Strengths: 1. Black colar looks professional2. 2.5" LCD is big3. The 12X zoom is superb, fast, very fast4. Image stabilization works well5. 6MB size, good enough for family use6. cheap, compare to ...

Weaknesses: 1. The menu book hard to read2. LCD fixed3. Noise, but I don't use that set of ISO often:)

Summary: Paid $339 plus shipping, and excellent deal. I have looked at Canon/Sony, they are too expensive. This camera fit in the price range and has all the features I want, excellent job. If they can sell it around $250, that will be a steal.

Strengths: 12 X ZoomOptical image stabilizerFast focusGood movie modeSmall SizeGood PriceGood batteryTakes wonderful wonderful pictures

Weaknesses: I know not many people use anything above 100 ISO or auto mode. But any pictures taken above 200 ISO are unusable. It's difficult to take good pictures in night

Summary: Still the best bang for the buck. I had Panasonic FZ20 and I loved it and hence I wanted to try this camera too. If you do basic and a little over basic photography this is the best bet in the market. If you like to play a lot with teh manual setting, like you know what is apperture, shutter speed, film speed and how to use them with combination then look for digital slrs

Strengths: I loved the price, the af system works great, all the scene modes it has gives you a ton of choices. Good zoom, battery life,movie mode etc......

Weaknesses: none found yet!

Summary: i researched this camera for a while and was sold on the panasonic FZ5 then i saw this camera for the same orice with all the upgrades, what a steal! Great camera whether you are a biginner or a pro, very user friendly.

Strengths: Leica optics unbelievable. Awesome movies. To many features to believe.

Weaknesses: None I have found yet.

Summary: My wife is ready to sell her Nikon D70 and lenses. FZ7 does all her DSLR does at a fraction of the size and weight. Color balance, exposure and focus on FZ7 is better by far. I bought camera for me, but will have to pry it from her hands for me to use.

Strengths: All the great features of a DMC-FZ20, except for the lack of a hot shoe, remote release, or lens mounted manual focus ring-none of its drawbacks.

Weaknesses: Haven't found any yet, perhaps excessive grain at a higher ISO than 400.

Summary: I had been dabbling with digital for the last several years, but maintained my film priorities. Last year, after very careful checking and researching, my Wife and I retired our film cameras and went Panasonic exclusively. I have a DMC-FZ20, and my Wife uses a DMC-FZ5. I've used the FZ20 in every conceivable situation and loved it. When the DMC-FZ30 came out I really wanted to try it out. Some of it's features demand a good left hand-mine is severely maimed. I didn't like it at all. Then I tried out the DMC-FZ7! I was hooked. This camera is so greatly improved over either of our other Panasonics as to be an entirely new breed. Improved controls, startup time, focusing speed, low light capabilities, handling, video capture (almost never use that one, but it's there if you want it.) This thing puts both of our other two cameras to shame. I immediately went out and found a buyer for my Wife's camera and bought the FZ7. It uses the telephoto, macro and wide angle lenses I bought for my FZ20, and in a pinch will even use the same batteries. I don't intend selling my FZ20 yet, because it's proven to be so rugged and capable in the field(even though it's slow focusing with sports action and does not do low light well). However, I plan to buy another FZ7 in two weeks, after I get my taxes back. It's light weight, incredibly versatile, and powerful to the max. My Wife has to fight me for it. I'm working with it for about two to four hours a day now. I don't care what you use it for, fast action sports, portraiture(even in dimly lighted restaurants without flash!), flowers, landscapes, advertising, real estate (needs photoshop or photoimpact to correct perspective, of course), birdwatching, or anything else, it does it all, very, very well. Let you know later how well it holds up under the rugged use an extremely busy photographer's gives it. At this point I believe it's a WINNNNEEER!

Strengths: Small and light compared to competitive cameras, 12X zoom ratio, excellent lens, long flash range, movie capability

Weaknesses: Image noise can be fairly high, especially at higher ISO speeds, no hot shoe, low resolution view screen, no MPEG4 videos.

