Nikon or Panasonic Lumix?
Which has generally better image quality/ease of use?
Specifically looking at the Panasonic Lumix G3 (about £100 cheaper) and the Nikon D3200
If you're just starting out in photography, as a hobby or otherwise, these are two great cameras to start with.
I have a Nikon and it's brilliant. I didn't even have to read the manual to figure out how to use it. The picture quality is great and even when my computer blows the image up, it doesn't pixelate.
The Lumix is great too - a friend of mine owns one. It is a great camera, but I think the Nikon really has more of an edge than the Lumix, even if you are paying a bit more for it.
Nikon. Better quality cameras and far superior lenses.
Nikon make photography equipment. Panasonic make electronics. Go with the specialists.
The Nikon will give you better image quality and more long term flexibility as there's a huge range of lenses and accessories available.
As for ease of use, both have fully automatic modes which will give you good image quality without needing to know too much.
Whichever camera you choose, rather than using the green fully automatic setting, I would advise you try the "P" program setting instead. That has 2 major advantages.
First of all on P setting the camera won't automatically pop up the flash. It will tell you when it thinks a flash is necessary, but it will leave the choice to you. That means you won't look a complete idiot when the camera pops the flash up when you are trying to take a landscape shot in the early evening! Or if you are somewhere that does not allow flash you can set a high ISO and still take pictures, but the camera won't surprise you with a sudden pop-up that you don't want!
Second, it will allow you to use the wheel to "shift" the settings, so if you want to try a wider aperture to put everything out of focus, you can tell the camera to do that. Or if you need a faster shutter speed to freeze the action, you can try that. Or a slow shutter speed to get that ghostly effect on moving water. It will allow you to start experimenting so that you can get the effect you want, rather than just getting an average balance of good shutter and aperture, which is the default.
The D3200 will have the better performance, both on test bench and in the real world. But realistically neither of these cameras will give you the best real world performance thanks to their crippled design. They're both capable cameras, just that practical useablility isn't their strongest point. Compare this to the older Nikon D90, it has the layout and added function (AF motor, Penta prism, twin wheels, top down LCD and AWL) which gives you an edge when you're photographing in the field.
On the whole to make the most of a system camera, it won't be easy to use. If you refuse to take at least some manual control over, your camera will behave like an oversized compact.
Nikon. Better quality cameras and far superior lenses.
Nikon make photography equipment. Panasonic make electronics. Go with the specialists.