Panasonic DMC Lumix FZ3 anyone?

[Liz]

Since I sold all my P&S cameras, I don't have a 2nd camera. I'm usually strictly Canon, but am impressed with the Leica lenses on Panasonic. It has 3 reviews here, but not a lot of information.

My Priorities in camera purchase
**No. I lens quality
**No 2 I have a very slight camera shake problem - but it really shows up in these very small P&S cameras.

Reasons for checking out the FZ3 camera as a possibility:
No. I Lens Quality - Of course, everyone raves about the Leica lens quality. ;)
IS seems to work well
Price $339
Optical zoom either 10 or 12x - I'm aware it won't be perfect at the long end
Build - solid

Another option
The FZ 7 has a 2" LCD with some upgraded features and looks great. However, I need the IS - and although this camera has IS, it is very small which for me may counteract theIS.

I used to have the G3, which is bigger than the FZ3. My favorite thing about it was the 2.0 aperture which for me was as good as IS. Since there seems to be no other P&S cameras with a 2.0 aperture, I thought the IS would be perfect.

Canon option
I also checked out the Canon SI IS, which is somewhat similar to the FZ3 and looks good, but I doubt it has the lens quality the Panasonic has.

Any thoughts - any experience?

Liz

[Lionheart]

One of our hygienists has this camera. She took pictures with it at the office Christmas party, and they seemed pretty sharp in-camera. She brought 4x6 prints for us the next week, and they seemed pretty sharp, fairly good color. The only thing I didn't like was the skin tones, looked slightly plum colored for my skin color, very similar to the canon g1 skin tones. Another hygienist had a Leica p/s digital, that was very similar in color balance, but the skin tones also had the same problem. Might have been underexposure too, since the pics seemed a little dark.

[Liz]

Hmmmmm. I just typed a reply - and it disappeared.

Thanks for the information. Wish I could afford a Leica - about $1,700 ball park figure. I would get a G6 but that too is way over my budget for a 2nd camera. The more I check out the reviews, the more confused I get.

But I'll keep looking. No rush.

Liz

One of our hygienists has this camera. She took pictures with it at the office Christmas party, and they seemed pretty sharp in-camera. She brought 4x6 prints for us the next week, and they seemed pretty sharp, fairly good color. The only thing I didn't like was the skin tones, looked slightly plum colored for my skin color, very similar to the canon g1 skin tones. Another hygienist had a Leica p/s digital, that was very similar in color balance, but the skin tones also had the same problem. Might have been underexposure too, since the pics seemed a little dark.