Customer Reviews

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20S 5MP Digital Camera with 12x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom (Silver)

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

For $599, this is an unbelievable camera for an aspiring amateur or blooming professional. I was looking for something better than the average point and shoot but not as complicated as the digital SLR's. I wanted a nice optical zoom, not just some 3x optical with 4x digital.

I researched camera after camera for over a month. I looked at basically every camera out there including the newest and higher end cameras such as the Canon Powershot G6, Canon Powershot Pro1, Canon Digital Rebel SLR, Kodak DX7590, Nikon 8700, Olympus C-8080 and the Sony F828 among others. After much debate, it came down to the Canon Powershot Pro1 and the Panasonic Lumix FZ20. I didn't mind paying more for the Canon if it was really worth it, but I could not turn my attention away from the Lumix.

It had a much better optical zoom -- an unbelievable 12x!!! The higher end cameras only went to 8X (Canon Pro1) or 10x. Although I wanted a 6 - 8 megapixel, and the Canon had 8, I figured that I'd rarely blow up my images greater than 8 x 10, so when would I really need such high pixel resolution. See, in my research I found out that pixels aren't everything, believe it or not. It depends on what you're going to do with the images. If you just want to send e-mails, you only need a 3 megapixel. If you want to print out quality pics, you might go for a 4 or 5. You only need a high megapixel camera if you're going to do some really big layout stuff. For me, that wasn't the case and the only other thing I liked more about the Canon was the swivel screen. So I went with the Lumix.

After you hold this thing and take pics, you'll think this is an 8 megapixel!! The images are so sharp and clear it is unbelievable. I was told in reviews that I'd see some redeye in the pics, so just to be safe I purchased an external flash (yes, the camera has a hot shoe). The best part is, I took off the external flash and tried it with the standard pop-up flash and still -- NO RED EYE. I was amazed.

The menu is easy yet there are tons of options. The unit feels and shoots like a professional camera, yet with the ease of use for an aspiring amateur. I am SO VERY HAPPY that I purchased this camera. Do not pass it up. I'm telling you, if you want something affordable and better than the average compact point and shoot -- this is the way to go. If you're looking for small size, then go with something else. This is a big boy, but not extremely heavy or bulky by any means (like the F828). It just won't fit in your pocket.

Before you buy, I suggest you go to Circuit City and play with it. See how it feels. Don't just go in blind. In purchasing your next camera, really see which models out there have what you need. Every camera has its pros and cons. I have yet to see the flaws in this baby, but it may not be for you. Do your research. A great site to compare and see the newest reviews on the best cameras is www.dcresource.com. It really has some great info.

Good luck on finding your new camera. My vote goes to the Lumix FZ20 -- ALL THE WAY!

One complaint that I have about this camera is that the LCD screen cannot be moved for taking pictures at odd angles, or to protect the screen when you are done. Overall, it's a great camera. One of the lesser-known but very unique features of this camera is that it can maintain an F-stop of 2.8 throughout the entire zoom range. Most zoom lenses must reduce the aperture size, letting in less light, at full zoom. The top-notch Leica lens on this camera allows you to maintain the maximum aperture setting at full zoom, allowing you to use the zoom effectively in low light settings.

Here's my list of accessories that you may want to purchase in addition to this camera:

1. Bigger memory card (comes w/ 16MB SD card). If you want to take a series of photos in rapid succession (using the "burst" mode), a high speed (Ultra II) SD card works better. Otherwise, a regular SD card is fine. Also, several smaller memory cards may be safer, and cheaper, than one large memory card, in case a card goes bad.

2. Camera case. I just bought the Tamrac 5683. The fit inside is snug, but with a little room for a lens-extension. It's not quite the smallest bag for this camera, but it's very sturdy, waterproof and has a good deal of padding. It also has just enough room in the side pocket for extra cards and cables.

