Yes, it's old. So, shoot me. I've got a day job, after all.

And, talk about the danger of dithering. I've been trying for ages to decide between a Panasonic FZ30 and a Nikon D50 with the 18-200 lens. The Panasonic's half the price and has a Leica-designed (i.e. a darn fine) lens that goes from 35 to 420mm. Can't knock that. But, according to an awful lot of reviews, it's got a bit of a noise problem anywhere above ISO 80, and even there it sometimes seems to be noisier than others. The D50 also has a darn fine lens (if you buy the 18-200, that is) and no noise until you hit ISO 800. But, it's twice the price. And I'm not making money off this thing.

I've looked at test shots from both, and the Panasonic's sharper. And, most of the time, I don't really see a big noise problem. And, given that when I shot film I only used Kodachrome 25 (i.e ISO 25), ISO 80 is high speed to me, I decided I could live with the Panasonic. Yep - I'd finally decided. So, what do I read today? That it's been discontinued! Sure, there are still plenty around, so I could get one, but...what's going to replace it? An FZ40, with better noise characteristics? Agh!

Well, given Panasonic's history, any replacement for the FZ30 will likely be announced in a little over a month, so I guess I'll just have to dither a little bit longer. Shouldn't be too hard.