Your Opinion: Panasonci Lumix DMC-FZ20

I'm a photographer who has used Nikon SLRs for many years and I have a
large collection of Nikon camera bodies and lenses.

I started playing with digital the last year or so, but only with fairly
simple cameras to date. That has convinced me I want to get deeper into
digital, but I am not convinced the market is mature yet. I expect
there are still qualitative improvements down the way, and certainly
price drops. As a result, I am not ready to jump into a profession top
end camera yet, especially with the depreciation I have witnessed.

However, I have become frustrated by the limitations of the cameras I
have been using. Small zoom range (3x optical) small aperture size
(slow lens) no manual focus, poor low light sensitivity, poor flash (no
hot shoe) and such.

I swore my next digital camera would be made by a camera company (versus
an electronics company) like Nikon, Canon, Fuji, maybe Konica-Minolta or
Olympus. But in looking over what they offer, I find price is too high
for where I want to be for the feature set I want. I'm not ready to jump
into a SLR at this time considering price.

However, I am looking at the Lumix line up from Panasonic, and these
cameras seem to be getting close to what I am looking for.

What I like:

80 ISO minimum
Hot shoe
12x optical 2.8 lens (Leica design)
image stabilization
At least a few real knobs and buttons rather than all menu driven
Nice size LCD, and electronic viewfinder with diopter adjustment
Manual focus
size, weight and feel
SD memory (I already have some from other cameras)

What I am uncomfortable with:

It's made by Panasonic (?)
5 MP sensor
non-articulated LCD screen


The main things I am looking for are:

- Clean/noiseless sensor (larger size is better) (lower ISO seems to
usually indicate a more sensitive sensor)
- good optical zoom range with faster lens
- image stabilization for low light conditions
- hot shoe
- manual focus
- good power usage
- easy to read display

I would like to find a camera with a slightly higher resolution 6-8 MP
if possible.

Pricing in the same area as this Panasonic (about $500-600 US)

Does anyone have any comments about Panasonic as a Camera
designer/manufacturer... any experiences with reliability, service, etc?
How to owners feel about this camera?

Can anyone suggest an alternative camera in about the same price range
with similar features?

Your feedback would be most appreciated.

Art



Arthur Entlich

On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 16:27:29 GMT, Arthur Entlich <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I'm a photographer who has used Nikon SLRs for many years and I have a
>large collection of Nikon camera bodies and lenses.
>
>I started playing with digital the last year or so, but only with fairly
>simple cameras to date. That has convinced me I want to get deeper into
>digital, but I am not convinced the market is mature yet. I expect
>there are still qualitative improvements down the way, and certainly
>price drops. As a result, I am not ready to jump into a profession top
>end camera yet, especially with the depreciation I have witnessed.
>
>However, I have become frustrated by the limitations of the cameras I
>have been using. Small zoom range (3x optical) small aperture size
>(slow lens) no manual focus, poor low light sensitivity, poor flash (no
>hot shoe) and such.
>
>I swore my next digital camera would be made by a camera company (versus
>an electronics company) like Nikon, Canon, Fuji, maybe Konica-Minolta or
>Olympus. But in looking over what they offer, I find price is too high
>for where I want to be for the feature set I want. I'm not ready to jump
>into a SLR at this time considering price.
>
>However, I am looking at the Lumix line up from Panasonic, and these
>cameras seem to be getting close to what I am looking for.
>
> What I like:
>
>80 ISO minimum
>Hot shoe
>12x optical 2.8 lens (Leica design)
>image stabilization
>At least a few real knobs and buttons rather than all menu driven
>Nice size LCD, and electronic viewfinder with diopter adjustment
>Manual focus
>size, weight and feel
>SD memory (I already have some from other cameras)
>
> What I am uncomfortable with:
>
>It's made by Panasonic (?)
>5 MP sensor
>non-articulated LCD screen
>
>
>The main things I am looking for are:
>
>- Clean/noiseless sensor (larger size is better) (lower ISO seems to
> usually indicate a more sensitive sensor)
>- good optical zoom range with faster lens
>- image stabilization for low light conditions
>- hot shoe
>- manual focus
>- good power usage
>- easy to read display
>
>I would like to find a camera with a slightly higher resolution 6-8 MP
>if possible.
>
>Pricing in the same area as this Panasonic (about $500-600 US)
>
>Does anyone have any comments about Panasonic as a Camera
>designer/manufacturer... any experiences with reliability, service, etc?
>How to owners feel about this camera?
>
>Can anyone suggest an alternative camera in about the same price range
>with similar features?
>
>Your feedback would be most appreciated.
>
>Art


I am look at the same camera for a difference reason mainly the long zoom
(12x) plus image stailisation.

May I suggest look at Nikon D70 you have all the lenses and know Nikon
Cameras



Keith