3. NC (no coating) or MC (multi-coated) clear filter. This is a filter that you can attach and leave on at all times to protect the lens. In order to use a filter, you must attach a lens hood. The camera comes with a hood that requires 72mm filters. You can also purchase a hood (e.g., made by Photosolve, Pemaraal, or Raynox) that fits 62mm filters. Why would you purchase a 62mm hood? Several reasons. First, 72mm filters are more expensive. Second, the 62mm hood is shorter and smaller than the Panasonic 72mm hood. Lastly, I don't think the Panasonic 72mm filter lets you cover it with a lens cap, though I'm not sure.

4. 62mm lens cap (for the filter in #3).

5. AC adaptor to power the camera directly. The camera does not come with this, but you might find it convenient to have.

6. Extra battery. The battery charge lasts for quite a while, but it never hurts to have a backup. CGA-S002 is the part number.

7. USB card reader for SD cards. The camera comes with a USB cable to transfer your pictures from the memory card to a computer. However, a USB card reader can be useful if you want to download pictures without turning on your camera.

8. LCD screen protectors (look for PDA screen protectors at an office supply store, and cut to size).

Finally, if you buy accessories online, just make sure you find a good price, because the online stores that sell really cheap cameras tend to overcharge for the accessories.

After owning this camera for a year and a half, I have more reservations about it. If I could, I would change the rating to three stars. I have found it difficult to get a sharp focus, and also difficult to get a clear image indoors. Granted, indoor shots have less lighting, so require a longer shutter speed with greater risk of blurring, but it is still frustrating to see only one picture in ten come out clearly, even with the motion stabilization. Turning up the ISO to 400 helps, but results in noisiness that I find unacceptable, so I rarely go beyond ISO 100. Also, this isn't the greatest camera for taking quick shots. The focusing speed, and picture-taking speed are frustratingly slow. If you want to get that perfect facial expression on your toddler at just the moment you see it, another camera will probably serve better. Granted, these are some of the prices you pay for a more complex camera with a higher-end lens (as opposed to a point-and-shoot). Also, don't mistake this for a full DSLR. My friend's Minolta DSLR focuses in a split second with a satisfying click of the lens body. The Lumix sometimes focuses over more than a second, going in and out of focus until it tries, and sometimes fails, to find the focus (again, in lower light conditions).

My wife now wants me to buy a Canon powershot. She gets frustrated with the Lumix because she can't figure out how to adjust all the right settings, and it looks like I'll have to give in on this one.

The Lumix DMC FZ20 is, arguably, the best camera ever designed and produced. It is, most definitely, the very best camera I have ever used and I have been taking and making pictures professionally and for fun for 50 years, starting with a Yashica-Mat (2 1/4 sq. TLR), light meter and flashbulbs and lately, with three other digital cameras. I was skeptical of the hype produced about the camera but its appearance, alone, is sexy. It's the Darth Vader of cameras. So I took a chance and made the purchase, thinking that something had to be wrong or missing for a camera with those specs for only [$...]. Wow, was I wrong. As soon as I opened the box and got it in my hands, I knew what love at first sight really meant. Every control falls under the right fingers. The Lumix must have been designed by a working photographer and not an engineer. Every feature is superior quality, such as the LCD monitor, the viewfinder, the unbelievable 12x optical zoom, all of the manual overrides that are available, the plethora of shooting modes, and, most especially, that hunk of glass called a lens. That lens proves that it takes more than a lot of pixels to take a good digital picture. That lens lets all of the juicy colors get through to the pixels. That lens lets razor sharp images through to the pixels. That lens alone is worth the price of the whole camera. Everything came together when I made my first prints from the Lumix: up to 13x19 enlargements that were so crisp you could hear the snap, crackle and pop; Colors that were perfectly faithful to the original scenes; and cropping that represented half of the 'negative' before I could discern a single pixel. I could go on and on but life is too short and I have a lot of pictures to make. Rush to buy the Lumix before Panasonic realizes the serious error they have made and doubles the price of this masterpiece.

