Another factor that made me choose the Panasonic Lumix ZS3 over Canon’s Powershot SX200 IS compact camera is this particular feature: HD Video with 12x Optical (super) Zoom and Stereo Sound Recording. I sacrificed having full manual controls for this spec so it better deliver. Below are two raw videos which I shot using the ZS3.

I took this one (video #0000 of the cam, woot!) to test the zoom and whether the autofocus would function continuously.

I shot this from our upstairs window a couple of weeks back and it never failed to get an “ooooooooooooooh!” from friends during show-off-time (I just love it when they do that). As you’d notice near the end of the vid, the autofocus had a bit of setback while locking on the leaves. Not a major let down, though. First, I maximized the zoom, zoomed out fully, then zoomed back in again at 12x. Nifteh, I know!

This next video was taken from Bangkok’s Route 66 Bar on a Friday night. It was packed and we had a helluva good time! Vid goes to show that stereo sound capture was superb (without cracking at the low frequencies), shooting in low light was above par (AF still managed to lock on the subjects although some movements on the foreground screwed up with parts of the footage), and the zoom still delivered. Crank up the volume before playing the next vid!

You may want to watch the videos from their respective youtube pages for their full-sized glory (click here for video 1 and here for video 2).

Soon to come, photos from our recent Bangkok, Thailand travel. Stay tuned!