DMC-FZ5 a great tech gizmo - here's my experience (plus a 2009 update)

I will not give the specs; they're easy to find. I will explain who this camera is best suited for and what my experience has been.

What makes a bad picture? Poor composition, poor lighting/poor exposure, and blurry pictures. No camera will fix poor composition. In fact, if half the people who buy a digital camera would read a book on "how to take a picture", it would make more difference that all the technology does. Poor exposure should be negated by any decent camera today. The blurring is the one major area that this particular camera will help with. That is the one major "fix" that this camera brings to the table. The 12x zoom will also help with composition on occasion. So, you now have no more excuses.

There are literally a hundred digital cameras a consumer could chose. There are certain niches for each type of camera.

This camera is for the advanced user who demands a better, usable zoom on a digital camera, but doesn't want to pay a fortune.

There are only a handful of 12X zoom cameras with image stabilization, and they are somewhat similar. This one differs in that it looks like a camera, not a spaceship. With NiMH batteries, there needs to be a "pod" or something for the batteries to go into. On those cameras, the pod, to me, looks ridiculous. This FZ5 unit has a small, well designed Lithium-Ion battery. Lith-ion batteries are volumetrically more efficient (lighter), and are over-all a better battery in my opinion.

Here are my thoughts, in no particular order:

-The leica lens rocks. You'll never see the word inferior used to describe any leica lens. They only make the best. Leica invented the 35mm camera. By independent standards, this lens is technically superior to the others in the class, albeit not by much. Casually mention to your 35mm die-hards that your digital has a leica lens, and listen to the hush of silent respect.

-Panasonic is part of Matsus_hita Electric Industrial Co. What does that mean, exactly? They make the CCD image sensor that is used in many cameras. So, this is the company that sells digital camera technology to the other camera companies. They have a great deal of knowledge on image sensors, the heart of the machine.

There is much discussion on image stabilization; is it great, does it suck, who's is better, etc. From my experience, it does make a big difference in the marginal situations. That is, at the relatively slow shutter speeds and/or lower light. I have taken pictures that I know for sure should be blurry and they have come out sharp. When using the burst mode (three pictures automatically shot in a row), I have gotten two perfect shots and one really blurry one of the three. That was at 12x, and seems like a decent showing for that situation. I think you still need to take care not to move the camera during the shot; it can't compensate for wild gyrations. It only compensates for normal human variation of a "steady" hand.

Flash - The flash is pretty strong, much better than the point-and-shoot 3meg Olympus I have. In very close situations, it is actually too strong and can wash out. So, anything closer that 5ft. might be too close for the flash. That has not been a major obstacle for me. There is also an adjustment in the camera to adjust the flash intensity, which I don't want to fiddle with in the middle of picture taking. So I just don't shoot too close.

The LCD screen - seems pretty bright. I have not had a problem with using it and the brightness seems to be very good when viewing straight on and from an angle above the camera. It is darker if you hold the camera above your head and look at the LCD. Brightness is adjustable.

Buttons, knobs, controls, etc - This is where personal taste comes into play. There are some people who do not like to read the manual. This camera is not for them. I cannot emphasize enough that if you are the kind of person who hates technology and won't read a manual, don't get this camera. I'm not trying to scare you, just to point out the market niche that this camera fills. This camera has automatic and manual modes for shutter and aperture, a histogram of light intensity, different display preferences, and other things that will eventually drive you nuts if you don't understand the camera.
I think some of the menu selections make you navigate farther than I would like, which means sometimes pushing left,down,right,left,left,right,right to get done what you want done. But all cameras of this complexity have some of that, so I think it's about average in that regard. If you buy an expensive car, it's got more knobs and buttons, too.

Movies - I tried it, and it's fairly low resolution. But I would never use it anyway, and would you, really? If this is one of your hot buttons, check out the competition.

Weight - This camera weights less than the others in its class. For some, that will make a difference. For me, I don't care. I even like a slightly heavier camera. This camera might reduce fatigue on a long picture taking vacation day.

General appearance and feel - I have the black model, and it really looks like a traditional 35mm camera. Personally, I like that. The body is made of high impact plastic, but does not look "cheap". Should they have made it out of fighter aircraft titanium? No, because it would cost $4000. All cameras are a trade-off of features vs. price, and this is no exception. What did they leave off? No hotshoe, no manual focus, lo-res movies are the main downsides. But Panasonic offers more expensive cameras like this one that have those. So, that's the main trade-off. Is it the correct trade-off? I think yes, and here's why it is for me. I used to use a manual focus 35mm camera eons ago. Manually focusing was cool, for the first month. Then, it only slowed me down and gave me no real advantage except in very isolated instances. So, I am not sad to not focus manually. The hotshoe? They give you a flash with good horsepower, and you can buy a digital slave (sunpak) if you really need something extra. So for me, it's got what I need.

Dropping the camera - I accidentally dropped it from about 3 feet onto a rug with pad under it. It survived without a problem. However, some reviewers have dropped their camera and it broke. That would not surprise me, it has complex mechanical innards and shouldn't be dropped. So don't drop it, whatever you do. This baby is complex inside.

Picture quality - Of course, you can take a bad picture if you try. The picture quality is great, but I expected that. Will the others in this class also take great quality pictures? Yes they will. But it is reported that some of the competition has more noise in low light than this camera.

So, the bottom line for a confused buyer is this - of all the zillion cameras I could buy, why or why not this one? Firstly, you must be slightly a gadget person and be able to set the clock on your VCR. You should also be a little excited about getting a camera, just so you will actually take the time to read the manual. You should also be disappointed with 3x optical zoom cameras as too wimpy. You also know that 12x zoom lens need a tripod, or at least image stabilization. You have also heard the name Leica before and you somehow like it.

Congratulations, you're the one they want.

Unfortunately, you won't find this camera at most stores like target or W-mart which sell the other big brands. You have to Internet it or look around town to find it. I miraculously got mine for $300, but you'll have to pay $350 or more on the Internet at most places. All things being relative, I think it's worth the $350.

******** UPDATE ********

Panasonic now has the FZ7, an update to the FZ5. So, if you were looking at the fz5, you should probably go for the fz-7 instead. It has manual focus, better movie mode and the price will be more than $320. According to the trade press, it does NOT really take a better picture.
Now, here's the thing. If you don't care about manual focus and don't care about movie mode, you can save a bundle. These FZ5 cameras are going for about $260 on the internet at some places, just to clear out inventory. Just for your information....
********* END UPDATE **********