This camera is fantastic. It has a superior lens. The zoom is great and basically, the camera could be considered "the poor man's answer to a digital SLR". Except it isn't an SLR. The lens, made of very high quality by Lecia, is fixed mount. You can't remove it, but it has an incredible zoom of up to about 430mm. This makes it much more than a point and shoot, and gives you the flexibility of higher priced SLRs.

Overall, this camera has numerous features!!! Easy to use controls, great battery life. The camera is much larger than a point and shoot so know that going in. The battery is a Panasonic unit, not AA or AAA, so it will cost a bit to replace. It comes with the camera, along with an easy to use, compact charger.

Photo quality - great! For best results (lower noise) I set the ISO to 80 when possible. You can shoot at F2.8 throughout the zoom range (even Panasonic's new 8MP Lumix doesn't offer that, dropping to 3.7 toward the longer range).

You can shoot fully programmed or go manual if you are a camera buff. You can use all the modes in between - shutter preferred, apeture preferred, etc.

About all you give up versus a $1500-$2000 SLR is the ability to change lenses and a slightly lower shutter (some Canon SLRs fire at 1/8000 second). This camera also has a smaller CCD sensor than some of the Canons, but again - the Panasonic is less than $500. The CCD is what makes the photo quality on any digital cam, in the end. ISO can be set to auto, or from 80-400.

Stabilizer - helps keep shots sharp throughout a long focal length. You have two options for stablizing photos. One is throughtout the focus and one is at the time of the photo. I set mine for just the time of the photo and feel that provides better results for sports photos (soceer, lacrosse).

Bracketing - lets you bracket exposures, which works great when you are shooting on the beach, for example. You have sun off the water, or maybe behind your subject, so you can bracket the exposures automatically and shoot 3 shots with one click, so you get an over/normal/under exposure and one should be a great shot! This also helps with pictures of kids, as you essentially get a few different facial expressions (the bracket shots are after all in succession, not the same exact instant).

You can also set the camera to fire off multiple shots on one click of the shutter (bursts) and get 10-20 shots in rapid fire, capturing that one or two "perfect" photos. In addition there is a flip animation feature, which lets you create nice "flip page" features of your kids, pets, etc.

You have a decent flip up flash as well as a hot shoe for an external flash.

The camera has a built in video cam - just keep in mind that it locks the lens on whatever focal length you are at when you go to video mode, so this is not really for anything other than basic video.

The camera also has full audio, so you can record sound and/or add narration to your photos to refer to later.

Other features include numerous metering options, an auto focus "assist lamp" for low light, and histogram options. It even has several settings like "sports/snow/fireworks" and so on, so you can choose one of those for different photo scenarios. i've tried them all and they don't hurt the photos, although I'm not sure they enhance any given photo scenario. But I tend to chose my own shutter and other settings, shooting manually much of the time. if you prefer to shoot in auto mode, I doubt you'll be unhappy.

This camera is a must own for a family. It gives you great shots of the kids.

The included software works fine, so this camera easily connects and works on your PC.

The two downsides:

The lens cap is not clip on, so you might lose it. I use the included lens hood almost all the time so I don't worry too much about the cap. The other downside - you need a good memory card to use any 5 megapixel camera - Panasonic includes only a 16mb. You want at least 256mb, preferably 512mb and up. if you are going to shoot at lot of bursts, get a high speed, quality card.

This is a great camera. I have been waiting to buy a Digital camera and after reading the review at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz20/ , I ordered it and it is even better than I thought it would be. Be sure and get a SanDisk Ultra II card as this will write the pictures faster which lets you shoot again quicker. Also you will want at least one extra battery (use the Power2000 CGA-S002 800mAh, which is cheaper and better than the 680mAh Panasonic battery). Also look at the DigiPower DPS-9000 Power Pack (http://www.pbase.com/10kzoomfz/dps9000_battery , for pictures of battery mounted on cameras) which mounts by screwing into the tripod mount on the bottom of the camera and gives the ability to shoot all day on one charge. both batteries are available through Amazon.

