Advice Please: Worth the Upgrade? Panasonic DMC-LZ3 to Panasonic G3

[Undrea]

Hello,

(I just joined the forum yesterday after reading information from DPS for a while now, so I apologize if this is an inappropriate place for my question below!)

I upgraded a week ago from my first camera, a simple point and shoot camera I got in 2006 (Panasonic DMC-LZ3), to a Panasonic G3. So far, I am really enjoying the features, like a touch screen that swivels out, the digital viewfinder, the not overly bulky size, and being able to manual focus is really fun! However, I am clearly still learning how to take pictures in all the different modes, only just learning about aperture and shutter speed and how they can create different picture effects (hence how I found Digital Photography School! )

I did read somewhere on this forum a person mentioning that upgrading a camera from a point and shoot requires quite a learning curve, and I definitely believe it. I have another seven days I can still return to get my money back (Camera + 2 lenses was $1200 CND with tax, a lot for a student!) although I would really like to learn how to use it to get sharper, higher resolution pictures than my old camera can provide.

My only concern with the camera now is that I am not noticing a significant increase in the quality of my images, considering how much more money I spent on this new camera than the old one. Other than being twice the resolution (which is obviously a great improvement), I compare my new images with old images of my backyard under similar conditions and do not see a particularly stellar improvement.

I have read tons of reviews about the camera and have seen many sample images, and all the sample pictures I have seen look crisp and professional. Many of my pictures seem to be out of focus or a bit blurry (I do not have a tripod yet, so I suspect not enough light is the culprit for the second in most situations, but still).

So rambling aside, my question for more experienced photographers would be if they think I have made a good investment for my money and if they suspect that I can improve my image quality by learning more about photography online! I am an artist as well as a photographer, and I have been hoping to upgrade for a long time so I could take pictures that were larger and less grainy, but I suppose it is a little disheartening for a photographer newbie when you get a new camera and do not instantly get amazing results as compared to a cheaper camera under similar conditions.