Most digital cameras are built to operate as a self-contained unit. This is especially so at the lower-end, for these cameras usually include zoom lens and flashes that cannot be changed. However, at the highest-end, some digital cameras are nothing but a sophisticated light-sensing unit. Experienced photographers attach these digital "camera backs" to their professional medium format SLR cameras, such as a Mamiya.



* Area array

o CCD

o CMOS

* Linear array

o CCD (monochrome)

o 3-strip CCD with color filters

Linear array cameras are also called scan backs.

* Single-shot

* Multi-shot (three-shot, usually)

Scanning and multi-shot camera backs are usually used only in studios to take pictures of still objects. Most earlier digital camera backs used linear array sensors which could take seconds or even minutes for a complete high-resolution scan. The linear array sensor acts like its counterpart in a flatbed image scanner by moving vertically to digitize the image.

Many early such cameras could only capture grayscale images. To take a color picture, it required three separate scans done with a rotating colored filter. These are called multi-shot backs. Some other camera backs use CCD arrays similar to typical cameras. These are called single-shot backs.

Since it is much easier to manufacture a high-quality linear CCD array with only thousands of pixels than a CCD matrix with millions, very high resolution linear CCD camera backs were available much earlier than their CCD matrix counterparts. For example, you could buy an (albeit expensive) camera back with over 7,000 pixel horizontal resolution in the mid-1990s. However, as of 2004[update], it is still difficult to buy a comparable CCD matrix camera of the same resolution. Rotating line cameras, with about 10,000 color pixels in its sensor line, are able, as of 2005[update], to capture about 120,000 lines during one full 360 degree rotation, thereby creating a single digital image of 1,200 Megapixels.

Camera reviews on the Panasonic TZ3 model are already teeming with high praises from experts and users alike, and yet, Panasonic does not wish to stop there. The brand still manages to give us what we have been looking for in terms of anti-noise algorithm and smoother images with the next installment to its Lumix series, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5.

What more can you ask from a camera that offers 10 times optical zoom with excellent image stabilization? You might be contented with that but how about a remarkable automatic white balance, decent shutter lag even when in long zoom, and a whopping frame rate of six frames per second at 2-megapixels? I'm sure you are already drooling over such technicalities but we are not going to stop with giving you comprehensive gadget reviews. If these specifications do not entice you yet, being a first-time camera user, then how about offering a quick menu system to add to that already user-friendly interface design and a high quality 3-inch LCD display? This, accompanied with 23 scene modes that caters to novice photographers who are still enthusiastic about experimental photography, Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 is surely a good find.

All these while still maintaining the best print quality we have seen so far, exceptionally fast download speeds and way above the average battery life, Panasonic truly gives us what we wanted from a digital camera that delivers. It makes it easier for camera reviews such as this one to ignore the fact that the upgrade anti-noise processing greatly affects image details compared to what a Canon can offer with the same high-ISO performance. It also falls short when it comes to the quality of outdoor images as it has the tendency to create high contrast outputs especially in harsh outdoor environment but that does not seem to matter. Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 still deserves our recommendation.