I have owned this camera for about a year, and the FZ15 for another year before that. I have taken thousands of pictures with them, so I can give you a good assessment of what you should expect. Since I've sold these, I upgraded to a Rebel XT, so I can also tell you how they compare.

Interesting thing about the model is that, for various reasons, it has a very very loyal and almost cult-like following who make this camera sound like it's made by God himself. FZ20 is not "all that" as people here there and everywhere will tell you. It is just a very decent prosumer-grade camera.

That said, I would recommend this over Canon S2IS (although comparable in image quality, feels like a toy over this one), and the Sony DSC-H1 (just not as polished enough as a serious camera). Yes, I have had a decent amount of experience using both of these other cameras.

Many people will tell you that this camera can produce images so good that you won't be able tell the difference between it and one from a more expensive dSLR. This is only half-correct. Let me tell you that even with the mediocre kit-lens of the Canon Rebel XT (which you all know is the low-end model dSLR), you will be able to tell the difference when compared side-by-side. Better contrast, color balance, sharpness, just more lively and "better-looking." On the other hand, if you just show the picture from an FZ20 and tell them that it's from a Canon 5D, you can probably fool most people (including me). But then again, I am very confident that I can take a picture with my Canon A620 and do the same.

I seem to be too much on the negative here, so let me compensate for my 4-stars. With good lighting, this camera can produce some very impressive images, and the zoom reach is just awesome. If you haven't had experience with ultra-zooms, you will appreciate how it opens up another world of opportunities in your composition. I would go out to the street, sit on a bench, start shooting away at people without them noticing me at all... resulting in people looking very natural, not looking into the camera and smiling.

Let me close by noting a very very important difference between these two cameras. The FZ20 is a "daylight" camera. If you need to take pictures over ISO80 (on the FZ20), you WILL DEFINITELY be able to tell the difference between the image it produces and one a Rebel XT would produce under the same ISO. ISO400 shots on this camera is, I am sorry, HORRENDOUS. That's right. HORRENDOUS. You cannot use it. This means that if you use it in auto setting in a semi-dark place (even inside of a decently lit building), you will get a bad image. If you set the ISO low and lower the speed to compensate, you will get a blurred image - if not from your handshake (please, the IS is good, but it doesn't do magic), then from your subject moving. The Rebel XT, set your ISO up to 800, it's STILL better than the FZ20's ISO 200. In fact, the XT's ISO 1600 is comparable to FZ20's ISO 200. This means great pictures even when your not outside in the daytime.

Hope you found this helpful :)

First, allow me to give a brief history on my owned camers. The first good camera I bought was a Minolta Maxxum 7000 back in the mid 80's. This was a good camera and I took many pictures over the years. The first digital I bought was the 3MP Olympus C3000 in 2001. In mid 2004, the camera bit the dust (unfixable). Luckily, I had an extended warranty and the retailer allowed me to choose another camera which cost the same as the Olympus. The only one they had in stock which suited me at the time was Kodak's DX7590. I kept the camera for a couple of months and even though it took good pictures, something just wasn't right. The detail was lacking, shots were not consistent and white balance was off at times. Even though it was a little faster than the Oly, still something was missing. Since it was a replacement, and I was ready to upgrade anyhow, selling it outright would not be a loss to me.

I wanted a good camera in the $500 range, at least 5MP and a powerful zoom. I researched and researched, and everything seem to lead me back to the Panasonic FZ20 time and time again. I was nervous about complaints on some noise, dim LCD and battery life. I ordered the FZ20 and I must say I made a good decision. Maybe I've had bad apples in the past and didn't know a good digital when I saw one, but the Panasonic far exceeds my expectations.

