Panasonic DMC-FZ150K 12.1 MP Digital Camera with CMOS Sensor and 24x Optical Zoom (Black),5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Camera, November 14, 2011

After the first few days with this camera I am extremely impressed.

This is an early review, so I have tested the following:

Casual portraits - Produce great pictures. The auto-focus and flash work well and respond quickly. There is almost no shutter lag so no need to lock the focus with a half press of the shutter.

Long zoom - When I had my first chance to use the camera it was already dark so for a quick test I went outside, pointed the camera at the moon, zoomed all the way, adjusted the brightness 3 full stops and from a standing position with no support took a great picture of the moon. There is surprising detail in the light and dark areas and even at 24x no adverse blurring effects of a hand held fully zoomed photo. Later I took several daylight photos with fully extended zoom and was again impressed with the quality of the photos as well as the image stabilization at long zoom.

1080 video - This is one of the primary reasons I chose this camera. When travelling I no longer carry a video camera, I take all my videos with a digital camera. The early reviews of this camera suggested it excels at HD video and I can confirm it does. The video & audio are both great, and so far I have not detected any noise caused by zooming while recording.

Slow Motion video - Another feature that led me to this camera. I have now shot several high speed / slow motion videos and am very happy with the results. It performs as well as I need it to for this feature. The quality is as good as you expect for the lower resolution captured in HS mode. The camera is probably average in this category. There is only one HS mode available and the resolution is OK but not great, also you are shooting over 200fps so do not expect to use this in low light conditions. Note that you access this feature through the Scene Mode (SCN).

Burst mode - This is amazingly fast, 12 full resolution frames in a second. It will burst as long as you hold down the button up to the maximum number 12 at the fastest rate. This works better than other cameras I have used. A great option for fast action.

3D photos - Am interesting feature. I am not sure I will use this but I took a few to see how it works. The process to take 3D photos is to switch to SCN mode, pick 3D, and then hold down the shutter as you slide the camera to the right. It took a little practice to be able to do this reliably. You need a 3D TV to playback the photos in 3D.

I will post more later when I have had more time with the camera.