Love, Love, Love this camera

I've only had the camera for a few weeks now - but I simply love it. It is very easy to use, and most important, takes excellent photos right from the start. Now, I know very little about exposure, lighting, whatever - and I haven't really played with many of the settings - but I was able to zoom in at a swim meet to capture my daughters face while swimming breaststroke - indoors, in a poorly lit area. Got some great team pictures as well. I am so glad that I ended up buying this as a used camera instead of spending $100's on a newer model that probably would have given me the exact same results. This is the perfect camera when you want to take good quality photos, without spending a major fortune. The ONLY drawback that I've had - is the weight. It is heavy, much bigger than a normal point and shoot - but for the quality - well worth it !

**** Edited to add - it's been 2.5 years since I first bought this camera - even though it was used when I bought it - it's still working so perfectly that I searched online for the exact same model and bought another. I cannot believe some of the shots I've gotten with this camera. From a super close up of a spider that I was able to take but not get too close, to the wonderful action shots I have of my son and husband playing at the poo, to my daughter swimming competitively at some of the biggest college Natatoriums on the East Coast - both inside and outside ! It's super easy to take the battery out, and now I have a spare so I always have one charged. ALso super easy to take the memory card out and flip it into my computer to download - amazing, amazing camera !

BEST CAMERA VALUE EVER!

I have used all cameras from Hassleblads to Nikon and I can say there is no camera that gives any better quality than this 5 megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20. I currently own two, am bidding on another one right now on Ebay, and have ordered at least 5 more for my friends when they asked me to get them a camera that was the best for the money. I have enlarged two 20X24 inch portraits of my kids from this camera and believe it or not, the images look like they were taken with a Hasselblad camera. I know it sounds ridiculous but it's true. The Leica glass lens is to-die-for. It's also an awesome flash camera. If you buy one and don't like it's quality, carefully re-read the manual so you can make it do all that I have said. If you still don't like it out it on Ebay cause I might just buy it. ALL JOY!

Great lens for the price- a bargain

This camera is now several years old, and so to give it an "excellent" would be inappropriate -- time has passed its features by. However, one can hardly find a less expensive way to obtain a lens of the quality that is here. There used to be a series of ads in the 1950s for a camera which shall go unmentioned, "The lens alone is worth the price." This is precisely why I bought this camera on eBay, and I have not been disappointed. The sensor has enough quality to allow prints at 11 X 14, and the glass simply delivers everything you expect from the Leica name. I liked my own so much, I bought one for my son, who needs to take pix of my grandson, and could care less about cameras. At its current price, this camera is a BARGAIN. And there seem to be more than enough in circulation to keep the supply up to the demand. Don't hesitate if you want an extra camera for situations where your best might be in danger. Don't hesitate if you are trying to decide whether to go digital (are there many of you left?) or if you simply love to try out different pieces. You cannot possibly regret it.

Fast apeture thru-out the zoom range gives blurr free results in difficult

I bought this for the lens. Most digital cameras with zoom lens have a much slower aperture (5.6!) at the highest zoom. This camera stays at 2.8 thru-out the zoom range. 5 MP may be low by today's standards, but a 16 MP blurry picture is useless. I take pictures of people, never posed (grabshots) and in not so good light, so I needed a camera that would take the picture with minimum delay and wide open aperture even at the higher zooms. The delay is small and could be better, but my pictures are now blur free. This camera comes closest to the old film SLR cameras I used in the past. This is exactly what I was looking for.

Best Camera $ for $ I've ever used

I've tried Nikon DSLRs, upgraded Lumix FZ30s and FZ50s and except for the bells and whistles and ergonomic features, I have continued to migrate back to the FZ20s. Once it's set up, I can shoot and go for months without making any changes to it. I know what to do when I get odd colorings, etc. so maybe it's because I've used this model so long but when something works, why change it? I wish I could say the same for laptop computers --- upgrading is something that must be done always with those but, for my money not with digital cameras.