Summary: This is a great camera! I had been searching for months through all of the usual manufacturers for a light weight, relatively small, very high image quality camera for taking on an overseas trip. I wanted a camera that could take extremely high quality photos, but not require precious space and weight.I was also looking for flexibility. The trip will have opportunities for wonderful landscape scenes, close ups of flowers, even tighter close ups of flower parts and insects and ceremonies happening inside buildings (and thus dark.) This combination presents an almost impossible challenge and I was having little to no success until Panasonic introduced the FZ7.I had considered many alternatives, but many involve carrying an additional telephoto lens (compared to the FZ7's impressive 432mm equivalent telephoto capability), always needing to carry a tripod (compared to the FZ7's optical image stabilization -- which can squeeze a few extra f-stops of handheld capability), needing an external flash (compared to the FZ7's quite long flash range), and a separate movie camera to capture those special "action" moments (versus the FZ7's capability of up to 848 x 480, 30 fps movie clips.) Even with the FZ7's 432mm telephoto, one can add even more zoom with lens adapters. There are several things I have learned that the manual and advertisements do not mention: (1) It appears the FZ7 can use up to a 2GB SD card. It will accept a 4GB card, but it only shows about 2GB of photo space. Some other cameras refuse to use a 4GB card at all! (2) I thought one needed the "LA2" adapter to add additional telephoto, macro or wide angle lens adapters. This is only true for Panasonic lens adapters! The camera comes with a 52mm extension (for the lens hood) which I have been using for filters or other lens adapters from other manufacturers.Overall, I have been very pleased with the FZ7. It appears to be almost exactly what I was looking for in a "semi professional" camera. It is not as tiny as the ultra small cameras (like the Casio Exilims), but far smaller, lighter and more flexible than any digital SLRs I have found.

Strengths: Good pictures, 12x with 6 meg, Uses SD card, I have made several pictures with the zoom extended fully and the pictures were beautiful with absolutly no blur. The camera has a fast response.

Weaknesses: electric view finder not what I expected, Can't find lithium battery locally, LDC poor resolution, You have to manually open the flash.

Summary: I think it is a good camera Flash quit working within 8 days of purchase, but store gave me a new camera.- will see if I have problems again. If you are traveling and the battery goes dead, you can't find a replacement. This is a real minus with lithium batteries, and particularly when Panasonic designs the battery just for one or two models of their cameras. Next time I buy a camera, I will buy one that uses AA or rechargeable AA's. Hopefully Panasonic will design one that uses AA's.

Strengths: Its a one of the powerfull camera amoung the others available in the market. Size, clarity,power , zoom everything is excellent which makes a different among others models available in the market.

Weaknesses: lake of printer bridge functionality,little problem while attaching external lense as due to nonstandard size of ring.

Summary: Overall I can say that this is the best camera among its class in terms of price, functionality and size. opt zoom and digital zoom makes your picture more clear and closer.

Strengths: Vibrant pictures with 6MP resolution,Awesome optical zoom (can be extended upto 16.5x),Very compact size,Lots of manual controls,Good flash range,Great battery life

Weaknesses: Noisy at higher sensitivities (beyond ISO 200), but who careswhen you get true life pictures at ISO 80 and 100.

Summary: I got this camera from Butterfly photo for $330. Initially I was reluctant to buy a Panasonic camera and was more inclined towards a canon. But after seeing its compact size compared with the bulky and much heavier Canon S2 IS, I decided for this one. And I think I have made an excellent decision.The photos are great(both indoors and outdoors, day or night). 12x optical zoom is so awesome. In fact you can extend it till 16.5x at lower mega pixels. Image stabilisation really works. I took a photo of the Statue of Liberty with full 12x optical zoom and it was so great. Loads of manual features to play around. Uses SD card (1GB recommended) Battery life is awesome. I took 300 + photos with a single charge and it still had life in it. The 2.5" LCD screen is cool; you also get the colour viewfinder. The manual flash is great and with good range.Overall a great product from Panasonic.

Strengths: faster focusing,bigger LCD, better control layout

Weaknesses: manual focus doesn't get closer than 3'

Summary: I upgraded from a FZ3 (which I like very much) for the resolution (twice as many pixels) and the manual focusing. I like the bigger LCD and the better arrangement of the controls (now all the controls can be reached without taking my eye off the EVF, and the manual exposure can be accessed by the joystick). The auto-focus seems to be an improvement over the FZ3. The manual focus feature is not as useful as I thought since the auto-focus is so good (and fast), and it doesn't get closer than 3', while the auto-focus will get you much closer. Sometimes I miss the constant f2.8 I get with the FZ3 because any time you zoom, even a little bit off the widest setting, you automatically get reduced to f3.3. But all in all, these are minor annoyances. It's a great machine, and a big improvement over the FZ3.

