- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How it compares
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3
- 12 MP
- Four Thirds CMOS
- 3" LCD
Released June, 2011
Rated 71% by by DPReview (Aug, 2011)In AVCHD mode, when set to its highest quality setting (FSH), the GF3 offers true HD video capture at 1920 x 1080 pixels in 60i (interlaced) mode.
Conclusion Check out the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3
First reviewed December, 2011
Features Key features of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3
12 MP
Four Thirds
Rated 77% by by c|net (Jul, 2011)Like the GF2, the GF3 has a combination touch screen and traditional button interface, but Panasonic has replaced the discrete four-way nav buttons and jog dial with a more point-and-shoot-like combination button/dial..
megapixels
| 0 MP | 16 MP    | 20 MP |
Lumix DMC-GF3 by Joseph-S (Dec, 2011)I've been using this camera as an upgrade to my Nikon D40 (6 megapixel DSLR) and I have to say I've been extremely impressed with the photo quality from this camera.
Lumix DMC-GF3 by Photography Blog (Jul, 2011)All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 12.1 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.
sensor size
Lumix DMC-GF3 by Photography Blog (Jul, 2011)With a pancake lens like Panasonic’s own 14mm f/2.5 fitted, the GF3 is about the same size as a typical fixed-lens compact camera, even though it boasts a much bigger sensor.
Lumix DMC-GF3 by J.-Settle (Jun, 2012)The GF3 is my "pocketable" camera which is to say that the camera with a 14mm pancake goes in one cargo pants pocket and the Panasonic Lumix 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 G Vario Aspherical MEGA OIS Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras in the other.
body size
108 x 67 x 33 mm
115 x 72 x 42 mm
111 x 68 x 46 mm
Lumix DMC-GF3 by Photography Blog (Jul, 2011)The Panasonic GF3 is even smaller than its predecessor, the GF2, by approximately 16.7% in size and 16.2% in weight, measuring 107.7 x 67.1 x 32.5mm and weighing 222g without a lens attached or battery inserted.
Lumix DMC-GF3 by Anthony-Pantliano--The-Photo-GuyIt's light in weight and is easy to carry around all day.
focus points
| 0 | 23 | 100 |
Lumix DMC-GF3 by Kevin-M.-Martin (Jan, 2013)Manual focus is also much easier to use since you now have the ability to zoom in and confirm your focus points with great accuracy.
Lumix DMC-GF3 by Photography Blog (Jul, 2011)Conversely, the GF3 is a real street shooter's delight when paired with the 14mm or 20mm prime lenses, looking to all intents and purposes like an unthreatening compact, aided greatly by the even faster auto-focus system.
Performance Real world tests of Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3
DxOMark image quality
Lumix DMC-GF3 by fangleman (Jun, 2012)A comment on image quality: Since this was an "extra" and not the camera I shopped for, I had no expectation on image quality, but I have to say I was satisfied with what I have seen so far.
Lumix DMC-GF3 by Mark-K (Oct, 2012)I loved having the ability to brighten up the pictures and change the color balance to a redder tone very quickly and easily in Auto+ mode.
DxOMark low light performance
Lumix DMC-GF3 by donny--don130 (Jun, 2012)At night the camera new it was night and the pictures were crisp and clean without a flash.
Lumix DMC-GF3 by ALVARO-RODRIGUEZ-PEREZ--ARP (Jan, 2012)Unfortunately this camera does not fit the bill, specially in night social pictures.
shutter lag
| 0 ms | 312 ms  | 200 ms |
Lumix DMC-GF3 by Photography Blog (Jul, 2011)The diminutive pop-up flash is OK for use as fill-in, the ability to make bulb exposures up to 4 minutes long will please night photographers, and anti-shake via compatible lenses helps to keep things sharp in low-light.
Lumix DMC-GF3 by Photography Blog (Jul, 2011)The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds and there's also a Bulb option for exposures up to 4 minutes long, which is excellent news if you're seriously interested in night photography.
continuous shooting
Lumix DMC-GF3 by DPReview (Aug, 2011)Once a burst of images fills the buffer, the frame rate drops to well below 1 fps.
Lumix DMC-GF3 by Photography Blog (Jul, 2011)The DMC-GF3 also offers full HD movies at 1920 x 1080 at 60i (NTSC) / 50i (PAL) in AVCHD format with stereo sound and full-time auto-focus, 4fps continuous shooting, fast contrast-detect auto-focus system that can lock onto a subject in approximately 0.1-0.18 second, Venus Engine FHD processor, RAW support and an ISO range of 160-6400.
battery life
320 photos
460 photos
360 photos
Lumix DMC-GF3 by Anthony-Pantliano--The-Photo-GuyBattery life is high and I was able to take over 200 pictures with lots of reviewing and menu navigating before the battery died.
