What's Not to Like?!

If you are looking for a little pocket or purse camera with a reasonably long zoom and image stabilization, you have only a few choices, all from Panasonic: the LZ2 (5MP), the 4MP LZ1 and the stylish FX9. I purchased the LZ2 as a second camera. It comes with a 6x optical and 4x digital zoom. It also comes with very effective image stabilization - a must, in my opinion, for eliminating the jitters and blurs of long zoom shots. My primary camera is the LZs' big brother, the Lumix FZ20, a "near DSLR" with 12x optical zoom which I am very happy with. But I found myself wanting the larger camera's key features (long zoom and image stabilization) in a pocket size package. At first I assumed there was no such thing; I almost purchased another brand with much less optical zoom and no image stabilization. Fortunately I discovered that Panasonic made the little 6x LZ's. I am giddy with the results. Shots are sharp and quick. Worth mentioning here are the intuitive controls and menu's that make this camera easy to learn to use. Other notable pluses: Long battery life from just two AA cells. In "Simple Mode" (the beginner mode) it snaps remarkably good shots from tight macro to long zoom. The LZ2 has many "scene" choices that are easy to select such as Sport, Portrait, Party, Night, etc. The price is worth mentioning too. The street price is unexpectedly low. This camera does not take the place of "near" or real DSLR's as it lacks some manual controls and very low light shooting is a modest challenge (as it is on most digital cameras short of a DSLR). But for pocket convenience, sharp long shots, speed (it is quick, quick, quick), and quality build, I could not find a competitor at any price. Have fun with it!