It did the job for 3 months. Only complaint was a delay in the shutter speed. But the lens got frozen out and would not take pictures any more.

I really liked the simple use of the camera until the shutter quite working. Only used the camera a dozen times now it only work maybe 1 in 5 times I try to use it. Most of the time it has a black screen and won’t take pictures.

similar to another review here, my LZ2 worked great until it had a tiny spec of sand interfere with the lens and possibly shutter. I get over exposed piccies and lines through the images now. I'm taking it to a camera repair shop and hopefully I can resurrect it as I've found it to be a pretty handy camera overall.

It s true that the camera is easy to operate and with the 6x zoom you can take good tele photos. It has also good colors and good image quality. In low light you might encounter difficulties when you focus. But this is true only when the camera is working. It has a very sensitive lens system and a little piece of dust can block the whole system. I had this problem first when I took the camera to the beach. I took care but still some dust got in the lens system and blocked it. After I cleaned it somehow it worked a while. Till now I had this problem for three times and i was not taking pictures in the Sahara.
Now it seems that some dust has blocked the mechanism forever. I advise you not to buy this camera. If you want to have the zoom facilities buy a semiprofessional camera but not this. And if you are an amateur buy a Canon or a Sony. They are more expensive and there are big differences amongst the amateur semipro and professional cameras, but this is their policy. Panasonic tryed to offer something for the amateur who wants more than a simple camera but I think with this model they couldnt.

This was my first digital camera and I purchased it for $245. It was easy to use, had great zoom, perfect size. I used it several times a week and kept very good care of it. However, without indication that something was wrong, I turned it on and received message to turn the camera off then on again. When I did this the telescopic lens did not retract nor did the shutter close. I changed the batteries, no luck. I have called Panasonic who offered little assistance except to instruct me to send it to IL for servicing. Not exactly what I wanted to hear 2 days prior to Christmas! I hope this is not a "throw away" digital camera,that will be cheaper to just replace it. If so, so long Panasonic - I'll stick with Canon.

I was pleased with the camera for the first five months until it developed problems with the focus. I took good care of the camera and it was not abused in any way. Panasonic's' customer service has been very poor so far and Panasonic only has a three month warranty for labor. They want almost $200 as a flat fee to send the camera to IL for the "free" part replacement under the one year warranty for parts replacement. If you have problems, beware of the customer service.

I'm an Amateur photographer, I've owned Pentex 35mm's for 26 years and I had a real hard time deciding on any other brand. Price, function and quality was a big factor, but I did a lot of research first. Also the fact I only own Panasonic TV's, clock radios, portable radios/cassett/Cd players and Cordless phones and know the "Panasonic Quality", I purchased the DMC LZ2.
The Camera is wonderful, small, easy to use,"Pictures are Beautiful!!!!", the 6X zoom is amazing. The flash indoors works great, rechargable NI-MH battries seem to last forever.
In response to No View finder, you find it's not a problem, as for outdoors bright light, just take your hand and shade the LCD screen.
Downloading pictures to your PC is easy as pie, I did purchase Corel Photo Album 6, and its so simple to zoom, crop, ect.
Advise, buy one.....You'll Love it...have Fun

Almost impossible to take photos in bright light — there is no view finder, and the LCD reflects light to the extent that it is "blank." Good resolution, but I would not have bought this camera if I had known about the problem.

Being in a place where I want to take loads of photos all the time (Japan), this camera has really disappointed me. The zoom is good but the amount of photos that come out blurry are far too many to be ignored. Very rarely does the first photo come out perfect - maybe I am a crap photographer, but I wanted a point-and-shoot that was just that...not one where I have to reshoot the pic a few times. The batteries run flat really fast too, especially when they are normal AA ones and not the rechargables. The screen is not very clear and the flash recharge time is so long - sometimes about 8seconds. I'm buying a new camera and am really disappointed at wasting the money on the Panasonic. Admittedly I have gotten some fabulous shots out of it, but only when the lighting is perfect. Red-eye is pretty bad too.

I recently took this camera away on holidays for 3 weeks, it performed very well from bright sunny tropical beach and action surf scenes, to night time city scenes. It pays to have a mini-tripod for low light situations. Its combination of 6x zoom, very compact proportions and lovely sharp picture quality makes it a very desirable camera. The cameras ability to shoot at a high frame rate is a boon for sports photography.

I wanted a camera with extra zoom for a great price and this is it!!! The book teaches you everything you need to know on taking great pictures. The clarity is superb on the 2560 setting, unbelievable actually. The rechargeable batteries last a good time for me. It is SO easy to transfer to the PC with USB card reader my daughter has. Also easy to transfer from camera to san disk. Has so many great features. I think you'll love this!! I don't know how I survived without a digital camera. If you get Picasa software for your PC, you'll enjoy it even more. It allows you to crop, change colors, etc......

