Strengths: Price; Size; 18X Optical Zoom (Up to 28.7X available); Leica Lens; Numerous "Auto", "Manual", "Mode" settings; 2 Image Stabilization modes; "Joy Stick" control; RAW mode; Good battery life.

Weaknesses: Fixed LCD Display (see comment); Universal Lens attachments not compatible (see comment); ISO noise (see comment).

Summary: When traveling on those exotic places where the Point and Shoot (P/S) cameras fail to capture the shots but you don't want to lug a full sized SLR with all the lens attachments, this is the PERFECT camera.-I learned this lesson last year while touring Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. From the cruise boat, I was not able to shoot the amazing scenery with the 3x zoom of my P/S camera. It was limited to mostly up close shots.-This year I debated over getting the SLR (Nikon D40x; Pentax K100D Super) or the Canon S5is (comparable to the Panasonic DMC-FZ18 but with a 12x zoom)).-I settled for the Panasonic for its price, features, and the Leica lens.-FEATURES:At first glance, this camera seems to be void of functions due to its 'lack' of buttons when compared to the Canon S5is. This is because it uses a very user-intuitive JOY STICK control that allows you to navigate to all the various settings of a menu in a particular shooting MODE. (Each mode has a different available menu settings).-While in China visiting historical sites, with its built-in WIDE LENS, I was able to take shots of entire buildings/structures within a confined space. The 18X OPTICAL ZOOM with the LEICA LENS and IMAGE STABILZER with fast auto-focusing proved to be the main star of this camera. Images were sharp. NOTE: At 4.5 MP (mega pixel) settings the zoom can be extended to 23X and at 2.5 MP to 28.7X. I am not a fan of 'Digital Zoom' but it enables it from 72X to 115X.-The BACKLIGHT feature came in handy when shooting against the sun was the only option.-It has a HIGH ANGLE LCD display feature for those "over-the-crowd" shots, although it's not as effective as the swivel-tilt type found on the Canon S5is, it was helpful.-Expert reviews stress its weakness of high ISO noise but I found it to be adequate for my 4x6 prints. Unless you plan to print large images you should not find this to be a major issue.-Besides JPEG, it also shoots in RAW mode that allows you to edit your images on a professional level. (The included software is easy to use). You can customize your settings to shoot in JPEG or RAW and in different resolutions.-Moving pics were also of high quality but I use a 'stand-alone' camcorder for that purpose. -Overall, I'm more than satisfied with this little compact that packs a big punch.************************************************NOTE ON UNIVERSAL LENS ADAPTER RINGS/ATTACHMENTS:You may find many merchants selling Adapter Rings that "fit" the DMC-FZ18. I called one to get the assurance that they really fit and was given a positive 'Yes'. So I ordered the adapter ring, 3 filters, a telephoto lens, and a wide lens.-The items arrived and I promptly screwed in the Ring and mounted the telephoto lens then the wide lens. The merchant wasn't lying. They all fitted nicely. -Only when I powered off the camera I realized the problem. If you notice the design of this camera, the lens retracts deep into the sheath when in the 'off' mode. Any lens attachments like the telephoto and the wide lenses would cause the unit to 'jam' as they are obstructed by the sheath. (Luckily, I was able to return all for a refund).-The ONLY adapter ring that prorperly fits this camera is the Panasonic DMW-LA3. (The included adapter is only for the hood and should not be used for other attachments).-Despite not using any additional Zoom or Wide attachments the camera's native 18x zoom and 28mm wide angle provided all I need.

Strengths: 18X Optical Zoom (Wide angle: 28 to 504), Optical Image Stabilizer, LIGHT, Leica Lens, 8.1 megapixel, Live, no blur "eyepiece" electronic viewfinder, Bright 2.5 inch LCD, EASY, Intuitive, Many Modes.

Weaknesses: Hard plastic eyepiece, slower (but still good) autofocus in low light can cause shutter lag if not pre-focused. Can accidentally cover the sensor with left fingers if not careful.

