To me this camera seems to be built to take one two specific goals and I would argue that it accomplishes them excellently.

The first goal is to make it possible to avoid buying and carrying about an SLR. My Nikon 35mm SLR camera that I used in the 90s came with a 50mm lens and I had another 28mm for wide angle shots and a 70-280mm telephoto - plus a flash and a tripod to hold it steady. This camera replaces all of that, fits comfortably in a coat pocket and, if I am honest, takes better pictures. If you are a perfectionist about lens quality, CCD build and manual control capabilities then you will want to stay with an SLR but if you would rather have a camera to take everywhere then this would be a great choice. The determining factor, for me, is a killer combination of a 10x optical zoom, wide angle capability and anti-shake technology.

The second goal is about being a worth competitor to line up against a range of excellent models made by Canon and Nikon. I think Panasonic have managed to pull this off against long odds thanks to their ability to combine a compact, good quality 10x zoom into an overall decent camera for a reasonable price.