One thing I don't think was mentioned by any other reviewers. The lens itself is not threaded, but it comes with an adapter that is. This adapter is used for mounting the free hood and for attaching filters. This was something I hadn't thought much about, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the 55mm filters I had for my old camera will work with this adapter. Hence, you don't have to buy the lens protector filter mentioned in the back of the manual. Any inexpensive 55mm UV filter will do the job of protecting your lens from scratches. And with such a nice lens, don't you want to protect it?
This brings me to what I think is one of the most overlooked features in the consumer camera market... the lens. Listen, folks, the lens is the most important part of any camera. So, you have to tip your hat to Panasonic for not skimping in this area.
Everybody looking at digital cameras seems to look mainly at MP (megapixels), but 3MP is good enough for photo quality 8X10's if you don't do a lot of cropping and enlarging. Personally, I'd rather spend my money on features that will actually help me take better pictures, not just bigger ones. And this camera is loaded with such features. Consider also that if you get a higher MP camera, you also need a bigger, more expensive memory card as well.
This camera is admittedly too large to be pocketable, which may be an issue for some people, and if you use the adapter for filters it makes it even more bulky. However, it's pretty light weight (due largely to the battery type) and I like a camera that fits into the hand nicely instead of feeling like a toy. Also, there is a reason why professionals lug around those big cameras. It's because they take better pictures... if you know how to use them properly. Most people don't realize that a telephoto lens is not just for taking pictures of things far away. They are also great for portraits. (Read elsewhere on the internet to find out why.) And for taking pictures of my son's football games, the more zoom the better.
I've seen postings on the internet where people who have bought digital cameras are wondering why they can't seem to get good pictures in certain situations. The answer is simple. Most cameras are made for the average user who wants something small and simple. They aren't made to work well in extreme situations. I had this problem with basketball games with my old digital (fast action in fairly low light). With my old digital, all I could do was change the ISO sensitiviy, and that made the pictures grainy. Also, my old digital was slow, so I'd often miss a good picture by about half a second.
One of the great thing about this camera for me is that my wife, who wants things to be simple, can use the camera in "simple mode". So, she can take great pictures of kids birthday parties and such without having to learn all the features of the camera. I'll probably go ahead and use the "simple mode" sometimes too, but for basketball games, I have the option of using shutter-priority or manual modes, and hopefully will be able to achieve better results. And with the 12X optical zoom, it should be great for football games too.
BTW, another feature that I like is the energy saving feature which will turn your camera off automatically for you. Maybe most digital cameras have this feature, but I thought it was worth mentioning anyway. On my old 35mm camera, I was always accidentally leaving it on and killing the batteries.
Anyway, on the whole, I think this camera is a great choice.
The SD viewer software does the job of copying data off the camera, but beyond that it doesn't seem to do much. I haven't tried the other software that came with the camera. Anyway, I'll probably still use the software that I already had. My Canon color printer came with some pretty good software for printing photos. (BTW, I love my Canon printer!) I also use Microsoft PictureIt, Olympus Camedia Master Pro (you don't have to own an Olympus camera to purchase their software), and others.
There is a newer model of this item:
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
Customers also search
Page 1 of 1Page 1 of 1
Reviews with images
Great with one flaw
This camera is exceptional. It takes great picures in the easy mode and allows for you to change the settings if necessary. There is hardly any delay, which allows me to capture my fast moving kids. I changed the speed setting to 400 for even better capture of my very wiggly baby. It also does well indoors. My one complaint is that the picures will not show the date. It just doesn't have that option available. Now if you want to print them yourself with a DPOF printer, you can force a date print on the front of the photos, but what a pain. So for this reason alone I am only awarding it 4 stars.
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2005
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2005
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2015
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2013
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2012
