Over the past seven years I’ve owned three different Canon digital cameras, upgrading as each camera reached its limit in terms of current features. Actually I probably would’ve held off for another year if my trusty SD800 hadn’t broken.

In the past I’ve considered Panasonic but with my last two purchases my familiarity with the Canon functions/operations stopped me from trying a Panasonic. Another factor that has attracted me to Panasonic has been the Leica lens. When making this most recent purchase decision I compared the DMC-FS15 to comparable Canons. The main difference was the price with the Panasonic Lumix’s being significantly less expensive.

I decided to finally give Panasonic a chance. The Lumix has not disappointed. I’ve taken two weeks worth of photos while on my family vacation. I took a variety of photos during the day and night and with a lot of movement (i.e. my family at Disney World). I really like how well the FS15 takes pictures without my needing to adjust settings. At the same time it still has a multitude of manual and other automatic settings that come in handy. For me the 5x Optical Zoom and the wide angle lens were the main selling points. I considered the Lumix ZS3 for its 12x wide angle zoom but decided that for my purposes the 5x would suffice.

There are only three things that I do not like about the FS15. First it does not use a standard USB cable, so I might be in trouble if I ever forget to pack the cable or lose it. Also the extra batteries are on the pricey side and it seems (based on internet reviews) that there are issues with 3rd party batteries. The other annoyance is the manner in which one switches the camera to movie mode. With the Canon it was turn a flick of the dial. With the Lumix, you’ve got to press the mode button, scroll down to movie, and select. This can be problematic if you want to capture a video right away. However despite these minor issues I still really like the FS15. Based on my picture current experience with the FS15 I can highly recommend it. Plus the price on Amazon is great!

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