The Lumix DMC-FZ7 is worth every dollar!

Author's Rating:

Pros: 6 megapixels, long Battery life, 12X optical zoom, manual/auto focus, user friendly, great looking pictures

Cons: the worthless 16 MB SD card, they may as well have not bothered...

The Bottom Line: 
great for people who don't like the limitations of a point and click camera but aren't ready for an SLR. high quality images, feature-rich and easy operation

Author's Review
This is exactly the camera I was looking for! My previous digital camera was great for a 'point and click' camera, but I really wanted something sort of half way between 'point and click' and SLR...and I wanted it to perform better than my old camera did in low-light conditions.
When I got to the camera store and told the sales associate what i was looking for he showed me the DMC-FZ7, as well as a couple of Canon, and a Fuji. Between the image stabilizing feature's demo and the optical zoom that allowed me to read the packaging info on products clear across the store, my mind was made up, the other cameras paled in comparison . The DMC-FZ7 has a broad variety of really great functions and features including 6 MegaPixels, 12X Optical zoom, Image Stablizer, an Adjustable ISO sensitivity, Manual or Auto Focus, and an adjustable Flash EV and exposure values. The Camera's system software is fast and intuitive, and it allows the user to switch between automatic modes to fully customized ones seamlessly. It has a Leica lens, and you can optionally buy wide conversion and teleconversion lenses and assorted filters. Also noteworthy is the battery's impressive staying power, which is a quality one rarely hears about any more.