Panasonic LS2 - any thoughts?

[bazzanoid]

Hi all,

My old folks are buying me a new digital camera since the last once exploded on itself (well it was over 7 years old, only 1.3MP), and have asked me which one i would like, with a budget of around $250 max as i need to get extra cards etc as well in preparation for my WDW trip).

I've seen the Panasonic LS2 both online and at one of my local retailers, and since cameras are normally released over in the US sooner than here in teh UK (only been out a week or so), i was wondering if anybody owned or tested one and had some thoughts on it?

http://www.panasonic.co.uk/digital-cameras/dmcls2bs/index.htm

Cheers all!

Barry

 

[bazzanoid]

*bump*

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Don't mean to ignore you, there aren't too many Panasonic users here. Most of them are not super-active users. In general they are okay camera, but I think most users here use Canon, Nikon, Fuji and Kodak. (I can't believe I just typed the word 'Kodak', it gives me the heebie-jeebies)

 

[bazzanoid]

I've got the camera today - had a fiddle and i'm pretty impressed by the quality - there's a ton of pre-configured settings for different scenes, like snow, fireworks, baby, sports, portrait, soft, etc. No viewfinder though, only the LCD display, nice and light, uses Mega OIS for the best possible blur-free pics... once i've taken a few i'll post them in this thread!

 

[Kelly Grannell]

COngratulations on your camera purchase... now have fun!

 

[bsbkmacgowan]

I guess I'm one of the not-so-active ones, then!

I don't have the LS2... (which is why I didn't respond originally - sorry!) - but I do have a Panasonic Lumix (FZ1) that I love (although I do want to "kick it up a notch" soon to a larger megapixel Lumix model.) For now, though, the FZ1 still fits my needs - I mostly shoot for digital scrapbooking as well as slideshows for church, etc. - but a higher megapixel model would definitely help out (allowing for more cropping and zoom-in room, if nothing else!)

I find that I tend to wait awhile before I buy the camera I really want... I look at the various online reviews, then when the price drops to my comfort zone, I usually order one or go pick it up somewhere. The reason I was sold on the FZ1 was I read about a National Geographic photographer that used that same model as his "carry-along" camera. His pro friends could hardly believe the 8x10s he showed them had come from that 2-megapixel camera... it has a great lens that makes all the difference!

I don't know how the LS2 compares to the FZ line... but enjoy your new camera!

(I just realized that I bought my Lumix 2 years ago this week - wow! Hey, it's my anniversary! Yeah, it's about time to start looking for a new one and let Brian start to use this one!)

Sandy (and Brian, Bonnie & Kellie, too!)

 

[manning]

You're right. Lots of megapixels aren't everything. I have a canon G1 3mp that takes great pictures. Matter of fact packing lots of pixels into small CCDs doesn't help. It can muddy the water.