Out of specifications alone, the FZ50 has just about everything a high-end digital camera can offer. Given a 10 megapixels sensor, a 12X stabilized optical zoom, full manual controls, manual focus, manual white-balance and ISO sensitivities up to 1600, this camera is impressive. Its closest competitors, the Fuji Finepix S9000 and Fujifilm Finepix S9100, have wide-angle lenses but no stabilization. Additionally, the Panasonic FZ50 is solidly built and has good ergonomics. Handling of the Panasonic FZ50 is enhanced by a mechanically-linked zoom lens.

Unfortunately, the FZ50 suffers from high image noise. Not only is noise visible at all ISO settings but so are noise-reduction artifacts, including disturbing color bleeding. There is so much noise above ISO 400 that the results are nearly useless. Another major problem of this digital camera is its narrow dynamic range which frequently causes exposure clipping. At low-ISO settings, good small to medium size prints are possible.

Those looking for a high-resolution digital camera should look elsewhere. The FZ50's sensor is too noisy to produce quality prints in sizes expected from a 10 megapixels camera. Those looking for a full-featured camera can be quite content with the FZ50's ergonomics and speedy performance, as long as large prints are avoided. For a high-resolution and full-features camera, the 9 megapixels Fuji Finepix S9000 should be considered instead of this one. Although it lacks stabilization, its exceptional high-ISO performance compensates well for that. The S9000 has a 28-300mm mechanically-linked optical zoom, rather than 35-420, which is more useful for architecture, landscape and indoor photography.

In terms of value, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 finds itself between the excellent 6 megapixels Fuji Finepix S6000fd and an entry level DSLR such as the excellent 6 megapixels Pentax K100D. Although both these cameras only have 6 megapixels, they produce significantly better images, with a competitive feature set. Its just a matter of deciding wether spending less or more is the right choice. For economy and simplicity, go for the S6000fd, for performance and versatility go for the K100D.