Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28K 10MP Digital Camera with 18x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)

I have never owned a digital camera, and being a college student certainly didn't have a lot of money to spend (the price has been raised since my purchase); so after spending A LOT of time reading reviews I decided to go with the Lumix DMC- FZ28 and couldn't have been happier with my purchase. The first time I used the camera was at a hockey game between the Bruins and Sabres. Granted I didn't have awesome behind the bench seats, but with the Lumix I was able to get right on the ice. Seats: [...]

I was highly impressed with the clarity of the pictures and also the details they provided. The camera itself is very light and is small yet not so small its uncomfortable to take pictures with like some cameras. There is not hotshoe, but the flash is more than substantial and can easily light up an item nearly 18ft away.

The video is pristine and amazing for recording concerts, so much detail and the quality is simple outstanding. It records at 30fps 720p which basically means if you want to do a lot of recording you're going to need a memory card. The internal memory for the camera is weak for videos and really doesn't hold many pictures so definitely look into a memory card.

Overall, the Lumix is very versatile in allowing users to customize settings, provides crisp clear pictures, and has easy to use functions. If I had the opportunity to buy it again I would as it has been a great little camera for beginning a transition into the digital world (on a small budget).

However, having owned the camera nearly two years I have now noticed that Scene Mode (High Speed Burst) setting does not work nearly as good as it used to. Such as with the hockey pictures it picked up the players in action quite well, but as of late it is slow and sluggish (I have done nothing differently so I am not sure what could cause this problem, but it's something to consider).

At my age (over 70) I am unable to hold steady a regular weight SLR. So I was pleased to find a camera that has so many controls - and yet weighs so little - even with the battery installed. I am looking forward to using it often.

I'm an avid amateur. I've owned 5 Fuji's, including a F30, F40fd, F200EXR, nikon D40, and the Lumix FZ 28.
The FZ 28 was a fun camera with great specs and great features. I loved it. I took it on a trip to England, foregoing my D40 and Fuji.
Unfortunately, despite all the hype and excitement and legitimate pros of this camera, the pictures were mediocre. Very soft. Resolution was very limited compared to all my other cameras. And if you don't have sharp pictures with good contrast and excellent color rendition, you are just deluding yourself about the quality of the camera.
So I sold mine to someone on Ebay, and bought a Canon G10. My girlfriend had a G10, and for a year i always marvelled at the marvelous, sharp, detailed pictures as well as the package. And there is just no comparison whatsoever. You want a fun camera with mediocre pictures? Enjoy the Lumix. You want a real solid camera with great features and great pictures, buy the G10 or G11. That is what I recommend to every enthusiast I know, and they've never been disappointed.

I love this camera! I purchased it a year ago because I was looking for a good camera to take photos of my son's baseball and football games. The 18X zoom, excellent reviews, and the amount of features the camera offered for the price convinced me to buy it. I haven't been disapointed.

Previously I owned a pretty basic point and shoot camera that was about 5 years old, so this camera was a big improvement for me. The picture quality and colors are excellent. The long zoom allows me to take nice close-up pictures from the stands at baseball and football games. The Burst Mode is great for capturing multiple action photos and makes it possible to review pitching mechanics or capture great shots of the bat making contact with the ball. The battery lasts long enough to take 100's of photos during a double header or a full football game.

The camera has plenty of automatic settings that make it easy for an amateur to use, but it becomes a bit more complex if you want to take advantage of all the features. I consider myself pretty advanced when it comes to figuring out technical products, but I still haven't used more than half of the features available on the camera. The User Manual does a fairly good job of explaining the features and it's pretty easy to experiment with different settings to see what they do, but for a novice photographer it still takes a while to figure out when and why to use different settings. On the plus side, with so many more things to learn, it will be a while before I need to replace this camera with something more advanced.

Positives:
* 18X Zoom
* Burst Mode
* Picture Quality
* Value (Features/Price)

Negatives:
* Won't fit in my pocket.
* Advanced features aren't exactly simple to master.

I've always been a photographer at heart, from the time I was very young. I had been begging my parents for an SLR or DSLR for years so I could advance in my photography (at that point, I had only a point-and-shoot), but unfortunately, they couldn't afford one.
A little over a year ago, when I was sixteen, they gave me this camera for Christmas. I have never looked back.
This camera is simply amazing, and I've been using my sister's DSLR beside it. I can tell you, there is a difference between the two, for example the solid quality of the photos and the number of features/options, but this is as close to a DSLR you can get without actually spending the hundreds of extra dollars.

I'm too lazy to go into more detail than that, but rest assured that this is a very good camera.