Strengths: a) 12x optical (36-432mm 1:2.8-3.3) zoom lens by Leica. b) Huge 2.5? LCD screen. c) Mega OIS anti-shake device.

Weaknesses: a) Noise at high ISO speeds. b) Shutter lag time using a 40x SD memory card. c) Lower resolution LCD screen than predecessor. d) Manual flash activation.

Summary: Now that I have spent a few days torture testing this camera, I believe the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 is the perfectly optimized camera for the intermediate photographer. It has many of the features of a digital SLR with the portability of a point-and-shoot camera. It has SLR-like characteristics such as high quality optics that may be of use in telephoto and macro work, control over exposure, aperture, and speed, and the ability to use 52mm adapter rings. On the other hand, at only 5 inches by 4.5 inches by 3 inches (fully dressed with the hood in storage position), this camera represents a package light enough to be worn around the neck all day without feeling heavy, and small enough to be hidden in a hip pouch or large coat pocket while wandering around a newly discovered city. The picture resolution reflects this optimization as well; at 6 megapixels, the resolution is high enough to tinker with in Photoshop and to enlarge a bit, while keeping file storage sizes down. You may even be able get away with some copy stand work, but leave the large format prints to the 8-9 megapixel outfits.The Mega OIS anti-shake technology allows one to make the best use of the superb Leica optics and the large screen allows one to really get an idea of how the final photo looks. I particularly like the histogram that evaluates the exposure of the image. I would rate this camera as one appropriate for a photographer of intermediate skill. While it does have a beginner setting that allows for simple point and shoot capabilities, spending some time with the detailed owner?s manual pays off; the range of manual settings allows the intermediate photographer to really control many aspects of the photographic image (such as stepping up in f-stops to get artistic short focus ranges).Research done prior to purchasing this camera identified the weaknesses mentioned above. Firstly there is a really noticeable lag time when using the supplied 16MB 40x SD card. This isn?t the camera?s fault, however, the purchaser may do well to get a 1 GB high speed 133x write SD card to fully make use of this camera?s speed. Secondly while the forerunner, DMC-FZ5 came with a higher resolution LCD screen, I have not been able to notice any practical shortcomings with this change. I found the LCD screen bright, big and useful in all but the sunniest of days (at which point I switch to the electronic view finder). Thirdly, the manual flash activation is annoying. However, it?s a small enough detail that I?ve just grown to accept: You have to push the flash pop-up button every time you think you may need it. Finally, the biggest concern that I had in purchasing this camera is the noise at high ISO settings. While all CCD cameras begin to show noise when the gain in the CCD sensitivity is turned up (analogous to increasing the ISO in film cameras) it was reported that it was particularly visible in this system. I have included two images of a cream colored board at a distance of one foot lit by only a small night light about 5 feet away (both were taken with an aperture of F2.8 and a shutter speed of 1.3 seconds). The photo with a sensitivity of ISO 80 was darker and lightened in photoshop to show the smooth pixel values. The photo at ISO 400 was not touched up at all. It shows a mottled pattern that the pros describe as noise. Having forced the manual settings to the worst possible setting, I think this level of noise is still pretty bad. However, I find the realistic noise levels in my everyday photography in natural light and with a flash using the automatic program setting to be nowhere near this bad ever.The bottom line: this is a nice light little camera with big camera features that is well worth the price I paid ($326). It has a nicely balanced set of features optimized ideally for an intermediate skill level photographer who needs a reliable, easy to tote camera.

