Bridge Cameras: Compare features & prices Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 review http://www.which.co.uk/technology/photography/reviews/bridge-cameras/panasonic-lumix-dmc-fz150/review/

I bought this to replace my FZ30 about 10 months ago. (The FZ30 worked fine but the higher resolution and bigger zoom range of the FZ150 seemed an advantage). I'm very satisfied with the quality of the pictures it takes and can't think of anything more I would want from a still camera except GPS. (There is a Sony of similar spec with GPS but the reviews made me select the Panasonic). I don't need the gimmics like face recognition and modes like 'stary night' don't do what I hoped for. I aways use the RAW mode in case I need to get the last grain of quality so imagine my annoyance when I discover they have changed the format to what they call RW2 and I can't open it in my Editor (Elements 7). There are ways around this but they are convoluted and time-wasting. The software on the accompanying disc is not up to much as it doesn't let you save processed RAW files in TIF. (However the free Scarab Darkroom is a better alternative). Video quality is excellent but in the default mode it hides the files on the memory card and they are in a format that nothing on my PC could handle. I found that by going through the 'setup' process I could change the recording format to MP4 and doesn't hide them. I can now see what I've taken with Media Player after installing a free set of codecs. (But although the picture is OK on my wife's 4-year-old Vista laptop the sound breaks up and is total crap). The camera itself isn't as well built as the FZ30, which had a lovely zoom ring on the lens barrel. The zoom control on the shutter release is coarse and although it's supposed to have coarse and fine control it doesn't work in practice. There is a rotating switch to adjust aperture and exposure and when you want to set them manually you have to press the switch in to toggle from exposure to aperture and this is a frustrating fiddle and nearly painful on the end of the thumb. The final thing is the lens hood. It is so tight to clip into place properly that it takes an act of faith to twist it the last 20 degrees. I also discovered that you can't put the lens hood on back-to-front securely so it will go easily into the camera case. I won't have this trouble any more though because it fell off after a couple of months somewhere in North Devon.Dispite my criticisms above, the FZ150 is still a very good camera.

Sold my FZ 45 to buy this and although it is easier to operate the picture quality is not as good. It lacks definition, of the FZ45 , with shots looking a little fuzzy at times. Decide to sell and move on to the DSLR range and has put me off the Panasonic options even though my last 3 cameras have been Panasonic. All in all a disappointment I,m sad to say.