Intro
I have had my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 for almost 2 years now. I took a photography class in high school and fell in love instantly. Got A's on all my photos that I took with a manual film camera (I forget the brand/model). After the digital scene was really rooted, I went out and got a simple point and shoot Canon. It took decent photos, but there was something missing. I wanted a camera that had the look and feel of an SLR but not as expensive or overwhelming with controls and features. After reading a multitude of reviews, the Panasonic Lumix FZ20 fit my needs perfectly.
Features/Controls
While not being a true SLR, this camera has quite an array of features and controls you can manipulate. Here are a few that stand out to me:
-5 Megapixel
-36-432mm (12x optical zoom)
-F2.8 throughout entire zoom range - which is quite impressive to me
-LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT lens - anybody who knows about photography knows that Leica makes an awesome lens
-Image Stabilization
-Auto and Manual focus
-Exposure compensation and bracketing
-WB (Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Halogen, Flash, Manual)
-ISO (Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400)
-Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual settings
-Continuous shooting
So, as you can see, it has a lot of controls without being a true SLR camera.
Who this camera is for
This camera is for the photographer that is "on the fence" about going into the SLR arena of photography. It has many of the features that an SLR has, but without the confusion of buying different parts or worrying about which lens to use (if you have multiple for your SLR). I'm sure all you SLR people out there can agree that the SLR world was a bit confusing when you first dove into it.
Dislikes
One thing that really pops out to me is the ISO. If you go beyond 100 ISO you're really going to see a lot of noise in your low light photos. Especially at 400 - it's REALLY noisy then. I usually keep mine on auto or 80-100. Another thing I don't like is the viewfinder. For me at least, it's not very comfortable to use first of all. Second, I don't know how I feel about it being electronic, instead of optical. I think I'd rather see through it via optical/prism instead. Lastly, I've found that if you use a tripod with it and your battery is dead or you need to put another card in, you have to take the tripod mount off, replace the battery or card, then put the mount back on - very inconvenient if you ask me. One other thing is that this camera does not shoot in RAW format. It does, however, shoot in TIFF - not a huge deal, but still worth mentioning.
Conclusion
After having this camera for almost 2 years, I can honestly say that this was definitely an enjoyable experience. I've never had one problem with the camera. This is the perfect transition camera, from point and shoot to SLR - without overwhelming you. If I were to rate this camera when I first bought it 2 years ago, according to who Panasonic is marketing this camera toward; I'd rate it a 9 out of 10. But with time comes better technology, and now the FZ20 has bigger brothers (of which I have not researched, so I only assume they are better as well) - which would lead me to rate this a 7 out of 10.
Sample Photo
Some of you have already seen this, but below is a sample of what the Pansonic Lumix FZ20 can produce (this photo has some Photoshop enhancements as well)
f/4 - 1/60 - ISO 100 - w/ flash
