Full Review

It's the Leatherman Super Tool of the digital photography world! Built like a tank and feels so good in your hands. I bought this macho camera nine months ago and I love it more and more as I am getting to know it better. This is my sixth digital camera (had had and old Sony FD, little Canons A60, A70, and A85, as well as a lovely Olympus C-2100UZ which the FZ-50 will replace). Short of going DSLR and investing a car's price on lenses, external flashes and other gadgets, this is as far as you can get, and it is not bad at all. The talk about noise is exaggerated and this baby manages to deliver a virtually noise free image at ISO-400. Let's face it folks, that's more than you need in real life. I shot 35mm for donkeys of years and very rarely did I exceed ISO-200. The lens is a killer Leica 35-420mm 35mm equiv. at a whooping fast f/3.7 aperture at the far end of the super zoom. It is even faster (f/2.8) if you zoom out. And it is tack sharp! And it has an optical image stabilization that really works! Leica is producing a copy of this camera that is marketed for $900 street price, which is a carbon copy save for the red dot and a slightly modified "Leica looks" algorithm, and is slower in every operation as a result. I think this is the baby to go for, so don't hesitate; you will get more value for your money than you can imagine.

This camera is for you if:

1.) You want a 35-420mm 2.8 lens, made by Leica + Image Stabilization + 10 MegaPixels + Live preview -all for less than $450

2.) If you are an amateur stepping up from a compact, who wants to experience SLR-like capability at a reasonable entry price.

This camera is not for you if:

1.) You shoot most of your pictures at ISO 1600 or IS 3200

2.) You make a living shooting multi-burst sport action with sudden erratic motion, like football or soccer.

Disadvantages of a DSLR when compared to a super-zoom, such as the FZ50:

1. Money: You will spend more, much more!
A. Initial price of the body alone (let a lone a kit price) is substantially higher than that of a super-zoom.
B. The potential for consequent spending: with a DSLR the spending hardly ends with the initial purchase, many expensive subsequent purchases will surely follow: lenses, accessories, external flashes etc. and the prices of these usually exceed what you pay for the camera body.

2. Dust on the sensor: the potential of dust forming on the sensor is a certainty due to changing lenses with a DSLR. Cleaning is tedious, expensive, and dangerous for it packs the risk of damaging the sensor and other internal parts of the camera unless you are very familiar with the process. You need to buy extra equipment (dust scope, vacuum, special cleaners) and all that means extra money and extra skills are required. The built in dust cleaning ultrasonic mechanism in top-dollar DSLRs doesn't always get rid of foreign particles, and they never get rid of stains (resulting say from humidity or water spray). A super-zoom is hermetically sealed and this headache is nonexistent.

3. The mechanical shutter: All DSLRs have one, and that is disadvantageous in three ways:
A. Limited life, after a certain number of exposures it needs to be replaced, a very expensive undertaking, while the super-zoom has unlimited life with its electronic shutter.
B. Potential for breaking down / jams, the rule of the thumb with moving mechanical parts.
C. Mirror slap and shutter judder causes vibration that will work against camera-based or lenses-based vibration reduction (VR) and image stabilization (IS) systems (if any) reducing its effectiveness. In super-zooms, vibration due to electronic shutter firing is virtually none.

4. No live preview: Except for top-dollar latest models, the greatest majority of DSLRs doesn't have it. It is standard on the super-zooms (actually it is the only viewing there is, through the EVF).

5. Weight, size and portability: DSLR are generally heavier and bulkier than super-zooms, and the extra lenses and gear renders them a hassle to haul about or travel with. A super-zoom is a one-solid piece solution.