Panning question

[ThoughtfulPirate]

I have a panasonic Fz10. Its a point and shoot, but I guess its sort of getting closer to an SLR, the only 2 disadvantages I have found are: no switchable lenses, obviously, and that the viewfinder is just like a mini lcd screen inside the camera, they look identical. This is good in that you can see your settings and your focus, but bad in that it goes black. I always use the viewfinder, not the lcd. Other than that, its easier to use on full manual mode than my mom's analog slr that I use sometimes.

[Photo-John]

The FZ10 is a nice camera. And like most high-end compact digitals, it's really much more than a point-and-shoot. You just have to learn to take full advantage of it and use the correct techniques.

Try to to worry about the viwefinder blacking out. Even the best SLRs do that (there's one exception, the Canon EOS 1RS). If you practice and use the technique I shared, it won't matter. The trick is to start panning well before you take the photo, and follow through. As long as you do that, you'll continue to pan smoothly with the rider, even while the viewfinder is blacked out.

John