Hiya,
I really like Lumix cameras... particularly the compacts. I think the one you're looking at is great but could it be a bit professional-looking because of the lens? If you think it may be a problem here are a couple of alternatives...
I use a Canon s-90 when I just want to bung a compact in my pocket and not take all my SLR gear. It's great as it's really small but has all the PASM functionality of an SLR. Plus it has a massive aperture - meaning it'll be good for low light at gigs. The only downside is the zoom isn't brilliant if you're not at the front of the gig... about a 3.8x I think. It's got much more digital zoom - but I'd never use that as it really starts playing around with the image quality.
Alternatively you could stick with Lumix and look at something like a T7. Good picture quality and zoom that's up to about a 12x optical.
(Although I had a T5 and I don't think it did that great in low-light).
Maybe head down to a local camera shop and ask to try out a few different models...?
Posted: 2010-06-18 14:58:16