I agree completely - images that look really good on the little camera screen often turn out to be rather less so on the computer monitor. It seems that these cameras were crafted with two markets in mind: the instamatic crowd, who want acceptable holiday shots at the click of a button, and have plenty of money with which to impress the neighbours, and the people who seriously hope to take good photos, but can't afford an SLR. I had forgotten the camera had the direct printing function, but I definitely wouldn't try it. Like Christine, I have better things to do with my money than waste it on paper for the bin.
It should be remembered that the FZ50, and probably other, similar cameras, are quite capable of being set in the camera store to operate for all time completely automatically, to produce acceptable images in most conditions. Acceptable being extremely variable among different camera owners. You can also zoom out to 21x, but once you get there, you have just two megapixels. Not all the functions on this camera will be useful. Whereas if you go to a DSLR, most likely all functions will have their use.
For me, the real reason I like this camera is the sheer convenience - no need to change lenses, it's small and light, and it's capable of taking good photos. It has its drawbacks though, and one of these may prove to be low light. But as I live in Australia, I'm hoping that won't prove to be a problem - at least, not often.
__________________
Rose
|