Lumix DMC-LZ3K Silver 5MP, 6X Zoom Digital Camera

Pros: OIS, 6X Zoom, 5MP, great size, great pics, fast, easy

Cons: no viewfinder, LCD off during flash recharge

Summary: As a kid I went from a Kodak Instamatic to Nikon SLRs, using almost nothing else since. After buying my wife and two daughters Canon PowerShots in the same price range, this is the camera I chose for me, to carry with me almost every day; I couldn't be happier with my choice.

I miss a viewfinder, but it's not a big liability, and the LCD going blank during flash recharge really doesn't bother me, as I hardly use the flash. Having 5MP and 6X optical zoom (actually it goes to 7+ *optical* zoom, NOT digital) to play with, along with the wonderful optical image stabilization, I strongly prefer to almost always shoot without flash, using it mainly for fill so that close human subjects outdoors don't have to look into the sun and squint. [Everybody using flash in auditoriums and gymnasiums, you do realize that it only travels 10-15 feet, right? So it doesn't reach what you're taking pictures of, slows down your picture-taking, and eats up your batteries. Turn it off!]

Everybody says my pictures look great (probably because there aren't washed-out subjects with harsh shadows!), and without the flash going off, people often don't even realize that I'm taking pictures.

People are always complaining about the time lag between pressing the shutter button and when the picture is actually taken with their cameras, but this camera is fast enough that it’s rarely a problem for me. It’s *extremely* fast if you prefocus your shots by pressing the shutter button half way before final composition and pressing the shutter button the rest of the way, as I usually do. I haven't read the manual (and I almost always read manuals, ALL of them, BEFORE using something new), but knowing how to basically use the Canon PowerShot cameras in the family, this Panasonic was so easy to learn and use that I'm now taking probably 20 or more shots for every one that my wife or a daughter takes with their cameras.

I love this camera!

p.s. I really don’t understand the editor’s bad review of this camera. I don’t agree, and neither do the reviews at steves-digicams.com; cameras.co.uk; t3.co.uk; or image-resource.com (look at reviews of the very similar LZ1 it replaced and its $50 list more expensive "brother," the LZ5Silver or blacK (6MP, larger LCD, records sound with video). If you shoot at 5MP in lower light levels and realize that you won't be able to make great-quality prints larger than 4x6 or 5x7 of those pictures only, considering its price and its features, there are extremely few cameras that can compare favorably. If you search a little, you'll find it now for as low as about $175 shipped.