In recent times I have been using a Panasonic Lumix FZ30 for my photographic work. Most of that has been snapshots and web photos. This bridge type camera is highly under-rated, in my experience. It has a 35-420 mm F2.8-3.5 equivalent lens with built in image stabilization, and the camera looks, feels and handles like an expensive digital SLR. My wife and daughter were so impressed with it we ended up with one apiece. The only flaw in the camera that people seem to talk about is sensor noise. The sensor is quite small, and there is some noise, especially when the ISO is raised for low light situations. This is not usually a problem, but it can be observed by pixel peeping.

I have been considering getting a Digital SLR recently so I would have more flexibility and better image quality. This has shown me just how impressive the Lumix really is. The whole Lumix (including the lens) cost less than a good dSLR lens.

So which dSLR to get? My old Minolta MD lenses won't fit anything, so I have no bias to start with. Canon has been the leader in dSLR's so I spent time reviewing the 30D. Friends have the 10D and 20D. Nice camera. Reviewed the lenses. Then widen the inquest. Review Nikon cameras and lenses, and some others. Nothing like 35-420mm which I have on the Lumix. I would like a good wide range zoom to carry all the time. Something in the 28-200 range. On a dSLR this translates to 18-135. Then I found the Nikon 18-200 image stabilized and ultrasonic focus. Amazing lens, equivalent to 28-300. Canon has nothing close to that. I researched the Nikon bodies and decided the D200 was my favorite. But both this body and lens were apparently made with unobtanium. While waiting and doing further research the Canon 40D came out. Then a couple of days later the Nikon D300. Wow.

Time to take a step back and review my plans. New Nikon D300 looks great, but won't be out till November. Realistically it may take a lot longer to get one. Price is really getting up there, too. The 18-200 lens is also hard to find. So I went back and reviewed the Nikon D40 and D40x. The 10 megapixel D40x is available with an 18-135, and the reviews are good and the price is reasonable. The D40 is six megapixels and available only with an 18-55mm zoom that for me doesn't have enough range, but it is a good package and very low price. Pro photographers like the D40 models a lot for their lightness and small size, often using them for carry cameras. The D40x is in many ways comparable to the larger more expensive D80. Maybe I'll start there..

I was going to get an 8GB SD card, but there are too many folks who have lost photos on them. A lot of photos. So I'll go with major brand 2G cards. Last thing we want to do is lose photos on a cheap card.

Purchased the camera last week (8/07) from B&H Photo. Good experience there. One small surprise that I had forgotten - the macro lens won't autofocus with this body. Not a major problem, it meters and works fine, just need to manually focus. Used the camera this last weekend on a club campout. Took about 300 photos. Primarily using 18-135 and SB-400 flash for some. Still learning the camera, but it worked well and the photos have very nice color and exposure using default settings.

My previous camera, the Lumix FZ30 looks and handles like a small SLR, but it does not have the SLR's flip up mirror et al. The viewfinder on that is a small LCD. The Panasonic is a good camera, small, light, and has 35-420 zoom, 8 megapixels, image stabilization and really great handling ergonomics. The color is a bit less vibrant, and the image noise is higher. The big difference is operational speed. The Panasonic is fast. The D40x is a lot faster. The D40x has a much better color display. The FZ30 display works all the time (live view) which is very useful. The FZ30 has an adjustable display. Very nice, you can take waist-level or overhead photos, or around corners. The zoom range on the FZ30 lens is fantastic, and it is F2.8 at the wide end. Amazing. Takes 2 lenses to get that focal length range on the D40x. The ergonomics and controls of the FZ30 are slightly better than the D40x. Better (more) controls. The D40x has a lot of controls buried in menus, so the Lumix edges it out there. The FZ30 does good video, the D40x does not.
So what is the bottom line? The D40x makes better images both color and noise-wise (also pixel count wise). The D40x has more lens flexibility. The D40x is faster. The D40x has a better display. The FZ30 includes video clips, is more portable, and a great deal less costly. To get roughly equivalent systems the D40x costs about 2-3 times as much, but the D40x system at that price has many more features. They are both great cameras!