August 28, 2006
Like a lot of people, I own a point-and-shoot digital camera with a 3x optical zoom. It costs well under $200, is small enough to fit in a pocket and it's great for everyday pictures.
But it failed me in May when I wanted that once-in-a-lifetime shot of my daughter receiving her college diploma. I was just too far back for the little zoom lens to capture the moment.
The experience piqued my interest in getting a much higher-end ``single lens reflex'' digital camera with interchangeable lenses, including a high-powered zoom lens, but I was taken back by both the price and complexity of SLR cameras. So I searched around for something in between.
My friend George Margolin, a former technical editor of Popular Photography, raved about his Panasonic FZ30, calling it ``the most versatile camera you can buy.'' But when I called the company I found out it was being phased out in favor of the Lumix DMC-FZ50, which should be available in September. Panasonic loaned me the new camera and I am indeed impressed.
You just have to look at or hold this camera to sense that it's a serious piece of equipment. At about $600 it's cheaper than most SLR cameras but it makes very few compromises in terms of user control and photo quality.
At 1.6 pounds, measuring 5.5 by 3.4 by 5.6 inches, it's far from pocket-size. Unlike those pocket cameras, the 12X zoom lens has real manual zoom and focus rings around the side of the lens and if you do zoom in from afar, you'll appreciate its image stabilization, which cuts down on blurring.
Anyone with kids, animals or other moving objects also will appreciate that the camera is very fast. The new camera is a successor to Panasonic's popular FZ30, though now with a 10 megapixel sensor, support for SD cards larger than 2 GB and other refinements. There is a built-in flash and a shoe for an external flash.
Lucky for me, the camera can operate in fully automatic mode but it also has more than enough controls and settings, including an optional manual focus, for serious photographers.
