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

Rating:
Summary: Pigs on the wing.
Review: Hell freezes over. Pigs fly. I review something that isn't a book.

Thanks to my wonderful wife giving me this as a Christmas gift, my well-used, 25 year old Minolta has been retired. As a rule I'm not easily impressed by "new" stuff. However, the old proverb instructs that rules are proved by the exception, and here it is.

This is incredible. The camera yes, and the fact that I should actually want to take a few minutes to praise it as well. I'm more of a thinker than a thing-er, and I don't think much about things. (After all, "things" are not even what we material-grubbing capitalists want to believe they are. They're the composite programming of so-called "quarks and gluons" resisting, for a given duration, the deprogramming effects of the electro-weak force and the second law of thermodynamics. Strangely ethereal stuff.) It invariably happens that today's latest and greatest techno-toy is tomorrow's techno-trash. While generations from now an idea or 'problem' thousands of years old might still be interesting and relevant, last year's cell phone might not even have a game station or a high-def camera in it, for-cryin-out-loud! (When will someone figure out how to include a digital cheese straightener?).
So my perspective is not one from the bleeding edge of material technology-love. Other reviewers will offer more technological savvy, so if you're shopping for a new camera please pay close attention to what those people have to say. However, one need not be an expert to discern that this is an exceptional camera.
Compare features and you'll wonder if the price isn't a mistake, especially if you shop around for the best price (which will probably be at an on-line technology merchant in Brooklyn). The 12x optical Leica lens alone should get your attention, no camera in this price range compares. The features are pretty much industry standard for higher-end cameras. The digital menus are extremely easy to navigate. It takes great pictures. And so it is, after my detour into quantum theory and quasi-Platonic philosophy, that my judgment at last achieves a resonance with most of the technological experts: it's a beautiful thing, a great camera.

Rating:
Summary: Great!!!
Review: I am not photography savvy by any means. I have had this camera for upwards of about a week or 2, and I still suck at taking pictures. But this camera is so versatile you'd never even notice how bad I am at it. It's very easy to use, while still being adaptable almost to a fault. It's not clunky like some other cameras I've seen, yet it's still sleek while being loaded with features you wouldn't expect (like some other cameras). Buttons and settings are all easy to get to. It has many preprogrammed settings in already (for the REAL amateurs). I find myself always looking out the window for things I could shoot, because with the SD cards, it takes pictures quite rapidly, even the large ones. And if you're feeling frisky, you can take some nice panorama shoots that are HDTV widescreen compatible. I already have. The camera includes pretty much everything but the kitchen sink. The 16MB card is a laughable inclusion since the standard settings will fill it up in about 5 minutes. But I've found high end SD cards at stores at prices that make me feel like I should have a gun in my hand when I buy them.

I LOVE this camera, and it's been a great tool in helping me get the feel for the art of photography. Now digital editing? That's my next mission. But with the quality this camera takes, you won't need to do much editing (the pictures will either be utterly horrible [your fault, not the cameras], or not as bad as you thought they were).

I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: uncomfortable feel
Review: I hate the feel of this camera. it is not comfortable to hold and the colors are washed out.

Back to Cannon for me.

Rating:
Summary: Great camera, but..........
Review: I really like the camera, so I am just going to note some pertinent negatives that others may wish to consider. These comments are based on my own experience, balanced by what I have read on other digital camera forums.

Noise-- easily noticeable on an 8 by 10, at ISO 100. Navy blue pants had red specks. This is a function of the small sensor, which allows the long lens at a reasonable size. I have read that the FZ15 (4 mp) has less noise, almost all the same features. The lesson learned is that sensor size makes a big difference, you do not want higher megapixels without increasing the sensor size.

Viewfinder "freeze"-- When using 3-zone focus, when you are test focussing by halfway pressing shutter, frame freezes. Disrupting to try to shoot picure when this occurs. Avoidable with other focussing modes.

Downloading pictures-- When using windows camera wizard, pictures do not appear and do not download in the order you took them, unlike my Canon S30. You have to pick through the old and new picture to download.

Filter use-- Camera has unorthodox filter system, comes with lens hood which will accept 72 mm filters, but at some distance from the lens, increasing storage bulk. People are buying various aftermarket filter adapters, but these increase the bulk of the camera when the camera is off. (Camera lens retracts during shutoff ). I am going to try a Nextphoto.com filter adapter which snaps into the retracting lens, to get both filter capability AND the compact size during storage.

Instruction manual-- Could be a bit more educational/explanatory, not too clear in many spots.

Otherwise, great camera, fulfills my need for quick candids, scenery, everything.

Rating:
Summary: works for panasonic
Review: Meng Hsiao can say what he wants, but I am sure that he is the Meng Hsiao who works for Panasonic in Hong Kong and Taipei. The camera is okay, the Kodak is cheaper-this is a fact-but I think Meng's attack on the other reviewer is uncalled for. It's okay for some reviews to be negative.

Rating:
Summary: No Competition
Review: Panasonic and Leica jointed forces more than four years ago, their first long zoom camera working together was the FZ1, which still remain being popular and with a heavy demand.
The FZ10 was the flagship of the Panasonic FZ line during the last year (2004) and it overcome the popularity of the FZ1, because of its 2 more MPs, its size and above all its high quality image with no vignette and very low noise levels.
The NEW FZ20 has improved both former models, and now is the best long camera BY FAR....there's NO COMPETITION....even Canon Pro 1 sucks in comparison with this technological Marvel.
A friend of mine own a Pro 1 and she's extremely jealous about the performance of my new toy....it is simply unbelievable.
COLORS are natural similar to a Digital SRL - I've compared them with those from a Canon 20D and differences are marginal.
The FZ20 has a very realiable performance, the GRIP is PERFECT even though is a bit smaller than in a DSRL.
The autofocus is also extremely fast(AVOID the 9 points), and if you use the halfpress bottom, the shutter lag does not exist.
the LENS....OH that LENS....LEICA....cant say more.
the OIS is one the best gadget that Panasonic has included in....it helps a lot, even you are gonna be capable of taking steady shots at 1/2 seconds - handheld (check out my sample image above)
About the noise, it's almost unnoticeable in outdoor shots, but indoor the performance is similar to any digital camera that comes with a small senzor (like G6, V3, etc)
I strongly recommend no look further and go for the FZ20.....dont be a zoombie Canon or Sony buyer.....try the FZ20 and show by yourself all the good things that everybody is talking about this fabulous Camera.....dont pay attention to those who only want to mislead people by leaving negative feedbacks on this product, even though they never have had one.

