I predict that Panasonic will come out with the Lumix FZ60 sometime in June. This camera will have all of the UI niceties of the FZ50, it will be between 12-16MP, and will have dramatically increased picture quality. It may also have a feature where it shows the distance that focus is optimized for in the viewfinder. It probably won't also list "depth of field" range in the viewfinder.


How do I know this? I finally gave in and ordered and FZ50 from Abe's of Maine today. $52 + $100 for a 0.5x wide angle and a 2x telephoto adapter. Shipping would have been $20, second day air was $40. I wasn't willing to spend $60 for next day air, so I won't see it until next week. :( If I were weak a day sooner, I'd be able to play with it this weekend.


In my research I did find out that the Olympus FL50 and FL36 flashes are the same as, and cheaper than, the Panasonic FL360 and FL500 flashes.


I now need to sell off a bunch of camera equipment. I recently acquired a bunch of Nikon 35mm stuff, which is very nice, but doesn't have enough advantages over my Minolta gear, and the focus and f-stop work backwards from Minolta, which I've been using for 33 years. Since I'm NOT going to sell my SRT-101 (which I got for my Bar Mitzvah), I'll sell off the Nikon stuff.


It's funny, for about 30 years I dreamed of having Nikon cameras. Now that I've got them, I'm selling them off.


I also need to sell off my FZ20. maybe zabster or dalloftheabove want to make me an offer?


While I'm selling off photo equipment, I've got a really nice color enlarger that in reality, I'll never use again. I really like working in the darkroom, but now you can get better results by scanning the negatives or slides and using the GIMP.


