Ok, so first off, I'm not really into digital photography (or any photography, for that matter). My last camera was an old 1.3MP Olympus I bought used years ago, and even that was pretty old, and I haven't really had the need to buy a new camera yet. To be 100% honest, I probably don't need a new camera - my enV cellphone has a 2.0MP camera built-in which to me, is "good enough."

However, all logic and reason aside, I "want" a new camera. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it - I'll worry about that later. With all this talk on this forum about DSLR's, I briefly entertained the idea before deciding that cost and complexity of the cameras heavily outweighed any benefits to me. So, I am now looking at basic "point-and-shoots." I've done some research, and I am pretty set on the Panasonic DMC-LZ8. From what I've read, it's simple enough for an amateur to use (i.e. me) but also complex enough that I can "grow" with the camera (i.e. fully manual mode, etc).

In the past, I've used Olympus, Canon, and Sony cameras. From what little experience/knowledge I have, I felt the Canon cameras were better. Sony cameras, much like everything else Sony makes, looked nice, but worked like crap (well, crappier that say, a Canon).

So, I've been doing some pricing, and it looks like I can get the LZ8 for around $100-$130. Is there anything better in that price range? I know the Leica lens is supposed to be pretty good, as is the fact that it's 32mm vs the standard 35mm. The LZ10 is 30mm, but it's a bit pricier, and probably not worth it, to me.

The only drawback I've read about is that the time in-between pictures when using the flash is slow because it runs off of AA batteries. I like the fact that it uses AA instead of some proprietary battery pack that costs a left ******** to replace. Is the 3sec delay between flash pics a big deal?

Anyways, any advice/comments/etc. u photo guys could offer is appreciated.

Here is a pic of it


Here are some specs:
* 8.3 effective Megapixel CCD
* F3.3-5.9, 5X optical zoom lens, equivalent to 32 - 160 mm
* Optical image stabilization
* Venus Engine IV processor
* 2.5? LCD display with 230,000 pixels with auto brightness adjustment
* Full manual controls
* Intelligent ISO and Scene Selection modes
* Face detection finds up to 15 faces in the frame
* Records widescreen movies at 848 x 480 (30 fps) with sound
* 20MB onboard memory + SD/SDHC/MMC card slot
* Uses two AA batteries; 470 shots per charge using NiMH cells
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Native american spirituality forums

 

Its great! I have the same model, and it takes excellent pics!

 

all around a good camera... pretty fast performance and a good lens. i'm still personally not sold on the overall image quality compared to my canon... but for the price + the big zoom + the OIS = can't beat it.

 

I used to use one of those as my work camera. The only drawbacks are mediocre low light performance, somewhat slow, flat images, and bulky. Otherwise, I was pretty satisfied with it for standard point and shoot kinda dealies.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. Anything else you would recommend that is better overall in that price range? I also thought it was kind of cool that the LZ8 could take HD-ish 16:9 video. Can other cameras in this price range do the same?
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HEALTH STORE

 

I have a Panasonic Lumix TZ-5, and I love it.

One thing that really sticks out to me is the AA batteries on this camera. Since you like this feature, just make sure you get some high rated mAH batteries or they're going to be dying left and right.

One thing I've noticed, since I switched from a SD800IS to the Lumix TZ-5, is the OIS is much better on my SD800 than it is on the TZ-5.

Off the top of my head, the only thing that comes to mind is the Canon SD1100IS. Great camera, compact, and has a great OIS. Only downfall is that since it's a canon, so the movie mode is gonna be junk.

 

Amen! I used to keep a bandoleer of like 100 AA's on me at all times

 

When it comes to compact Camera, go Canon and never look back.

Any of the IS cameras from Canon will be great for you. Anything in your price range and that is canon will beat out any other brand compact camera short of probably the Casios (personally I don't like the Casios though).

 

I've heard good things about Canon, and in my limited experience using them, I've liked them as well. What makes it a better camera than the Panasonic? Another one I'm considering is the PowerShot A590. It's also 8.0MP, but only has 4x optical zoom and a "narrower (?)" 35mm lens. I believe it also takes lesser quality videos. I'm not trying to knock Canon cameras, but when you say it's better, I'd just like to know why.
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Amateur Oral

 

Image Stability is top notch
Face Recognition is top notch
They port the past generation image processors over to the smaller cameras = Higher bit A/D Converters
They have good flashes
Excellent battery life

The A590IS is a great camera, but it uses AA Battiers, it's better to have one with a rechargable LiIon Battery.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSho...e=UTF8&s=photo

The above camera uses the Digic III processor which is at least 12bit A/D which means good low light performance (for a sensor this small) and great day time shots. It's got what you need and the technology to back it up. The 38mm lens is something like 7 or 8mm (maybe even smaller) if you try to equal it to a SLR full frame size.

Check out the customer images on the amazon page, very impressive pictures.

 

That's how it used to be. I was a Canon fanboy, but they have a HUGE lack of wideangle point and shoots, that I had to look elsewhere after my SD800 got jacked.

The new Panasonic Lumix cameras are, very slowly, becoming better cameras than Canons. For example, the TZ-5 vs SD870IS (I know this because I was looking at the two when I was in the market for a camera): Barreling effect is much more significant in the 870, optical zoom is much better on the Lumix (x10 vs x3.8 iirc), higher iso shots are more grainy in the 870, Lumix comes with a HD movie mode although the sound sucks *****. On the other hand, SD870 has an amazing image stabilization, start up speed, and I don't like where the flash is on the TZ-5.

However, overall picture quality is much nicer on the TZ-5 than the SD870IS.

Canons used to dominate the market. Not long ago, the only decent point and shoots were Canons. Canon has been neglecting their research in movie capturing in their point and shoots, which I believe you stated, and they haven't been shifting their market towards wide angle, where the current "fad" is slowly taking cameras.

In my opinion, whether you get into the newer Lumix or SD cameras, you're going to be happy with your choice, both have their pluses, you just have to consider which pluses fit what you want more. With the A series Canons, it gives a LOT more adjustability in the manual picture mode than the SD series, and I think it's really fun to play around with.

dpreview and steve's digicams have some good reviews on cameras. Plus, dpreview has a forum where there's a lot of people posting pictures and comparison shots of multiple cameras.


edit: like I said in my earlier post, Canon's Digic III Image Stabilization is amazing. That's the one major thing that Panasonic does not even get close to.

 

Check out reviews of digital cameras here.