I bought the Fuji F505/F550 EXR - nice camera to use, but soft in the corners and a lot of noise and noise reduction. Replaced it with a Nikon S9100 - POS as far as I'm concerned; couldn't focus at 18X no matter what the light, couldn't get anything other than a blurred, un-printable photos even at wide angle - likely the camera was not working right; I'm not sure. I don't think anyone would accept it's output; I sure hope it was defective.

So, I took a risk and ordered the ZS15 - no-one had even seen it at the time; it was an "unknown" - all I knew was that it had Panasonic's incredible Power OIS, which beats the cr@p out of any other IS system; and it had the same sensor as the FZ150 - which again, beat the cr@p out of any other current 12 mp sensor.

Well,... I am not disappointed. The pics are sharp, well exposed, and overall, infinitely better than the shite I was getting from the Nikon. Noise reduction is there, don't think you'll avoid it, but it's not an... Read more

Review: Panasonic Lumix ZS15 12.1 MP 16x Digital Camera Vs. Canon SX230 HS

(Please note: embedded images are not possible, so I've uploaded a few of the referenced images on Amazon separately.)

From left, the Panasonic ZS-15, Canon SX230, Sony HX5V, and a Pansonic ZR-3. There isn't a huge difference in envelope dimensions. Only the older ZR-3 is significantly slimmer.

From the back, the thin profile of the ZR-3 is easily discernible. Between the two primary subject cameras discussed here, the new ZS-15 and the SX230, there isn't enough difference to worry about.

Recently, I reviewed a battery of compact point and shoot genre digital cameras suitable for hunting and the outdoors. The losers were the Nikon S9100 for poor build quality, very poor video, and sounding like a tractor when you operate the zoom. Not a healthy tractor at that. The Sony HX7V exhibited truly sea-slug slow shooting performance. The middle of the road was taken up by a... Read more

I loved this camera right out of the box! I own mid-size digital SLR's and previous Panasonic pocket cameras. For my purposes, the Lumix DMC-ZS15 is the best of both worlds.

This P&S sports a distortion-free 24mm wide angle with an amazingly sharp 383mm zoom. The auto-focus is very responsive and works as one would hope. Image stabilization is accomplished through the lens and works well when shooting video, especially at long focal lengths. The Intelligent Auto Mode is a wonderful feature when you just want to shoot and move on. And yet, the manual controls offer excellent control when you need it. Low-light shooting is terrific.

Like with any new camera, you get use to the menu layout as you gain experience using it. Of course, reading the manual front-to-back serves as a necessary overview, plus there are neat features you would not otherwise know exist.

The video performance is excellent. As a professional filmmaker, I particularly appreciate the... Read more