Thats all....regards.


Rating:
Summary: Kenneth Margulies "chinaguy" (taipei, taiwan) is a fake
Review: Previous Review from Kenneth Margulies "chinaguy" (taipei, taiwan)is a fake. Please ignore his bad comment. He copied the text that he read from the bad review of a guy gave to Kodak 7590. I am NOT too surprised to see such childish play from a guy of my own race. He is a shame of Taiwanese. I would expel this guy from Taiwan if I could.

Rating:
Summary: Some detective work:
Review: Regarding the three strange reviews below: "Reviewer" LL (02/04/05) criticizes reviewer MH (12/31/04) for calling reviewer KM (12/31/04) "a fake" and "a shame". As I watched this odd exchange unfold, I did a little detective work. It wasn't difficult to solve this nonsense. LL appears to have intended to defend KM's integrity, but there is less to defend that LL understands. MH is telling the truth, whether or not he works for Panasonic (LL's charge) is not relevant.
The evidence affirms that "reviewer" KM, who initiated this tomfoolery, in fact "copied the text that he read from the bad review of a guy gave to Kodak 7590" precisely as MH charged. KM quickly acted to remove the evidence that his review was in fact "a fake" by not just editing it but by completely replacing his fraudulent "review" with what appears below at this time entitled "lumix - personal attack???" in which he claims that "the text" was copied by the person (a certain SG) referred to by MH. KM's "childish play" has now degenerated to slander. On the 31st of December, SG posted a review on Amazon's product page for the Kodak 7590 camera. KM scurrilously copied that review and swapped the two camera model names. KM has now slandered SG, who is probably completely unaware of all this, by stating "I posted it first on a digital camera review bulletin board and it was copied from me." But it was easy enough, just by looking at SG's other reviews and KM's other reviews and comparing elements of style, to determine that the review was in fact written by SG and plagiarized / ripped-off and perverted by KM. It is also evident that the review was originally SG's because his comments about the Kodak model are corroborated by another reviewer of that product, a certain AH (11/25/04). In contrast, no reviewers post this same complaint (a focusing problem) as it was directed in KM's copied but perverted "review" against the Panasonic Lumix model.
KM, who calls himself "chinaguy", replaced his provably fraudulent review with a slanderous one. Looking at the response of several other shoppers, I am not the only one who noticed this. It's pathetic that this kind of thing happens in these forums. KM should completely delete his "review" immediately, and clean up his feeble act. That way MH and LL (who does not seem to have known what he was dealing with anyway) could both delete their comments too, it appears they all monitor this forum. I could delete this, and shoppers could read some real reviews.
Wow, that was almost confusing. To see the last preceding legitimate reviews of this product, scroll down to "Pigs on the Wing" (12/27/04) and continue from there.

Rating:
Summary: A well made camera with many features and quality pics
Review: This is my first ever review of any product but i am so impressed with this camera, the quality pics it takes, and its good value, I am compelled to make some comments. I have to respectfully disagree with the previous review in one respect. My pics show accurate and natural color rendition under a variety of shooting conditions. The colors are not faded or washed out but are very accurate and vibrant. This camera is fast and has many features for the novice or pro and it is a joy to use. I have an old kodak dc 290 which I plan to use as a back up and it has provided great service, but when comparing this camera with the comparable kodak 10x 5mp it is no contest regarding the solid construction and design of this camera and metal lens housing in addition to the quality pics. The menu, dial and other functions are very user friendly and so far it performs consistently with all previous positive reviews. The flash is small but powerful and is more than adequate for a variety of circumstances. I like the step down feature of the flash output. The live histogram and focus assist are also great features and there are many others. This site and other reviews which were linked from a previous reviewer at this site were very helpful in my decision to purchase this camera. The 12x IS 5mp is in a class by itself for the price. This is one solid camera!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Easy to use, quick shots, poor quality color
Review: While I am not a sophisticated photographer, I am something of a tech junkie such that this is my 7th, 8th or 9th digital camera. Because of the frequency with which I switch machines of all sorts, I make it a rule never to read manuals. This camera holds its end and is ready to use out of the box with little instruction and logical controls. It distinguishes itself with extremely fast shutter time and instantaneous time between shots even when not in fast frame mode. You don't have to stand around and wait for the camera while your subject moves on to something else as you do with other digital cameras. The 12x zoom works quite well. Better still, because of the wide angle of the lense, close shots are happily in focus. There is no need to back up to photograph subjects near to you.

However, the camera lacks the software/chipware standard on most other digital cameras to make colors look true. Colors look faded and washed out like they came out of an antique album. Also, pictures are cast in the hue of the predominant item such that even skin looks purple if the subject is wearing a purple shirt. This is something that one cannot fix well with software. I have never had a camera with this problem before. Moreover, there doesn't seem to be much consistency from picture to picture with the same settings in the same room as far as color goes such that one doesn't get a feeling of control over color. "Kodachrome, give me those nice bright colors." I think I'll give this camera to my husband and move on. Any suggestions?