clearly areas where each excels. While a clear winner is tough to distinguish, the cameras do differ substantially, with each offering advantages in certain types of situations.

The obvious difference between the three cameras is price: the Panasonic Lumix FZ7 costs $100 less than the others. The FZ7's other big advantages - a lithium-ion rechargeable battery, rather than AA cells, and excellent image stabilization - are also important, and reinforce the choice. For hybrid functionality, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS is clearly the favorite. With more practical controls and a strong advantage in nearly every form of video and audio quality, the S3 is the only camera of the three that truly approaches a hybrid designation. While the Sony is not as economic or versatile as the Panasonic or Canon alternatives, the Cyber-shot H5 also offers some features unavailable on the other two: namely, a large LCD and nice viewfinder. With an additional megapixel and substantial decadence, we suspect the H5 will find its way into the hands of a significant number of ultra zoom consumers.