Since about 2004 I've owned the Panasonic FZ-10, which is a 12X, 4MP.
I've had good results considering the relatively low megapixel count, so
I imagine the newer ones are even better. I have recently invested in a
Canon 40D and a Sigma 150-500mm f5-6.3 optically stabilized lens. I'm
still getting used to the lens, but so far I'm impressed by the results.
I bought the lens after reading many reviews with high ratings. It is
currently going for about $1000 on Amazon, which is quite a deal when
looking at the focal length. Yeah, it's a little slow aperture-wise, but
I'm happy... at least until the lure of something faster and pricier
overpowers me, or I can convince my wife of the altruistic nature of
owning high-priced optics. :-}

Hugh Jennings wrote:
> There has recently been a number of responses to a question about what
> photo equiment to use for taking photos of birds. All the responses
> have been about digiscoping with a spotting scope or buying an
> expensive DSLR setup with large lenses. One alternative that hasn't
> been mentioned is a Super Zoom digital camera. I earlier did
> digiscoping with a Nikon Coolpix 4600 and got some fairly good photos
> using a home made adapter. However, when I was going on a trip to
> Zambia last year, I did not want to carry my scope with me.
>
> So I investigated the super zoom digital cameras, i.e., those with
> optical zooms of 18x or higher. A couple of friends had the Panasonic
> FZ-18 cameras which they like very much and it produced quite good
> photos, even at 18x zoom while handheld. There are other super zooms
> also, but after looking at reviews on the web I bought the FZ-18 and I
> haven't been disappointed. It is an 8 megapixel camera which gets 18x
> optical zoom, if you go to 5 megapixels you can get 23x and at 3
> megapixels you get 28.7x optical zoom. It also has a 4x digital zoom
> which I seldom use. I only use the 8 mp setting if I take a photo I
> might want to print. I usually use 5mp setting and take a lot of
> photos at the 23x zoom and then successfully crop them further in the
> camera. Of course, you could even get sharper results if you mounted
> the camera on a tripod. However, the camera has a very effective
> jitter compensation setting. This camera weighs less than one pound
> and will fit in my jacket pocket even with the sun shade attached. I
> got my camera for about $350 last August. Panasonic has since come out
> with a 10 megapixel version, FZ-28. After seeing what my camera could
> do, a friend was convinced to buy one. He got one at a Costco in CA
> for less than $300.
>
> The following web site has a detailed review from last year on the
> FZ-18. I also have many photos available I could send if anyone wants
> to see some of the results. Most of my bird photos are taken with
> extended zoom.
>
> http://www.digicamhelp.com/topics/camera-logs/panasonic-fz18/
>
> Hugh Jennings
> Bellevue, WA
> h2ouzel AT comcast.net
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