Summary: To me, this is a surefire ?best of breed? winner! It is so easy to use, a beginner will love it. It has so many options controls that an expert will enjoy it. You won?t believe how useful the wide angle is. With our kids, we use it all time! And the optically stabilized, Leica 18x Optical ZOOM is great for bringing the action close! Plus it has very good macro (very close up) ability.It is Small, lightweight, intuitive, has a great f2.8 Leica lens with fast, smooth Optical ultrazoom that starts at VERY USEFUL WIDE ANGLE 28mm and goes all the way out to 504mm (35mm equivalent) with excellent Optical Image Stabilization, tons of features, Intelligent auto scene option, Face Detection focusing, ability to select focus area (spot, center, and more), quick easy exposure compensation control (+/- 2EV), FAST shutter in most light or when pre-focused in low light, assisted focus light in low light, great electronic viewfinder (EVF/eyepiece viewfinder) with diopter wheel, sharp 2.5 LCD, RAW images, plus selectable jpeg compression, Manual plus aperture or shutter priority, plus many auto scene modes, a very useful histogram display option, and very long battery life -- heck, it even shoots very decent video with sound -- this camera has it ALL for just about every need or want.I could go on and on just listing the features, but you can find that elsewhere. What you can't find is how wonderful this camera FEELS to use. The grip is great (for a right hander) and makes one handed shots comfortable. All the controls feel just right - the shutter sound, the zoom, even the shutter button, the joystick control the menus are all great.Reviewing photos is also great. You can go quickly through them by date, or 25 or 9 per screen, look at a singe shot and zoom in (2x, 4x, 8x 16x) then scan over the picture while magnified. Going on a trip? It has vacation time settings set by calendar so it resets when you return home.I bought this for our photo safari in Africa. It was FABULOUS!! I took over 2,000 pictures [about 9 gigabytes (gb) in the highest quality jpeg (not RAW) mode, but the camera can use SD HC cards which can hold 4gb or more each]. The battery lasted for at least 300 shots, even with LOTS of reviewing, and fully recharged in about 2 hours (but I had 3 batteries and 2 chargers, so I never had any problems). The camera captured wonderful details and color, even sunsets and the stars in the night sky south of the equator! I got wonderful close-up shots of a leopard in a tree from a football field or 2 away, wide angle of lions mating from 5 feet away, an Elephant?s face looking right at us that just fills the screen and even a Rhino that was so far away that it was barely visible in our binoculars, but clearly a Rhino with the 18x zoom!It is pretty fast on startup (under 2 seconds) and in daylight has no noticeable shutter lag. Same when pre-focused. But it can have significant delay in low light if not pre-focused. Only other minor complaints: I accidentally covered up the sensor on the left with my fingers and lost a few irreplaceable shots and the eyepiece on the EFV is hard plastic instead of rubber. Might scratch glasses?This is NOT a big lens SLR. It is a compromise, but a mighty good one. The big lens SLRs have a much bigger sensor, so they will show more detail if you really, REALLY look close (like a professional would). The small, dense 8.1 megapixel sensor is the secret to keeping this camera small light, but also results in slightly less sharpness compared to a SLR. Even at the longest zoom, the lens is only 1 inch longer than when fully retracted and turned off! The very sharp Leica lens does a remarkable job of compensating for the small sensor, but you cannot get quite the same sharpness a great SLR will give you. On the other hand, you also don?t get the bulk, weight, and price, or the extra lenses to carry and switch out! For all but the professional, this is a great compromise and if you don?t shoot side by side with a great SLR, the average user probably won?t notice the difference on most pictures.Some expert reviews say the Venus III jpeg compression engine causes the most loss of detail. If this is a concern, the camera gives you the option to shoot in the RAW format and get the finest detail image quality the camera can produce - which is really VERY good.The 3 photos I've attached were shot in the highest quality jpeg mode (not RAW) which produced images from 3.6 to 3.9 megabytes (mb) in size. This site allows images only up to 3mb to be posted, so I used Photoshop to scale them down a bit (the 3 here are now 1.8 to 2.8mb), meaning the originals are better than what you can see here.All in all, this is a real winner of a camera and gets my vote for ?best of breed?.

Strengths: EXCELLENT OPTICS, LIGHT WEIGHT, POWERFUL ZOOM

Weaknesses: NONE FOUND SO FAR

Summary: AFTER READING DOZENS OF USER REVIEWS AND REALIZING NO CAMERA IS PERFECT IN EVERY WAY, I WENT WITH THIS PANASONIC BECAUSE IT HAD ALL THE FEATURES I WAS LOOKING FOR AT A VERY REASONABLE PRICE. REVIEWERS HAD VERY FEW NEGATIVE COMMENTS, AND THEY WERE ONES I COULD DEAL WITH. HAVING ALREADY SHOT OVER 250 PICTURES IN VERY DIVERSE SITUATIONS, I AM TOTALLY SATISFIED AND ACTUALLY AMAZED AT ITS PERFORMANCE.

Strengths: - small and light, easy to carry around and perfect for travel- very good picture quality- excellent moderate price - Powerful Zoom- Stabilization mode

Weaknesses: - Short battery life (only half an hour)- Universal Lens attachments not compatible

Summary: I guess FZ18 finds no competition in macro photography. Not easy to get a good focus frequently though! We like it very much. The image quality is excellent. The lens is fast. The image stabilization is exceptional--I took some photos bumping along on on a rough road in recently--at sunset--and they mostly came out quite clear. I find the controls pretty convenient and easy to use. The dioptric viewfinder and screen are both excellent. The autofocus is fast an exceptionally accurate. Extremely happy with my purchase. Look at the attached picture sample.

Strengths: superzoom

Weaknesses: size

Summary: This is a great camera. 28mm wide and and 18X optical zoom (awesome range). Add a pemaraal adapter and an olympus W-Con 08B and the wide angle is even better but only useful in good lighting since the W-con blocks the flash. Overall great camera.