the zoom, the lcd screen, the video clips, and the sound is incredible...
you can also see some of the video clips ive shot on www.myspace.com./ladyacephotography in my blog where it says ALMOST QUEEN video clips...

nothing really... just the red eye issue...

Im a performance photographer and i did alot of research for a few months before purchasing this camera... i finally decided to get the fz20 in may of 2005... i love it so much and bought an identical backup in nov 2005... a pictures speaks a thousand words... look at my work and see for yourself what kind of camera this is...
especially in low light situations such as rock clubs and concerts...
www.myspace.com/ladyacephotography
i have nothing bad to say about this camera... i want to upgrade to the newest model as soon as i am able to...
the only thing is the red eye reduction... even though i set it i still get red eyes but thats not big deal.. i either use a red eye removal program or use an external flash and tilt it up a bit... no biggie... i still think this camera is the best for the money and for what i do...

12x optical zoom, Ease of use

Plastic body

Purchased this camera in febuary 2006. Absolutely love this camera and I never leave home without it. This is without a doubt the best camera on the market in its class second only to the much more expensive D-SLRs. The only thing needed for this camera is the proper lighting. Buy yourself an external flash and you can't go wrong. Try not to shoot over ISO 100 as this creates noise (distortion) in the picture. The lens gives unbelievably clear and colorful pictures. The pictures look as if they came from a camera costing thousands of dollars.

If you are new to photography start off in the automatic modes i.e full auto mode (program) or Aperture priority. Take some time to really learn this camera to find out its strengths and limitations. Read and study the manual. And if you are really serious as I am about photography read, study, and practice all you can about aperture, shutter speed and lighting. There are those that will tell you that you will need a SLR to take professional quality pictures totally untrue. It is true that SLRs take very good quality pictures and it's mostly because of the bigger image sensor and capability to utilize higher ISOs with very little noise. As long as you have the proper lighting and ISO not over 100 or 200 your pictures will be absolutely stunning and indistinguishable from pictures taken with an overpriced SLR.

good price, nicely build, very easy to use, very sharp and great results, great zoom range, leica is simply best lens.light weigh, compact,strongly suggest.

a bit noisy on iso 80,fz15 is best at 50iso. and it gets worst on higher iso.battery life can be longer,canon is better in batt life. pana should make a batt grip to hold 2 batts, it would be nicer grip and add 2 batts instead of one..

i bought the fz15 at 1st, i loved it to death, very smooth pics at iso50, but no hotshoe for external flash..so i sold it, and bought the fz20, till now, its my main walk around cam, it can do all..very affective cam, with leica lens at f2.8 at all ranges, the cam is simply awesome.very easy to use, very sharp, contrasty, nice colors, great depth of field,at macro my lens hood is about to touches the subject.for a 400$ cam or less on ebay now,, you cant beat it,totally awesome cam for any one.i also bought the raynox pro line wide and tele adapters to add on it too..raynox works great with fz20..this fz20 can shoot from great to better than most cam out there, i like it better than my canon 300d dslr..canon is known for blow out high lightes, not with fzs..fz10 is also a great cam too..cant wait for panasonic to come out with thier own dslr.no regrets, top choice for digital cam for all walk of life. great cam for outdoors.

Customer Service

none so far.

Similar Products Used:

fz10 and fz15..or fuji s9000, or sony r1.

Large zoom range, large constant apperture, external flash shoe (I have heard talks about problems using an external flash with this camera. Haven't had any with my expensive PENTAX AF-500FTZ flash). The greatest advantage for me is flash sinchronization right up to 1/2000s.

VERY limited possibilities to control exposure in macro mode. Smallest apperture - ONLY F8! Image stabilizer (tried to use it at first, now - only when needed) just DRAINS the batteries. I would also prefer some kind of "universal" battery standard, like AA or AAA.

I bought this camera quite recently and have tried it for TEST SHOTS mainly. These give me an opportunity to check for lighting and composition problems. Then I do the final shot on my film SLR using Velvia slide film. For this purpose the camera works great. Haven't printed a larger picture from it yet, so can't tell much about it's optical resolution.

Customer Service

None.

Similar Products Used:

Earlier, haven't had experience with good digital cameras. This is my first manual control digital camera. Used to use various brands of film SLR's.

The Leica lens Huge zoom range (36mm-432mm) f/2.8 the entire range Noise free at ISO 100 and 200 3fps continuous drive mode

ISO 400 is a bit noisy (but what non-digital SLR isn't?) and nothing higher than 400 As my primary point-and-shoot, a bit bigger than I'd like, but now that I'm used to it, I'm not sure I could go back to something smaller (and with a smaller feature set)

I had chosen to purchase this camera prior to it even being released. I read plenty of reviews and comparisons and this camera always scored very highly. Circuit City was the first store to stock it, and they carried for a few weeks before any other store (some sort of inside deal, I suppose). So, I bought it from them (with a 10% off coupon). I love this camera. Originally, I bought it as a precursor to buying a digital SLR, but now, I've bought a digital SLR and I still use this camera all the time. It's replaced all of my point-and-shoots. This was the 3rd digital camera that I have purchased since 2001, but the 6th that I've had the opportunity to work with (we use several models at work). This camera's primary selling point is it's lens. It's a Leica lens that is f/2.8 the entire zoom range... from 36mm to 432mm. That's awesome. I can't afford a 300mm f/2.8 lens for my digital SLR, yet this $600 Panasonic has one. The menu system is easy to use, the dials and buttons all very user friendly, and it has a one-touch review so you don't have to turn the dial to see the last few shots taken (nice when using the continous drive 3fps mode). If you're looking for something that is a step-up from the typical point-and-shoot, or want an extra long zoom, this camera should definitely be on any list you make.

Similar Products Used:

Canon Powershot S300 Canon Powershot SD110 Olympus C-740 Canon EOS 300D Nikon D70