Our analysis How does it stack up against its top 10 competitors
pros
-
Contrast detection focusing system -
HD video -
Fewer buttons, interact directly with menus -
Create 3D photos to view on a 3D TV -
Built in flash -
33 mm -
108 x 67 x 33 mm -
264 g
cons
-
0 -
50.0 -
460 k dots -
10.1 ev -
6,400 ISO -
20.6 bits -
None -
12 MP -
459 ISO -
Jun, 2011 -
The screen is fixed in place -
No automatic stitching -
0 -
No automatic HDR -
None -
Won't have that film look -
77.7%
Reviews Word on the street
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 | Rated by 121 users at amazon.com Rated 60% by by li-l-bamboo Rated 80% by by Eric-Galis (Jun, 2012) Rated 100% by by Mebpenguin |
Lens
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 80% by by Photography Blog (Jul, 2011)A natural addition to your GF3 kit would be the 20mm pancake lens, which provides a 40mm focal length and an even faster maximum aperture of f/1..
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 100% by by Edward-Wilson--A-Lucid-Ape (Jun, 2012)It's great for situations where you need a small lens and you can't back up to fit everything into the picture.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 100% by by Kenneva (Sep, 2012)I love this camera...I purchased a brown one....The picture quality is great.....I was able to take a photo and zoom in on it on my computer without the pic looking distorted....I could see the strands of hair on the persons face.
Sensor
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 100% by by Wendal-Weets (Jun, 2012)For those who are ready to step up from a tiny sensor point and shoot, this camera is pretty awesome, considering that its current price is pretty low for a nice sized sensor.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 100% by by Edward-Wilson--A-Lucid-Ape (Jun, 2012)At low ISOs it takes great pictures; it only begins to suffer above ISO 800.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 60% by by Ethan-Niu (Jan, 2013)When ISO is higher than 3200, there's too much noise in pic and the image is still not as sharp as Olympus PL series.
Image quality
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 40% by by Filip-Stojkovic (Oct, 2012)I was not expecting dslr quality from this camera but I at least expected it to have better photo quality than my sony point and shoot and it did not.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 80% by by Sonya-Mazumdar (Dec, 2012)I love the picture quality and although it takes some time to navigate the features, it's inevitable that there is a time to get used to the camera.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 100% by by christine-m. (Sep, 2012)The picture quality is very good, but the quickness of this camera compared to a point and shoot is overwhelmingly better.
Screen
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 100% by by W.-Char (Oct, 2012)In the future I will get a better Lumix or Olympus body to get the tilt screen/EVF/HDR functions but for now I really like the compactness and simple interface of the GF3.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 80% by by Anthony-Pantliano--The-Photo-GuyThe 3" touch screen on the back is bright and sharp, and responds instantly and works well.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 60% by by li-l-bambooI worked around the bright sunlight and when I was out of the direct sun the camera functioned very well.
Focus
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 100% by by Benjamin-H.-Mossberg (Jul, 2012)One good thing about this camera is that while the manual focus ring is not a true mechanical focus ring, the autofocus is far superior to many other cameras I've tried and then the focus ring allows you to fine tune it fairly precisely in order to capture a beautiful shot.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 71% by by DPReview (Aug, 2011)By default, five functions can be accessed using physical buttons - white balance, exposure compensation, drive mode and AF point selection mode, with the option of assigning one further function to the Q.Menu/Function button.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 | Rated 71% by by DPReview (Aug, 2011)When used in full auto mode, the GF3's autofocus and metering system do an admirable job under a wide range of conditions of producing a pleasing image.
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | Sony NEX-5N Least noise at high ISO Sony NEX-5N vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 |
 | 2 | Sony NEX-5R Best image quality as rated by DXOMark Sony NEX-5R vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 |
 | 3 | Olympus PEN E-PL1 Has an external mic jack Olympus PEN E-PL1 vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 |
 | 4 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 4-way tie: Supports HDR DMC-GX1 vs DMC-GF3 |
 | 5 | Olympus PEN E-PM1 More contrast-detection focus points Olympus PEN E-PM1 vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 |
 | 6 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 Fastest rapid fire mode DMC-LX7 vs DMC-GF3 |
 | 7 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 Fastest to start up DMC-GF2 vs DMC-GF3 |
 | 8 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 OK delay taking photos DMC-GF5 vs DMC-GF3 |
New duel?
Let the battle continue or dare to compare.
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