This camera has exceeded my expectations - aside from the fact that it eats batteries, but that's because I've used it so much, I've taken over 600 photos in two weeks. The image quality is excellent for both daytime photos and at night in astrophotography, using the camera to take pictures through my telescope. I'm delighted with my purchase of this camera and highly recommend it.

I've never written a review about anything but I had to about this camera.
I Love it.
The first thing I've noticed is the battery's last longer than any digital camera I've used.I've taken lots of pictures and I'm still using the battery's that came with the camera. You get Excellent for that right up front.
Next I love the monitor which is a great size.
The stabilzer is a real great addition so you don't get blurry pictures and I can't believe what a wonderful zoom this camera has.
I love the different modes it has. I started in Simple mode and soon was trying them all out.
It's easy to review your pictures and easy to delete them if you don't like them.
For great pictures,easy directions,and and battery's that last longer than any I've ever used I highly recommend this camera.
Another plus is the software that comes with it.
Thank you for a great camera.

I returned camera because it was almost impossible to take pictures outdoors. LCD display had to much glare. This cam needs a viewfinder. LCD also runs battiers dead in few hours.

Great camera. I have used it under allot of varied conditions. Worked well in 0 degree temperature. Easy to use and master. I like the image stabilization feature.

I am a house inspector and need to shoot at 640x480. I can not seem to get rid of the wavy lines from barrel distortion I believe they said. Should I increase my shutter time? As a result if I shoot directly at a roof for example, I get swirly lines and it makes it difficult to comment on any roofing problems

I bought this camera since Nov05. And i had a good holiday at Beijing, China during the snowing winter. This camera work well although the temperature as low as -10C. 6X zoom doesn't have any problem with support of Mega O.I.S. It hard to see any blurry picture while the Image Stabilizer is on! Can u believe u can even take a clear & sharp image although u shaking ur hand!! I shot more than 350shots at day time with only 2x AA 2400Nimh batteries. with different preset scene to help u shot a pro. A at least 512mb SD card is recommended while u using 5megapixel.It's value for money!! comparing other brand camera!

this is an excellent camera. 4000 pics taken so far. it takes webshots quality pictures and is battery efficient. i have 4 nmh rechargeables and it works out great for me. nice to be able to pop in plain old alkalines in a pinch too. 6x optical works great. photo size is plenty large enough to crop and perform "digital zoom" at home with good results. movie mode is lacking and flash recharge time is slow, but with respect to what features are available in a camera this size there's little improvement to be made here. other manufacturers haven't even come this far. way to go panasonic and lumix team, you've got my vote!

they may be lighter, but have you ever tried to alk to the closest supermarket to get a spare when you run out of juice. Great camera. Am going to get another for my mom.

ink marks identifying buttons wore off after 10 days. Cannot view image in LCD in dark rooms, cannot view image in very bright scenes (missed whale pictures in the Pacific Ocean.) Blurry telephoto at 6x. Anyone else have a problem with the ink wearing off the camera? Not even the name of the camera remained—everything just rubbed off.

I am pretty new to the world of cameras... i dont know your lingo or anything, but I bought a pretty crappy 640X860 (or something like that )VGA camera... it SUCKED!!! and I got 2 cameras or christmas... a OLD "HP Photosmart 435" and this model by Panasonic... I am VERY pleased with it... I have run several experiments with it; ie: taken shots at 24X (it has a 4X digital zoom, 6X4 = 24X) IN THE DARK... usually the firs shot is mediocre, but the second shot is crystal clear... even with my unsteady hand it captures newspaper print fully zoomed from a distance of about 20 ft! simply OUTSANDING...

Average picture quality and even worse movies. Cant zoom once movie is started.
The movies are very dark this was a replacement of canon a70. I will be sending this camera back. The older a70 tales much better pictures and movies. the one impressive thing was the zoom and image stabilization.

I only had this little camera for a short time and so far it has prove to be great. The pictures that I have taken so far look as though they were taken by a professional, This easy to use camera has captured great close-up shots on animal pictures showing excellent details.You are going to enjoy the use of this camera and discover that even if you don't know anything about camera's, you can become a great photographer with this wonderful camera.

