We love a good bang for the buck, and at $299, the Panasonic / Lumix FZ28 is our Editor’s Pick for Budget Travel Camera. Of course there are always better cameras, but we’d be hard pressed to find one this good at this price.
Punching way above its weight class, the Panasonic Lumix FZ28, introduced late last year, is a bit of an unheralded star performer. First of all, it can be purchased for around $299 at Amazon, yet it shoots HD video (720P), has an 18x megazoom, Leica lense, and a plethora of options. Most importantly, it’s received rave reviews from 90% of its customers, as well as serious camera blogs such as cameralabs.com, letsgodigital.com and more.
We like it so much, we’re using the Lumix FZ28 on our upcoming trip to Malaysia and Cambodia. Why lug a $1,000 DSLR when you can have one of these bad boys? We’re impressed with specs of cameras in the $500 range to be sure, like the Canon Powersot SX1 and Sony DSC-HX1, both of which feature 1080P HD video, but In this tough economy, if excellent pictures and value is important to you, consider the Panasonic Lumix FZ28.
Where to Buy: Amazon, $299 and free shipping. Be sure to add-on the 16 GB Transcend SD memory along with memory reader for $44.
