Top 5 ‘Excuses’ To Choose Panasonic Lumix FZ28 As My New Toy

Yes! My final choice of digital camera for my travel is Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28! The decision made was not easy at all as I talked about my 5 finalists before that all have their individual strength and weaknesses (for travel purposes particularly). However, I made my life easier by first decided the shop of purchase. Selangor Photographer is a specialist photo shop in Pertama Complex, KL, which is ‘famous’ for its ‘understanding’ towards customers’ need: NEGOTIABLE PRICE! So, I would decide there for whichever the most value-for-money choice. Unsuprisingly, they offered attractive package price for all my 5 finalists:

1. Canon EOS 1000D – The least competitive package offer which comes with a 4GB SDHC and camera carrying case but is still selling at RRP of RM1999. So I started to convince myself not to choose it and concentrated on its weaknesses (for travel purposes) of bulkiness, sluggish live view composing over LCD, and… nothing much indeed. Oh yes, no operation manual included and it’s expensive. OK! At least 1 finalist’s out!
2. Panasonic Lumix FX38 – Their offer for this compact’s was slightly cheaper than the market’s: RM50 less but still comes  with 4GB SDHC, carrying case and mini tripod. However, the price was not convincing enough for my temptation and lack of P,A,S and M shooting mode (which I found useful and neccessary) meant I would rather choose SX110IS…;
3. Canon Powershot SX110IS – With their cheaper offer price of RM1050 with 4GB SDHC, case, tripod and 2 AA batteries (the only camera here that uses AA instead of Lithium Ion battery), it was hard to convince one not to choose it. What is lacking is indeed … not much… but is not a definite ‘no’. It’s a camera which you would not find any major deficiencies… and superiority either! 10x optical zoom is better than some but not the best in the range; Body size is quite compact but not the most compact; Looks good but not stunning…. It has shied away from me’
4. Nikon Coolpix P80 – It is the most value-for-money model in my list: offerred price of RM1200 with 4GB, case and tripod. It has the stunning 18x optical zoom lens, full manual control of P,S,A,M, Nikon trademarked of perfect colur tone, stylish design and the most compact bridge camera in the market except…. it was out of stock in the whole market for 2 months! They said I could wait for a month to ‘see’ if there is any new stock coming, which I couldn’t! So, I have to convince myself again for its shortfalls in features of such as Auto-focus tracking and unable to shoot RAW! It was out!
5. Panasonic Lumix FZ28 – Tang Tang Tang Tang! Here comes the winner! Though it is not the best value-for-money option on offer, apart from P80 (on paper only as no stock available!), Fz28 is the second best value-for-money I could get from this shop: RM1350 c/w 4GB SDHC, carrying case, mini tripod and UV filter lens! It has all things and features that I could think of: 18x zoom, RAW+JPEG shooting, fully customisable shooting mode, flexible composing options, stylish, LEICA distortion free lens, also comes with lens hood, rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries, lens cap, strap, with optional lens converter adapter for wide angle or telephoto converter lenses. For this kind of value, Panasonic Lumix Fz28 is unbeatable with its price except some could still criticize its puny 1/2.33″ CCD sensor, relatively bulky for travelling, too big to hide it inside pocket and less vibrant color tone (it shoots the least vivid image among this group of 5 cameras).

For me, the advantages of Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 are more than enough to compromise on its deficiencies. Moreover, with a price of RM200 more than compact’s and RM650 less than DSLR, it finally won my heart effortlessly. I decided to grab it for good sake! While I’m typing out this post with my right hand, my left hand is already holding my new toy Fz28. The countdown to my Shanghai vacation trip continues. 🙂 – Travel Feeder.

About The Author

Cecil Lee

The author is an avid traveler and photography hobbyist who loves to share with others his travel and photo-taking experience in many popular tourist destinations around Europe, Asia and Australasia. Read the exciting stories with many photos captured on his journeys.