It is quick to focus (even in a dim lit room). The zoom is fast and awesome. The histogram is a nice feature. The noise is not detectable for 99% of the shots, and probably 100% of the shots for most users. The flash has a very good range, as well. It reminds me a lot of my Maxxum 7000 in the feel, functionality, and operation. I took and compared similar pictures with the Kodak and found that the Kodak was richer in color, but the Panasonic was clearer. However, the Panasonic has settings which increased saturation. As far as the the LCD brightness, I'm not sure where those complaints come from. It's bright enough for me. It does dim a little when you press the shutter, but that is no concern to me at that point.

If you are looking for a simple, no thrills, point and shoot camera, the Panasonic may not be for you. Don't get me wrong, the panasonic produces good pictures by pointing and shooting, but you have much more control over varying situations if you need that control. I think it is more of a professional camera than the Kodak and Oly, which I previously owned.

Not sure on what color to get? Silver or Black. That was a hard decision for me, but I recommend the black. It's sharp looking, and any lens accessories you buy will probably be black, too. I've heard that when silver finishes wear they show black. That was enoght to turn me against the silver.

So, if you are looking for a 5MP range, long zoom, professional feel and operation type camera, which takes excellent pictures, look no further. I think the Panasonic DMC-FZ20 will make you happy.

Update: After two months of use, I like this camera even more. I always display the most recent pictures as a slideshow screensaver (full screen) on our PC. Looking over the Christmas pictures, I am intrigued by the clarity, color richness, and natural look given by these photographs. I've also purchased a lens tube adapter (Raynox RT5264P) and attached a 52mm UV filter. If you want your camera to look even sharper, get the lens adapter. The lens hood which comes with the camera is nice to have gotten, but it is mainly for bright light situations, and the thread size is like 72mm. The hood is good for wide angle, but zoom shots have a decreased angle of view, can can cause flare and ghost images. [...]

I wanted to get a new camera for our upcoming trip to Greece. My basic requirements were that it be an ultra-zoom and that it have image stabilization (ultra-zoom isn't much good without it unless you always use a tripod. If you do, you can save about [...] by foregoing IS). I quickly learned that the current sweet-spot of the market for this class of camera is 5 M pixels, so I further narrowed my search to that. The choices were: Panasonic Lumix DMC F20 and F5; Konica Minolta DImage Z5; Sony CyberShot DSC H1; and Canon Poweshot S2 IS. All cameras in this class use an electronic viewfinder (EVF), which I'm not as fond of as optical.

I quickly dismissed the Konica because it takes very mediocre pictures. The images just can't compare to anything else in this class in crispness or low noise.

The big hurdle for cameras in this class to get over is chromatic aberration. For a lens to be able to bend light to a proper focus across the color spectrum at a zoom of 1x to 12x is a terrific challenge. At the long zooms, lenses tend to show a color "fringe" around edges if they aren't exceptionally well made. Of the remaining cameras, Canon was the worst of the lot on this. I have an SD-200, which is an ultra-compact with 3x zoom, and it has a bit of a problem this way. So I was not surprised that the long zoom from them would also have this problem. The Sony is not too bad at this, but chromatic aberration is clearly present at higher zooms. The Panasonic's Leica lens is the stand-out in this regard.

As to LCD, the Sony has the largest and brightest of the displays. The Panasonic is second-largest (2-inch screen) and adequately bright. The Canon is the smallest, at 1.5 inches, but has the virtue of folding out and twisting around to allow you to take pictures from odd angles, using it as the viewfinder. Also, it folds into place for storage with its back to the outside word, so its protected against bumps. The Canon is the least visible of the LCDs in bright light, and the size is pretty small for reading menus. For me, each of the LCDs was good enough, and none was ideal.

