After a long decision process

I bought my FZ30 after many months of searching for a camera that would suit me. TOp of the list was the Nikon D200. Finances being what they are, it isn't in the cards at this time. I had a Minolta and for a smaller one it worked fine in that it got me to try the digital route. That is until the strap broke and it took a 15 foot drop on concrete.

A professional friend suggested looking at a FZ7 for an interim camera. I had never thought about Pana until then and started researching this maker. I found the FZ30 and decided this was the one I wanted to try out and am I glad I did.

I bought her 2 days ago and since then have shot about 250 pictures. In San Diego I went to Balboa Park and went to the Air and Space museum and the Automobile one too. Then Old Town in the evening. The lighting isn't the greatest and decided to see what she could do. I stuck mainly with avaliable light and used the flash only occasionally. I kept the iso to 80 or 100 and tried 200 a couple of times.

I was astounded as to the quality of the finished product. The colors were spot on and rich. Not overblown but more natural than I expected. The sharpness and clarity were fantastic also.

On two shots I went back to compare colors and textures. One was of a motorcycle that was a deep robin egg blue. I had set the balance for the lighting and the blue of the photo matched the blue on the bike perfectly.
The other one was in Old Town at one of the shops. There were three silken scarves hanging on a wooden door. All three were of differing colors, hues and textures and again the match was perfect.

I think that if the photographer does his job, the FZ30 will do it's job. Very well.

The only criticism I can level is with the on-board flash. But , it has a shoe and I'll break out one of my strobes to use on it. Since I'm very used to a flash it's no biggie for me. Might be for others.

I found the menu easy to move around in and make your settings.

I think it's and excellent camera at a very good price.

If you want a point and shoot you might want to look elsewhere. To get the full benefits you need to learn it.

To those who complain about noise. How do you spell Pzzzzzzt.

Good luck