My criteria were a digital camera which wasn't flimsy, had a decent zoom, good range of functions and the ability to point-and-shoot if needed. I also needed the memory card to be easily compatible with other media e.g. PDA or laptop. The TZ5 has met all of these criteria, and very well, too. If you play with the features you can get some advanced effects and different contrasts and exposures for different conditions, but it's just as effective in 'easy' mode where you can just point and shoot. A decent memory card is needed (e.g. 1GB+) if you want to take loads of pics, as the in-built memory only houses 3 photos! I would definitely recommend, this is a great everyday camera with enough advanced features to make it interesting.

My friends had told me how good the Lumix was for ages, so when it was time to dip into the world of digital photography I took their advice - and I'm glad I did. its really easy to use, got all kinds of things to play with and the pictures are really sharp.