I have been using a Panasonic TZ1 for a little over two years. That's a nice 10x zoom pocket camera. But its ISO is a bit low for indoor use. The shutter lag of TZ1 also cannot keep up with my growing two-year-old twins. They move too fast for the camera to chase.
My main use for the new camera is to record my kids life. From time to time, I extend my artistic interest to scenes, buildings, animals, insects, flowers...
I've had this camera for a week and took over 1000 photos. It's simply fantastic.
Things I like:
1. The shutter response is much much better than my old camera. In most cases, it will focus quickly and accurately. I use iA mode occasionally. Most time, I set it at program mode with Fn(Function)button programmed to select different focus mode. Contrary to one of the reviewers, I feel it's very responsive. And Face Recognition really works on this Camera.
2. The lens is great. You can capture incredible photos far and near.
3. Wonderful IQ! I constantly mess around with different shooting modes and do comparison shot. I have to say that the iA(intelligent auto) mode in many cases is doing a better job in focusing, exposure, white balance, etc than I do(Hard to admit a machine is smart than I am. :-D). I'm still trying and learning. But I feel eventually I might give up and let the iA totally controls me.
4. The menu system is well-written. I'm only half-way through the manual(Probably I'll never finish the other half). But there's not a function I hesitate to use or feel frustrated when maneuvering through the menu system.
5. The lay-out of the buttons is well thought-out. I especially like the dedicated record/playback button. Why no one else thought about it. So convenient! Love it.
6. LCD. This is perhaps the brightest LCD I ever had. Everything is nicely detailed.
Things I think the next gen Panasonic FZ should improve:
1. ISO. I have very usable photos which are shot at ISO 400. But there are several times I hope the ISO will be even higher for low-light conditions.
2. Ghost-band(Purple/blue vertical lines) on LCD in strong direct light condition. This happens to many digital camera system. But I feel it shows a bit more on this camera.
I frequent dpreview. A few people there(Plenty never set their fingers on the camera) complain about the small EVF of this camera. I primarily use LCD for taking pictures. So I don't really care about EVF. But to be fair and objective, I tried EVF with about 100 photos. It's clear, bright and nice.
Conclusion: It's a fantastic super-zoom camera which can take incredible photos. A nice step-up from simple P&S. What are you waiting for? (Panasonic didn't pay me to say the last line)
Update 09/30/2008: I've been using this camera for about one month. Literally thousands photos taken. Again and again I'm impressed by this camera. This is truly a versatile camera. It takes excellent photos under a broad range conditions. It's hard to go wrong with this camera.
Update 12/27/2008: It's been four months since I got the camera. The more I use it, the more I appreciate its functionality, features and build quality. Best buy ever.
Update 04/14/2009: I found out that my computer/camera illiterate wife uses this camera much more than I do. (Of course, she spends more time with the twins too. )She was intimated by all the buttons at the time when I bought it. Now she just leaves the setting at AI and doesn't bother to mess with anything else. Photos almost always turn out to be perfect. Nothing says more of the camera than this. Great job Panasonic!!!
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