I purchased this camera because I wanted a digital camera to take with me on my honeymoon to Europe, a two week mediterranean cruise. I wanted a smaller camera that I could fit into my purse but I also wanted more optical zoom than most smaller cameras offer. I was considering the Canon Powershot SD400 due to it's compact size, but decided on the Panasonic because it has twice as much optical zoom and actually fit into all my small purses without too much bulk. I am so glad that I got the panasonic, this camera took excellent pictures and rarely did they come out blurry thanks to the image stabilizer. My mom has a higher priced Kodak and my aunt has the canon and half the pictures they take are always blurry. I also used the 6x zoom quite a few times and was glad that I had it. I was concerned with this camera not having a viewfinder but found it made absolutely no difference, I don't think I would have used one even if I had it, even in darker areas it really was not an issue. People that complained this camera does not take good pictures in low light should have read the manual, with one quick settings change the difference in the pictures in a dark area was amazing. Several times I would take a picture in a dark area or in an area I was not allowed to use a flash and it would come out dark but then I would change the setting and it was like someone turned some lights on, I was impressed. I took 432 pictures on my vacation, some days I would take over 50 pics and would still have full battery life. I had rechargeable AA batteries and then kept some spares in my camera case, I never needed them. The battery life was long. Overall I am very pleased with this camera, it has a ton of different settings and took beautiful pictures(everyone compliments me on them and several people have asked me what kind of camera I have).Finally, I would recommend a 1GB card for people who like to snap away, mine never got full so I don't know it's limit, but it's worth it to not have to worry about it filling up. If you keep the camera on a lower pixel setting(not the absolute lowest because the pictures are not as nice, but the setting right above the lowest is fine) I know a 256MB card will hold over 200 pictures and the camera will not take pictures over any of them, it tells you when your card is full as I know some digital cameras do not.

As anyone knows, buying for parents that are not all too computer minded is a concern. Something practical, good price, not cheap, and certainly user friendly! The panasonic dmc-lz2 definitely fit all these criteria. The only information I was lacking upon purchasing was software knowledge, how user friendly was it? Well I'm here to share that I was pleasantly surprised with panasonic's choice. I was visiting my parent's in Ca. for only a week, had to learn the software myself before I taught my mom, (dad was overwhelmed just looking at the camera). Well, I was able to teach myself how to run everything in about an hour. Everything from cropping, color enhancing, lighting, and artistic liscense was a breeze and a joy to work with ( especially after working w/ sony's crappy software, that I've been putting up with ). To teach my mom, that took probably about 2 to 3 hours, couching her through it all.
For anyone looking to buy for a gift and are worrying that this is going to be like buying someone a puppy for christmas, ( i.e. too much responsibility for the recievers ! ) Rest assured! This camera is the one. Great battery life w/rechargable's, great zoom and image stabilizer, awesome and easy settings ( very user friendly ), and all in all great feel. My father has large hands so I had to teach him how to handle it, which he learned quickly. The fact that a viewfinder is lacking, even in outdoor bright light is a fairly moot point. Some questions from my mom about the fact that she couldn't see the lcd as clear, but I just told her the longer she gets used to the camera she'll get a better feel for it,and if the picture doesn't come out the way you want it , trash it and try again.
Did I mention the excellent price tag on this "puppy"? Worth every penny.
By-the-way my dad now is loving this camera, and at 74 is snapping it all up!

Dear Panasonic, I love the LZ2, but AA batteries are so heavy and large. Please convert to rechargeable Li battery pack. Li batts are much lighter, smaller and longer-lasting. So much smaller in fact that they would free up room for a view-finder. (The screen is always hard to see in bright outdoor light).

Great replacement for an aging digital camera. Like the batteries (alkaline) and the simple mode. Takes excellent photos!!!

Strengths: 6x zoom, image stabilization, small size, ease of use, quality construction, long battery life, modest price.

Weaknesses: None yet.

Summary: If you are looking for a little pocket or purse camera with a reasonably long zoom and image stabilization, you have two only choices: Panasonic's LZ2 (5MP) and the 4MP Panasonic LZ1. I purchased the LZ2 as a second camera. It comes with a 6x optical and 4x digital zoom. It also comes with very effective image stabilization - a must, in my opinion, for eliminating the jitters and blurs of long zoom shots. My primary camera is the LZs' big brother, the Lumix FZ20, a "near DSLR" with 12x optical zoom which I am very happy with. But I found myself wanting the larger camera's key features (long zoom and image stabilization) in a pocket size package. At first I assumed there was no such thing; I almost purchased another brand with much less optical zoom and no image stabilization. Fortunately I discovered that Panasonic made the little 6x LZ's. I am giddy with the results. Shots are sharp and quick. Worth mentioning here are the intuitive controls and menu's that make this camera easy to learn to use. Other notable pluses: Long battery life from just two AA cells. In "Simple Mode" (the beginner mode) it snaps remarkably good shots from tight macro to long zoom. The LZ2 has many "scene" choices that are easy to select such as Sport, Portrait, Party, Night, etc. The price is worth mentioning too. The street price is unexpectedly low. This camera does not take the place of "near" or real DSLR's as it lacks some manual controls and very low light shooting is a modest challenge (as it is on most digital cameras short of a DSLR). But for pocket convenience, sharp long shots, speed (it is quick, quick, quick), and quality build, I could not find a competitor at any price. Have fun with it!