OT: Panasonic Lumix FZ5 Review?

[atelier7]

Hello all,

I know its digital, and an slr design? but it bears the venerable leica name that many here aspire to... Was wondering if anyone here has an opinion on it?
It may seem strange to ask this here, but I do so precisely because you all enjoy rangefinders and appreciate the difference using an RF camera makes. I would like to know if this is a worthy alternative camera to an RF user? Should we be hoping they will make an RF version of something like this?

 

[JoeFriday]

I've got the FZ20, which is nearly the same unit

my take on it is that the photos are outstanding.. the final images blow away my Nikon D70 (DSLR).. the Lumix is smaller, lighter and less expensive.. I use it for about 80% of my digital work, especially when I'm going to be carrying it a while and don't know what situations I'll be running into.. and the zoom range has to be seen to be appreciated.. you won't believe how well the built-in stability (anti-shake) works when you've zoomed out to 432mm

now for the cons.. the LCD is nice and big, but there's that inherent delay that will annoy the hell out of any RF user.. you have the option of using the EVF (Electronic Viewfinder), but that has the same issue.. and the shutter delay is about a half second, so that compounds the frustration.. this is not a camera for trying to capture action shots, or kids at play.. that's where my D70 outperforms the Lumix.. also, the regeneration time between shots with the Lumix is about 3 seconds, as opposed to about a half a second with the Nikon

the other con is the battery life, but that is about the same as any other digital camera

apparently the FZ5 can be found for under $400, which makes it possibly the best deal on a digital camera on the planet.. if you can live with the delays, I highly recommend you pick one up.. be sure to get a 1gb card at the same time, tho.. and a card reader is a good idea.. otherwise, you'll be wearing down the battery every time you hook the camera up to your computer to download images

and speaking of images.. here's a couple shots I took to test the near/far details.. I owned it about a half hour at the time