Though I owned a pretty good Panasonic video camera in the past, Panasonic's name never associated in my mind with quality photo cameras, but I'm happy I've been proven wrong. I did quite serious research in various DSLRs, 4/3rds, mirror-less APS-C cameras, and ended up choosing G3. It's not the best camera in the world, every camera has its own trade-offs, it's just the most satisfactory camera for my needs for the money I was willing to spend. Your mileage may vary.

First of all, I would recommend to anybody considering buying this (or any other) camera do three things:
-- Read professional reviews on dpreview dot com, it's important to see the objective tests and read professional opinion. But don't make final decision based on professional reviews. What reviewers achieved in controlled environment, putting their best efforts, may not be representative of what you get. In fact most cameras look in reviews much better than in reality.
-- Check the average Joe... Read more

If you have looked on with dismay as Panasonic abandoned the enthusiast small M4/3 and instead chases a smaller and smaller and dumber and dumber form factor with the GF line, then you now have a reason to be happy. It appears Panasonic is positioning the G3 as the successor to the GF1. They might not know that but that is how I view it. Viewed as a replacement to the G2, the G3 is a bit of a let down. Much the way the GF2 was compared to the GF1. However, the G3 is a great replacement to the GF1. It is a little bigger but not that much. The physical controls are the same but now there is touch screen controls and to make up for many of the missing physical controls there are the C1 and C2 modes on the mode selector. a Before continuing something that very few people seem to understand with these camera systems is the lens, not the camera body, determines how big the camera is. I will use extremes to illustrate the point. Put a 14mm f/2.5 on a GH2 and it seems very small... Read more

I took my G3 on my four week vacation to Europe. I also bought the 20mm f1.7 pancake to go along with it. I'm back from my trip and here are my impressions:

What could be better:
- Feels solid but a bit heavier than expected. I can fit it into some of my jackets' pockets but it weighs the jacket down too much.
- Shape of camera not as pocketable as I'd hope, mainly due to protruding EVF, only large pocets work even with a pancake lens.
- EVF is great for composing shots but not good enough for evaluating exposure, the 3" LCD does a better job.
- Compared to APSc censors the dynamic range is not as wide, however much better than any compact I ever used. I compared some high contrast shots to my friends Nikon D5100, and his camera was better at preserving highlights. Non high contrast scenes were comperable.
- White Balance could be better in artificial light.

What I love:
- Smaller and less intrusive than a full sized SLR.
-... Read more