Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Perhaps you've heard: one of the most difficult targets for photography = birds-- super small **and** super frisky. Most texts urge you to buy a dSLR, with a VERY long AND fast zoom. Such lenses are heavy, big, 4-figure expensive AND require stabilization. To outfit yourself accordingly, you're looking at a minimum 2 grand outlay (camera body, walk-around lens, fast super-zoom lens, tripod, etc)........................... On the other hand, this 10mp all-in-one camera STARTS with a built-in 12x zoom. This yields the 35mm equivalent of a 35mm to 420mm lens, WITH an aperture of f/2.8 to 3.7. In English: fast, and with serious reach. Yet, there's a delightful surprise: you can EASILY drop down to 5mp, getting in return a 17x OPTICAL zoom. Bird still too far away? Drop the camera's resolution down to 3mp--- now you've got a 21.4x OPTICAL zoom. This is NO software-based gimmick, folks, as the quality of the image remains incredible throughout. The camera simply hones in on the central image (i.e., the central 5mp or 3mp area), cropping out the excess sides, thereby effectively increasing the optical zoom with NO image deterioration. As I already have Panasonic's LT55 telephoto 1.7x converter lens (used with my now-old FZ7 camera), I can just screw that directly onto the FZ50 lens, for still more reach. And again, none of this is "digital", so we're still talking super optical quality throughout the reach. Keep in mind-- this is all **with** image stabilization! It's so very good / crisp/ detailed, that I now **keep** it at 3mp whenever I'm shooting birds, so I can enjoy that mind-blowing extra optical zoom. Now, if some of the technical jargon in the preceding paragraph spooks you, know this: I purchased my first digicam (FZ7) a few months ago. I knew nadda, photographically speaking. But I added "PCPhoto Digital Zoom Camera Handbook" to my cart, enjoyed the easy but super-informative read during a weekend, and was shooting up a storm in no time, actually KNOWING what the different options are all about. Later, when I started wondering about actual "technique," a quick trip to my local bookstore introduced me to a UK monthly magazine, "Digital Camera" --- truly useful info in every issue, not to mention the included teach-me CD with videos. If you prefer to just point and shoot, there's a "auto" mode for you. If you like scene modes, you'll find plenty here from which to choose, including night scene, fireworks scene, and party scene. There's a zoom ring, instead of a moving lens jutting in and out. If you prefer to sometimes indulge manual focus, you'll love the new focus ring on the lens. Nice touch: the system auto-magnifies the target as you rotate the focus ring, encouraging maximum sharpness. That's the thing about this ultra sweet package: nice touches abound, making for an marveloously smooth and easy user experience. There are two dial rings, which you manipulate with your third finger and thumb (as index finger sits in shutter release). Both dial rings are to the right of the camera, one in front and the other in the back. Ergonomically, this means that your eye need never leave the electronic viewfinder (or LCD) in order to tweak exposure. These can be customized, allowing one to no-think change aperture and exposure compensation on the fly, with a simple, quick twirl of a dial ring (the selections/result are visible on the EVF/LCD). A "function" button allows equal ease in tweaking white balance, flash, bracketing, ISO sensitivity and more. Read: no hunting thru the system menu! Want to add an external flash? No problem-- there's a hot shoe. Like to crop pics within the camera itself? Do it in "playback" mode-- it's your option as to whether to retain or trash the original. Want to save your tweaking settings as an "option"? Use one of the 3 personal customization slots available. Prefer an EVF? Got it. Want a move-it-around sharp LCD? Wish granted. Wanna zoom your pics during playback, to doublecheck for sharpness? Also dirt easy, via a max 8x zoom. Wear glasses? So what, there's a diopter adjustment dial next to the EVF. You can even get an optional shutter release cord. 55mm filters, as well as the LT55 teleconverter for the FZ7, work fine here without a special converter-- just screw the add-on to the FZ50 lens itself. But it's an either-or proposition, i.e., can't use a circular polarizer with the teleconverter lens. Small loss, given the series of optional built-in optical zooms you can get from this beauty. Third party batteries work just fine. Just look for a CGR-S006A equivalent. (I got cheapie DynaMax-- works great.) The charger is ultra-convenient. Not quite the size of a deck of cards, it just plugs into an outlet -- no cords. I always have one battery in it at home, so switching is a no sweat/delay deal (pop in and out). Very healthy battery life also (more than 300 pics, despite keeping the system at "10 minutes")! One negative: while there is a burst mode, it's rather slow. That irked me, but everything else is so profoundly sweet, that I've opted to live with it. Just too much incredible goodness here for me to elevate this one item to deal-breaker status. One special note: if you just start shooting when you get the camera, you might be disappointed. The pics may appear softer than you anticipate. Go into the menu, select "Picture Adjustment", and tweak saturation, contrast, sharpness and noise reduction until you get a personally satisfying result. Worth the extra effort! Still not sure about coughing up your hard-earned dough for the FZ50? Yes, it's a little cheaper elsewhere, but check out Amazon's return page (Help >> Return Policy >> Product Specific Policies >> Camera & Photo) -- it confirms a very generous 30-day return policy, from date of receipt. My bet is that, like me, you'll quickly adopt this baby as your own, tossing the Amazon box long before that 30 day period expires. And, you'll never look back. -------------In the Box camera (duh!) 32mb SD card battery battery charger USB connection cable AV cable CD-ROM Shoulder strap (nice!) lens cap lens hood