Great camera with a lot of features!

I did quite a bit of research on this camera before I purchased it. At the time, there were only a handful of cameras out there that had 'super zoom' features at a reasonable price. I was very surprised to find this one (with 12x optical zoom) for under $300. I also wanted at least 6MP, video capabilities, USB connectivity, a large LCD display, expandable memory (via SD cards) and a rechargeable battery. The FZ7 delivers all of this as well as being incredibly easy to use, FAST and takes great pictures. It even came with features I didn't know I needed (image stabilization, digital zoom) but don't think I could live without now.

Now I'm a beginner photographer at best. ;-) But this camera was so easy to use, intuitive, that soon after receiving it, I was able to take some very good quality photographs. And that's even after not fully understanding everything it can do! I've also taken some pretty good macro shots and video as well (I tossed the included 16mb SD card and went with a 2GB SD.)

The battery life on this is amazing. It just goes and goes. Like most people, I probably only take a few pictures every 10 minutes (at beast) when I'm out. This camera has a very nice power save feature that turns the camera 'off' or in standby mode after about 30 seconds of inactivity (I believe this is configurable.) I've actually left it powered on before and have come back days later to a fully charged battery. Let me tell you, this was a great relief the first time it happened!

There are better reviews here with much more detail than I'm providing, but this camera won't disappoint!