panasonic

[dairyman]

I was pretty much set on buying the panasonic lumix Z-8. 8 meg with 5 x zoom. That was until I started reading some of the consumer comments on it. Poor blurry pictures,poor response time between flashes,I mean while I know its not top of the line I certainly don't want to deal with those issues either. What do you guys think. Any input would be appreciated

[Royce Aardahl]

I don't know anything about that camera but I sure like my Canon S2 IS. Lots of options on it. SX10 IS should be here Wednesday.

[DTro]

I've seen some mixed reviews on the Lumix too. I know a guy that has one and really likes it.

I've owned quite a few point and shoots, and the last one I went with a Canon (A540 or something like that). Very impressed with it. I take it out fishing with me all the time, it gets beat around in my fishing bag, dropped on the floor of the boat, had been covered in fish slime, and still puts out a good picture.

My next one will be a Canon for sure.

[JohnK]

I haven't used that particular Lumix, but have had two others, the FZ 1 and FZ 30. In good light they can take very good photos, in less than great light the shots get grainy and noisy very quickly.

The flash on the FZ1 was weak, just about useless past about 5 feet. The FZ30 was better, but nowhere near as good as an external flash. I don't think any built in flash will keep up with burst shots, I don't remember any problem with the flash refresh time in non burst situations.

The shutter lag can be annoying, it seems to be at least a 1/2 a second between pressing the release and the shot actually being taken. It may not sound like much but it can drive you nuts.

The first two digital cameras I owned were Olympus cams (way back in the 90's), and they were great at the time, very sharp pictures and nice color. If I were going to get a P&S today I would look at them again, the Olympus SP 560 or 570 are in a similar price range as the Panasonic Z8.

[MN Shutterbug]

I have had a Lumix FZ7 for over a year now and really like it. I don't use the flash much, so can't comment there, other than most cameras onboard flashes don't have much reach. As far as shutter lag is concerned, my research indicated that it was almost twice as fast as the Canon equivalent. It sounds to me like different models fare better than others. You can check out the reviews of the FZ7 on Amazon, I would imagine. Anyway, I'm happy with mine and have got some sellable shots with it.