Amongst Panasonic's collection of digital cameras, there are some great entry-level models, like the LS80, and some classics like the FX37.  In between the two comes the FS range, which makes its debut with the FS3. 

The camera, which was first launched nearly a year ago, is hardly brand new, but it has recently been falling in price--so much so that it's now giving the LS80 a run for its money.  The sudden drop in price of a camera that should, in theory at least, be better than the LS80, has led us to wonder if Panasonic isn't up to something.

Handling

The LS80 is made of plastic, and, although solid enough, it looks rather old-fashioned at more than 3 cm thick.  The FS3 is made from the same materials but is much thinner (2.3 cm) and has a much smoother, more modern finish.  Shaving off a few millimeters has made it a little easier for the camera to slip out of your hands, but the small size of theFS3 makes it easy to slide into your pocket, and, of course, much easier on the eye. 
The other external elements, including the buttons or the memory card slot, are satisfactory, but the cost-cutting is obvious and the finish just can't compete with the quality of theFX series.

The controls are the same as those on the LS80--and that's not the only similarity: the lens and sensor are both identical too.  Using the camera is pretty straightforward, as it makes good use of automatic features, including a few nice details like e.zoom, which allows to zoom in on your subject as much as possible with a single press, rather than gradually adjusting the focal length.  A quick menu also gives easy access to the most common functions. 

The screen has an average resolution and is reasonably reactive, but suffers from very narrow viewing angles that it's impossible to remedy, even though though an option that's supposed to correct for this problems is activated.

For a camera at this price point, the FS3 starts up quickly (around 2.5 seconds), and the autofocus takes about a second, which is an average score.  The time you need to wait between taking two photos while the first is saved is relatively short, and the burst mode is actually rather fast and reaches speeds of nearly two frames per second.  That's faster than a lot of high-end compacts, and although it's only slightly slower than theFX37, the FS3 can take much longer bursts.

Without a doubt, the intelligent automatic mode will get the most use, and it too works without a problem, recognizing scenes quickly without any irritating pauses.  Face detection too is quick, meaning that, all told, using theFS3 is quite a treat.

Image Quality

Somewhat unsurprisingly, the photos themselves are very close to those that we took with the LS80, with the same warm colors under artificial light and the same excellent level of detail for a camera of this size.  The upgrade from the Venus Engine III to version IV hasn't made much of adifference , but we did notice a modest improvement in the level of detail above 800 ISO as well as an increased tendency to under-expose the most tricky shots.


Video clips were nice and sharp, with a resolution of 848 x 480 offering more detail than the usual VGA, although you still can't use the zoom while filming.

Rather unusually, the intelligent automatic mode really struggled with our 'Barbie with flash' test, which we use to simulate taking portraits using the flash.  Because we shot it against a dark background, the camera switched to a night scene, which complete altered the white balance.  Because it's very unlikely that these kind of conditions will be repeated outside of the lab, we decided not to penalize theFS3, and kept the portrait from the 'regular' automatic mode for our Product Face-Offs.


At the end of the day, this camera is an excellent replacement for the LS80.  As powerful as it is accessible, it combines some excellent features like face recognition with a very attractive price point, and is more robust and easier on the eye to boot.

There's just one final difference to point out, which is that the FS3 is powered by Panasonic's own battery, while the LS80 uses two standard AA batteries.  Whether this is a step forwards or backwards is, of course, a personal decision.