The Panasonic FZ30 is a very capable and well built ultra-zoom camera. The FZ30 handles almost as well as an SLR camera thanks to its mechanical zoom ring and electronic focus ring. Unfortunately the Panasonic FZ30 is plagued by a limited dynamic range which causes clipping of highlights and shadow areas and higher than average noise levels at all ISO settings. The noise problems is less visible on small prints but there is no way around the limited dynamic range. Ultra-zoom cameras which take better pictures include the older Panasonic FZ20, Panasonic FZ5 and the Konica-Minolta Z5.