Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I replaced my old Nikon70 with this camera two years ago. Excellent value it is exact same camera as Leica Lux 1 only $200 cheaper. I took it to Paris, Rome and made excellent photos. A light tripod is very helpfull mainly in low light. It has lot of bild in futures and above avarage lens and you do not need to change it like with SLR. Autofocus is little slower but if you not a proffesional photographer you can live with it. Or spend $2000 more for Nikon D300. A proffesionaly looking lense hood is included in base price make a breeze to take pictures in direct sunlight and this camera with hood on looks much more expensive and atracted street thiefs. Rotated display is excellent future when you take photos about the crowds (fireworks, concerts). Dual voltage 110V/220V of battery charger is must for oversee travel. Battery has a very good life, on my travel shoots one charge holded one to three days.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I love this camera. I am a professional photographer, and take lots of the birds shots
for publications. The best features this camera,
for me, is the great range of the lens and your sharpest.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

a friend recomended me this camera and I am so happy with it that I can hardly stop shooting any time

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I bought this to replace my old Fuji Finepix S7000, and my main goals were to get a longer, stabilized zoom, a flip-out LCD, and a large electronic viewfinder that would be as good as the one on my Fuji. Mission accomplished.

When I received this camera, I read the book all the way through. Since then, I have seldom needed to refer back to it, because everything about the operation of this camera makes sense. I find that I make more use of the manual controls because I don't need to pause and try to remember how to do things.

I rarely make prints above about 5x7, and I am completely pleased with the image quality of this camera - excellent color and sharpness.The image stabilization really works, and you can get sharp, hand-held, 12x shots.

I think this camera is an excellent compromise for serious amateurs who don't want to carry extra lenses everywhere they go. I have been on two "photo shoots" with it, and my pictures are the best I have ever gotten. I am very excited about doing more and more with it.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I was used with the FZ30, gave it to my daughter and bought a FZ18, the FZ18 was small but lacking the manual zoom and focus and also the tilting screen. So I gave the FZ18 to my niece and got the FZ50... Will they ever replace it with a FZ70 ??? Bigger screen, faster response time...

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I use this camera to shoot product photography, mostly for the web and some for print. I haven't had it too long but so far I've been very satisfied with the quality of the image. You definitely need to use a tripod when using the lens at its longest length.

I very much recommend buying the 2GB card when you buy this because if you take images at 10megapixels you'll only get about 12 images on the card provided before it's full.

This camera offers a lot of exposure control and can get as small as f11 which is pretty nice for a non-SLR camera.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I have used the DMC-FZ20 for years with great success. Went on a two week photo safari with my friend who had the DMC-FZ50. I was jealous of it's capabilities. This camera has all the features of much pricier Canon and Nikon cameras and, with the Leica lens, takes better pictures. I got the DMC-FZ50 a few weeks ago and appreciate the manual zoom and revolving LCD screen a lot. Terrific improvements over the FZ20. With 10MP I am no longer limited to an 8x12 blow-up. Poster size with high qulaity is a breeze.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I bought this camera mainly for travel. An acceptable size, amazing lens, manual ring controls, optical image stabilization, and movie mode make it an ideal tool for shooting in expedition. It feels almost like SLR-camera except it's a bit slower. Most reviews that I read on the Web describe these advantages very well. I am very happy with this toy.

My personal experience with the weak points:

1) Noise is indeed noticeable at 100% viewing but it could be reasonably controlled by NR of the camera and post-processing. I prefer to switch NR to "high" and loose some details rather than to loose a rare shoot due to a long writing time of the RAW format (few seconds on a class 6 card). This gives me a luxury of printing any album-size prints directly from the camera. If I need to show the picture at 100%, I do post-processing and the results are still reasonably good. I wish Panasonic would extend 2x2 binning to all ISO modes. This would make a professional 2.5 MP camera, when needed.

2) The movie mode is a serious plus to me and I was disappointed by heavy compression introduced by the camera. I would prefer spending more for a larger memory card rather than recovering off-line these artifacts of compression, which is never very successful. However, the only camera that could compete with FZ50 (see below) has the same problems.

3) Lens cap is easy to loose because it doesn't have a strap. Shame to Panasonic for such a small thing!

Overall, when I was looking for a camera with manual ring controls and a movie mode, I found only two cameras: Panasonic FZ50 (more expensive Leica equivalent is known as V-LUX 1) and Fujifilm S100FS. S100FS is larger and more expensive. So, there is not too much competition here.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I use the product for my photography hobby and like the abundance of features in the scene modes. A more advanced photographer actually had commented that the camera is packed with a lot of features for its price point. At the same time, he commented that the manual is not very user friendly and makes it appear simpler and easier to use that it really is.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

Every thing a SRL have without been an SRL.
No extra lenses to carry.
Cons: Changes in the menu stay after shut it of.
I have to remember to change it back.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

Easy to use, sharp lens, no need to haul manny lenses, because zoom range is excellent.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I love this camera! I am a hobby photographer, take lots of outside shots, lots of my children. The best feature for me is the awesome lens, great range that it has and that it can be controlled manually....gives it a SLR feel. I also love the moveable LCD. this is great for taking pictures at diiferent angles and especially for getting down to kids levels. I would totally recommend this camera!!

