Maybe it means more pictures! I overspent on it, and I feel guilty about it. I really had set a limit for myself, especially because I wasn’t replacing my camera, but getting another one.

I have a Canon S3. I love it. It’s no Nikon but it’s a fine camera. It’s also large, and not easy to toss in my bag and whip out and not feel like I am shooting something much more important some something that caught my eye. I also like to fiddle with the settings, so it’s not always “point and shoot” ready.

I did want something small (I generally hate small cameras, I like how my current one feels in my hands and I am always afraid they will break) that wont break, takes a quick but good shot, and *is* a typical point and shoot.

I knew I did not want a Polaroid brand as they shoot fairly slowly and my kids move fairly quickly. I did not want an Elph (a fine camera, but not what I wanted), and I was mainly looking at Canon and Nikon. I had a … powershot (I think it was) a few cameras ago that I loved – it got stolen, but again, looking for something smallish. – I did see the new model of that, and it felt and looked so fragile and cheapy!

It did not need to take video or anything – my S3 does that and I barely use it. I just realized I am lacking on pictures because my cam is a pain in the ass to take about. I don’t even like taking it on vacay b/c it’s big and bulky and I hate feeling touristy wearing it around my neck. Maybe if I decked it out with cool new lenses I’d feel less… stupid… but as it’s present it just makes me feel like a picture taking poseur lol It’s more than a basic camera, but not quite a professional (even semi-professional) rig.

Anyway, to the point, I picked up a Panasonic TZ3. Did anyone else know Panasonic has Leica cameras and re-bands them? Had no clue. Played with it in the store. It’s a nice model – close to my S3 in ability, but smaller so easier to tote around.

I paid 318$ about 100$ more than I wanted to spend, but Michael made me not feel bad about it (I really had set a limit, and I was looking in my limit, and the sales guy showed me this after I mentioned I had the S3 b/c the features were comparable).

So I totally let myself get upsold, but the sample pics we took in the store were impressive, it is quick on the draw, and so far it totally rocks as much as I thought it would.

I will say, it does have settings to fiddle with, but it also seems like it should quickly adjust back to typical P&S settings (which the S3 does, but it sometimes takes a few seconds too long to register).

I can’t seem to get my blog to switch over the raw mode, so no embedded pics or links :/ Here is the product URL:

http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Cameras-Camcorders/Digital-Cameras/Lumix-Digital-Cameras/model.DMC-TZ3S.S_11002_7000000000000005702#tabsection