All cameras of this class image-process the data before you ever see a picture. By default, Sony processes their images way too much. They smooth the noise, and then put back the appearance of sharpness by (what I presume to be) unsharp masking. You can see the Gibbs effect on sharp transitions (the image looks like water is lapping against the sharp edge). I find this very irritating. But the images show absolutely no noise, and at first blush look like they are very sharp. I think Sony does this to impress the unwary with "image quality" that isn't really there. Canon chooses a middle path on processing by default, and Panasonic allows their wonderful lens' resolution to come through the images, at the expense of higher noise than the other cameras show. All cameras allow you to adjust the processing settings, so this is just their choice for out-of-the-box. I strongly prefer the Panasonic default to the others. I can always smooth the images in PhotoShop if I like, but I can't retrieve the native resolution once its been smoothed away.

Manual focus is important to me. The Sony has a rather clunky way of getting at manual focus (keep pushing a button near the shutter button until the viewfinder shows a distance bar, then you can use the rocker switch on the back to focus.) Canon is better. There is a button by the lens to switch to manual focus, and then use the back rocker switch to focus. The FZ5 doesn't support manual focus, so this was when I dropped it from contention. The FZ20 has a switch at the side of the lens that puts it in manual mode. Flick the switch all the way down if you like (it bounces back up to the manual position), and it will auto-focus to get you started. Then, you use a ring around the lens to manually focus, just like a film 35 mm camera. Panasonic won that part of the UI hands down.

I don't much care about using the camera for movies. If you do, Canon is the clear winner. It takes full-size M-JPEG video (640x480, 30 fps). You can zoom while you shoot the video (unique to this camera AFAIK). The Sony takes 640x480 30 fps MPEG-1, which has the advantage of being smaller on the camera, but the disadvantage of falling apart if you edit the video after acquiring it. The Panasonic is awful in this regard -- 320x240 30 fps M-JPEG video. But I use a camcorder for video, not a still camera, so I took no points off for this. YMMV

At this point, I had pretty much zeroed in on the Canon vs the FZ20. Because my other camera is a Canon, using the same Digic-II processor that I love, I was favorably disposed to the Canon. The user interface is excellent on Canon cameras, and the color and focus are excellent. I knew that it would take good pictures with little fuss.

The FZ20 also has excellent controls -- with one big exception. To change aperture or shutter speed in Program (fully automatic) mode, you need to press the shutter button half-way down, then press the Exposure button on the back of the camera, and then you can adjust using the rocker switch. The maneuver is every bit as awkward as it sounds. However, I seldom use the Program mode -- I normally use aperture priority, and the adjustment interface is perfectly fine for anything other than the Program mode.

The Canon has ISO ratings of 50, 100, 200, and 400. The Panasonic's are 80, 100, 200, and 400. What I dislike about the Panasonic on this is that a natural way to use the ISO is as a "poor man's" neutral density filter. To do the moral equivalent of adding a 0.3 ND filter, just cut the ISO rating in half. Canon has the right steps for doing that across its range. Also, the Canon has a max. shutter speed of 1/3200, while the Panasonic tops out at 1/2000.

One thing that matters to me is using filters. I use a circular polarized filter to cut down on glare, or a graduated neutral density filter for landscapes with a bright sky and dark foreground. The Panasonic comes with the lens adapter to take filters (72mm, which are a bit pricey). The Canon takes 55 mm filters -- a bit cheaper -- but does not come with the adapter. It is apparently not easy to get the adapter, especially if you order the camera itself on-line to save money. Even from a camera store, getting the adapter is apparently "iffy."

Ultimately, I just couldn't get away from the quality of the Leica lens. In addition to virtually no chromatic aberration, the uniformity of focus and illumination of the lens across the field I wanted to get a new camera for our upcoming trip to Greece. My basic requirements were that it be an ultrazoom and that it have image stabilization (ultrazoom isn't much good without it unless you always use a tripod. If you do, you can save about $150 by foregoing IS). I quickly learned that the current sweet-spot of the market for this class of camera is 5 MPixels, so I further narrowed my search to that. The choices were: Panasonic Lumix DMC F20 and F5; Konica Minolta DImage Z5; Sony CyberShot DSC H1; and Canon Poweshot S2 IS. All cameras in this class use an electronic viewfinder (EVF), which I'm not as fond of as optical.