Strengths: 1) The 12x zoom is incredible! 2) Two levels of image stabilitation extremely helpful 3) Battery life good 4) Very large LCD screen

Weaknesses: 1) LCD a little hard to see in bright outdoors, but EVF available 2) Lens cover not built in to camera 3) "Simple mode" is TOO simple, doesn't always give great pictures

Summary: I bought this camera because it got really great reviews through www.dcresource.com. I also have a friend who has this camera, and she too gave it an excellent review. Upon first using this camera, I was a bit confused. I used the "simple mode", since I'm used to using the auto mode on my older Sony point and shoot, however simple mode is pretty useless, I have a hard time getting good pictures. Instead, I use the Program AE mode with the image stablization, which works really well. Make sure to use the flash though in lower light, indoors or at night. A nice function, you can tweak the power of the flash very easily so the flash is not so bright if you're up close indoors to your subject. Pictures turn out really sharp and clear, color is great. Focus and shutter speed is really fast especially in well lite conditions, much faster than my Sony DCS-V1. I take pictures at my kids soccer games outdoors, and having the 12x zoom is a huge help compared to the 4x I had before. And with the quick shutter speed, I'm a very happy camper! After getting used to this camera, I don't regret having purchased it at all, now that I understand how to use it properly. Huge bang for your buck on this camera.

Strengths: So far, I can't find many strengths, except that it does have many features and options for shooting. The major weakness outweighs the strengths.

Weaknesses: The biggest weakness I have discovered in my use of this camera is the low quality of the photos. The color is not very vivid and accurate (no it's not my printer), it's the camera (i've checked).

Summary: This camera has one huge flaw - the quality of the photos is very low. My old camera (Olympus 2.1MP camera) took much higher quality, vivid, accurate color photos in the auto/simple mode than this Panasonic does in it's simple (and other modes). I took some indoor photos of my daughter and they were so bland that I had to set the printer to a higher color saturation just to get them to not look so blah. They, along with the outdoor photos I took look very washed out. I am very disappointed in this camera.

Strengths: Picture quality, the lens and zoom, the mega O.I.S., the soft skin portrait mode, the control lay out and the list goes on and on as I am getting used to it.

Weaknesses: Standard exposure level.

Summary: Well, this is an amazing camera.I have upgraded from a standard compact camera wanting better quality, additional manual control and more zoom...Living in Greenland is like living in a photographers wonderland, amazing sceneries in a rough and truly breathtaking nature. I did a thorough research and decided that the FZ7 were what suited my needs the best. I have not been disappointed so far. I have shot like 2-300 pictures in various conditions and I am still learning to use it.One thing I found out is that my ability to use it, is what creates the quality, It is sure to make bad and blurry shots, but as I am getting used to the manual controls the pictures keeps improving in quality.Features worth mentioning:The zoom - it is fast and has a great range, I am using optical zoom only.The soft skin portrait mode - This camera shoots amazing portraits.The mega OIS - this image stabilizer really does work wonders when using the zoomThe control layout - well thought over controls, especially the joystick is a charm.The price - Great picture quality and full manual control at this price, just great:DOnly down side so far is as mentioned the auto exposure level. pictures are generally over exposured. It might be the extremely bright sunlight in Greenland, as it is far brighter than what I have seen in Europe. Setting it to a lower level seems to solve it though...All in all, it is a great camera totally satisfying my needs and it has plenty of room for me grow with it.Action shots is one of the things I have to work with, tried catching one f our airplanes approaching during landing, I got it, but quality is not too good. But I think that is my lack of abilities more than the camera.I would recommend it to anyone wanting more from their camera and I do think that amateur pros should be satisfied with it tooGo buy it!

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Summary: I made a choice between these two best in class by my opinion cameras. Panasonic Pros: Perfectly stabilized 12x Leica optics Excellent postprocessing (combined with Leica optics) makes pictures impressively sharp Nice by default and controlled image saturation One of the best in class weight (Non AA-size accu makes camera less flexible but significantly lighter) you have to choose what is more important for you Big (2.5") bright LCD-screen (resolution not so good as FZ-5 but much better at whole). From very good to excellent shutter lag time Impressive dynamic range of pictures Panasonic Cons: Noise at high ISO speeds (Just do not use ISO 200 and higher. At ISO 80 & 100 you can make good shots even at a dim light condition Video taken with awful 8-bit soundConclusion If you want to take perfect pictures with from-beginner-to-average photographer experience FZ-7 is the best in class choice! If taking movies is as important for you as taking pictures Canon S3 IS will be best balanced choice for you. Canon photos are not so impressive but still very good. Video is perfect (if you use high speed SD-card) uncompressed with zoom and nice high quality sound. I would like to buy Canon S3 IS to take movies but I cannot sacrifice with perfect Panasonic image quality so I bought PanasonicP.S. Recently I used Minolta Z3, Canon S1 IS, Canon A520, Panasonic FZ-5