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I've been watching the price of this camera for a year and a half waiting for it to go down. It hasn't gone down much but after seeing photos taken with the FZ30 I knew that I had to make this purchase. I love the size of the camera since I still had a Nikon N75 slr. Both cameras are about the same size. Compared the smaller compact digitals the size and weight of this camera make it easier for me to hold the camera still and the image stabilization is a bonus. Controls are easily accessible and menus are easy to navigate. Haven't gotten a chance to do any maco work yet which is my passion, but got some excellent headshots of a friend for her business. I usually hate photographing people and she says she is usually difficult to photograph. We were both more than pleased at the quality of those photos. She thought I was amazing. I say it was part me, part the camera. Colors are vibrant, but I already knew that from the FZ30 images i'd already seen. I easily recommend this camera.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

This camera is fairly easy to use and you get the hang of it quick. You will be happy with results, the quality is great. The LCD screen is incredible. It rotates to different angles and the image is beautiful. The grip and controls on the camera are good. It is easy to hold and has a comfortable neck strap. The pictures always come out perfect. I would recommend this camera to anyone who wants great quality photos with a fun to use camera.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

Great camera, very good price and almost the same capabilities than a SLR

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I take pictures for texture work in 3D animation.

Pros: Great lenses, the ability to view a digital zoom while focusing, great under low light.

Cons: After deleting a picture from the review, it automatically goes back to the viewer. I have yet to find a good use for the second stabilizer setting. It is just about the same as no stabilizer.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I had this camera for about two weeks now, I didn`t have enough time to play with it already, but after 1000 takes at least in different conditions, I'm loving it. It's true that it has a Slow censor, but in my case I'm taking pictures of inanimate objects for advertising, and this won't matter that much. After all if you have good light conditions even with fast moving objects it will perform well. I got decided to buy the camera for the large zoom Leica lens and the manual focus features, and I really wasn't wrong, cause it's the best thing about this camera.
I would really like a larger and more color accurate LCD, but for the price you can live with it, the battery included will handle a complete day of use (about 250 to 300 takes with no flash). And still can`t find a software that controls over the USB the camera, so I can take the photos directly from a PC.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I can't believe how great the picture is on this camera. Running, sitting, kicking - all clear! Amazing! Highly recommend!

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

i had a small point and shoot digital camera. this camera, while larger and heavier, gives me more control over the shot i take. i love the feel of the optical zoom, it controls more like the slrs. i still have a lot to learn, but i think this camera will be up to any task i may encounter.

Comments about Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Digital Camera (Black):

I live in an especially beautiful part of Florida; everyday I come across the 'perfect shot'. Unfortunately I usually leave my Canons 5D and XTi and all their associated equipment, at home. I do so because it's too cumbersome to lug all of that equipment with me, all of the time, just in case something comes up.

I needed a high quality light-weight camera to carry with me at all times for those once-in-a-lifetime shots. The major requirements were that the camera had to produce professional level images, and needed the capability to be properly adjusted in order to meet my shooting requirements for any given image.

After months of research I purchased the FZ50.

This is a fabulous camera - especially when you consider that it's co-manufacturer (Leica) sells essentially the same camera for about twice the price. Simply stated, the FZ50 is a great value for the money.

The Leica lens is world-class. It is compariable with my Canon L-Series lenses - remarkable for a point-and-shoot!

I gave this camera a A MERE THEE-STAR RATING because of three MAJOR FLAWS:

PROBLEM 1. The 35-420mm Lens sounds too good to be true. "IT IS" TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! The 35mm so-called wide angle setting is almost totally useless. To take a photo of a person's face you have to stand 15-20 feet away from the subject (to try to get the entire face) - and you still won't get a decent full-face shot. I took the camera to Disney for a
test-run. Everything worked well, but virtually every photo that required even the slightest wide-angle setting had to be deleted. This is the primary reason why I gave a mere three-star rating for this otherwise wonderful piece of equipment.

If you buy this camera you MUST add the wide-angle converter to your shopping cart (sells for about $209 at B&H). It adds to the price, but at least you will get some keeper shots of your family.

I did not buy the wide-angle converter when I originally purchased the camera, but I ordered one last night and can't wait until it arrives.

I did buy the tele-converter. But the results of that product will have to wait for another time and another review. Let's just say that if you can afford it - buy it!

Problem 2. The battery compartment has a SERIOUS FLAW. The door opens by itself - VERY frequently. The battery does not fall out, but the constantly opening and closing battery cover is really annoying. I'm just waiting for a disaster to happen (broken battery cover door or something worse).

Problem 3. The Instruction Booklet should be thrown away and the two manufacturers (Panasonic and Leica)should launch a major rewrite - from scratch.

The instructions are there of course. But they are so poorly written that they are difficult to understand. Also, the book is badly organized. When you try to learn about any single feature you quickly find that most of the information is provided in a 'piece-meal' fashion.

This means, to me at least, that in order to learn about ANY feature you have to read a few sentences on one page in a particular section, half-way through that you are referred to another page - in a different section of the manual for a sentence or two, and then another page/section - and so forth and so on. What a waste!

I cannot understand why they didn't provide the instructions for any given feature in one single section, and the next feature in another section, etc. All of the other manufacturers, with which I am familiar, actually do that!

IF YOU BUY THIS CAMERA I HOPE YOU ARE AN EXPERIENCED DIGITAL PHOTOPGRAPHER, because the instuction manual is not going to be of much help. This user's manual is definitely not written for a beginner.

My summary? This is an outstanding camera - but Panasonic and Leica have some serious work to do on providing a usable wide-angle capability, fixing the battery door (and it's location), and IMMEDIATELY, if not sooner, redesigning and rewriting the User's Manual. (i.e. they both provide exactly the same User's Manual for their sister products). They really need to publish an informative and user friendly manual.