A few final points on the Panasonic FZ5 vs the FZ20. The FZ5 is about $100 less expensive than the FZ20. However, in addition to no manual focus, the FZ5 does not use ED glass in its Leica lens -- a big difference (adds to chromatic aberration). It also does not have a constant f/2.8 max aperture across the whole zoom -- it creeps up to f/3.3 at the longer lens settings. The constant f is unique to the FZ20 in this class of camera AFAIK, and is a very nice touch. The FZ5 does not have a hot shoe for external flash, which is a big disadvantage. For other differences, go to the [...]

I have purchased the FZ20 and begun the learning curve for getting the max out of the camera. This is a camera for enthusiasts more than for causal photographers. I expet it will take me a few months of experimentation in different contexts to really fully appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of this camera. But it is clearly a wonderful device.

Both of these cameras boast 12x optical zoom, 5 megapixels and Image Stabilization but they are very different cameras. Here are some generalizations I came to while researching them myself:

People who would be happier with the FZ20: photographers with more serious/artistic ambitions who still want a fun, simple camera; people attracted to the more classy look and feel of rangefinder cameras from the 70s; people who want a lens made by a classic camera company (Leica) mounted on a body made by a company who knows electronics (Panasonic); people who really just want to take pictures and could care less about taking home movies or messing around with RAW software (the FZ20 stores TIFF files which can be directly read without need for RAW conversion.)

People who might be happier with the Canon S2 IS: folks who want a sportier camera with better general-purpose performance in a more compact body; people who really enjoy making home movies on their digicams in addition to taking reliable still photographs (fun at parties); people who are less artistically-motivated and care more about specs than character; people with smaller hands; people who do not care for the look or feel of older cameras.

These are just generalizations. As always, it's best to actually demo each camera for yourself. I chose the FZ20 for many of the reasons stated above and because I already have a Canon DSLR setup and wanted to try something different.

I use the FZ20 mainly for black-and-white shooting in congested urban situations and find the combination of the Leica lens and the zoom/IS to be incredible. Although I felt the lens on the Canon was well made, the images I get with the Leica just seem more artful and I think the camera itself is a total work of art.

If you do go with the FZ20, I strongly suggest buying a SanDisc 1GB Ultra II SD card if you plan to shoot in the highest resolution at TIFF quality. Each shot takes up 14.4megs and even a 512mb card will only hold about 30 images at this setting. I recommend the Ultra II cards because they read/write at exponentially faster rates than the standard cards and this is extremely important when dealing with 14.4mb files.

I used to own Panasonic LC33, a simple 3MP camera. Then i used a sony, canon(many models) & fuji. I returned everyone of them, becos they came no where close the clarity of Panasonic.

I bought this DMC-FZ20K 5MP, since i needed the 12x Zoom. WoW !!!!!! is all i have to say.

1. Leica lens is the best. Smooth & awesone, canon lens is coarse.
2. Simplest Menus.
3.Huge 2.0 LCD screen
4. Awesomest Pics !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5. Very sharp, Canon did produce good colors but lacked sharpness as Panasonic does. We printed several 8x11 & compared.
6. Several Useful SCENE modes, so no complex manual adjusting.
7. Image stabilizer really works. remember this is optical, not digital stabilizer.
8. Leica lens & Panasonic technology, marriage made in heaven.
9. Not too heavy not too light.
10. This is not pointnshoot but not as bulky feel you get with canon g-5, g-6. The grip on this is awesome.
11. hot shoe, lens adapter for more lens, if you are a camera freak.

If you think i am overwhelmed with this camera & giving biased reviews, check out Circuit City reviews on same camera, every single user gave 5 stars................all 32 users.

Panasonic is at the top. Then, why panasonic is NOT popular, not popular does not mean it is NOT best ! Same goes with Subaru as i always say !!!!