Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3

Metal build ; Ease of use ; Creative Control modes

Mono sound ; LCD not angle adjustable ; Pricey

In making its smallest compact system camera (or ‘CSC’) small enough to squeeze into a pocket, Panasonic has squeezed out some of the features that made its predecessors winners at the enthusiast level, such as the hotshoe for supplementary flash, the...

Solid feel construction, smaller compact-like form factor yet retaining the DSLR-like ability to swap lenses, user friendly blend of virtual and “real” buttons

Flimsy rubber cover to HDMI and AV port, no in-body image stabilisation, mono sound, smaller form factor gives rise to occasional image blur resulting from camera shake in lower light more than predecessors, omits hotshoe and means of attaching a...

The GF3 is Panasonic’s most portable and easiest to use Micro Four Thirds G-series camera yet, but it comes at a slight cost, missing out on some of the usability and flexibility of predecessors and models higher up the range. Still build quality is...

Very small body ; Lots of control ; Easy to use ; Built-in flash

No viewfinder No accessory ort Unbalanced with longer lenses

Although Panasonic has put a lot of work into reducing the level of noise in the images produced by its Lumix G series cameras, their strength is still their performance in bright or 'average' lighting conditions. To be fair, though, this is when the...

Very small body ; Lots of control ; Easy to use ; Built-in flash

No viewfinderNo accessory portUnbalanced with longer lenses

The only real downside is that there's no viewfinder or means of attaching an external viewfinder, which can be an issue in very bright light. This may not be an issue for many people upgrading from a compact camera as few have viewfinders theses days,...

Good picture quality ; Compact size ; Interchangeable lenses ; 1080i video recording

No accessory shoe ; Mono-only sound recording ; No mode dial ; Expensive

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 is well built, conveniently sized and can take fabulous photos. But we're less enthusiastic about its high cost, especially when a number of features that more advanced users might require -- an accessory shoe and mode dial,...

Launched just six months after the GF2 (which we liked apart from its touchscreen interface), the GF3 will raise eyebrows if you’re expecting a better specced bundle. This time, in stripping away a ho

Extremely compact and luxurious, takes gorgeous photos and videos but currently looks overpriced next to the Sony NEX range

Super-fast AF performance ; Touch AF and Touch Shutter control ; Intuitive touch-screen controls

Hot-shoe connection has been removed ; Pop-up flash a bit delicate ; It's not cheap

It’s really hard not to like the GF3 – it’s very small, very stylish, very easy to use and is capable of delivering very good image quality too. On top of this it also offers a generous amount of user control, some useful shooting features and...

Relatively compact for its class; excellent performance; good-to-great photo quality

Lacks a tilting LCD; no EVF option; can't record stereo audio

We really like the GF3 as a step-up model; longtime dSLR users will probably find it too small and constraining without an EVF, but for point-and-shoot graduates the size should feel comfortable and you'll gain the speed and quality boost you're...