There is an in-depht review of the Panny FZ50 and a large gallery (including some bird-shots) here:
http://dpreview.com/
As far as Leica is concerned, I did some comparision shots with FZ50 and V-Lux1 and the outcome is that I ordered an FZ50 plus a Raynox 2.2x Converter (for birding shots).....
Best regards
Werner

PS: here you can compare Canon D30 and Panny FZ50 birding shots side by side: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aftab/

Enjoy it Werner. :D

You know what I like best of all about my FZ50 for birds? The silence. After I've silenced all the cute little 'pips' the camera makes, I can even put the shutter on silent mode - so I get more than one shot, the bird doesn't hear the first one. I did find it a little disconcerting at first, because I was so accustomed to a noisy shutter - but now I love it even for people, because it doesn't draw attention.

I was about to get a TCON17 for FZ30 before my computer crash. Now I've spent too much in electronics to spend on optics until after xmas. The TCON17 is said to be a must have for birding with the FZ series. Though when you're at 700mm equivalent zoom you''ll need a tripod.

When I bought the FZ30 back in June, I was about to purchase a DSLR (I'd actually transfered money from one account to another) then I saw the photos on WAB using the FZ30 and had a drastic rethink. Why buy a DSLR - well you do that to swap lens, but the FZ goes from 35mm to 420mm, and it does macro with the Raynox attachment.

For 25 years I've carted about a bag full of lens and other equipment for my SLR. One shoulder is now several inches lower than the other as a result and I swear I walk lopesided as a result. But mainly the stuff in the bag stayed in the bag, and laterly the bag was left in the boot of the car. When the equipment was carted about, by the time you'd switched lens the moment had passed anyway. So basically all that equipment, at least for me, was hardly ever used, I just stuck with the 70-210mm tameron zoom and a doubler.

So I checked what others were getting in macros, birds, landscapes, and portraits with the FZ and decided to get that instead. Now undoubtedly a prime lens is going to be far better than a zoom, but then you need a 28mm, 50mm, 105mm or 135mm macro, 200mm, 300mm or 400mm lens. Which is a lot of optics and a lot of weight. to cart about. So unless you've got a spare golf cart, you end up sticking a general purpose zoom on the front of it which sort of defeats the purpose of a SLR.

Just my opinion :p

AlanM,

I bought an FZ50 about a month ago, upgrading from an FZ10. Panasonic has made a lot of improvements between these two models. Like you, I was looking for a relatively light and compact digital camera that at least gave me a chance to take half way decent bird photos. So far, I'd give the FZ50 a grade of "B". I've taken some OK photos with it, but still fight shutter/autofocus lag (too many shots with the bird's head turned away, or an empty perch). Low light photography definitely results in noisy images. Also, I'm having a problem getting autofocused images of birds against backgrounds--the camera wants to focus on the background rather than the bird, despite using the spot focus mode--which I hope is a matter of technique or settings rather than an inherent problem. Manual focus is almost worthless in this situation, I find.

The good news: it's a pretty capable camera with a lot of nice features. The image stabilization helps a lot. Most of my shots have been handheld at maximum telephoto (12x), and a reasonably high percentage don't exhibit blur. It's certainly a more practical--and cheaper--travel camera than an SLR with a 400mm lens. For the price, I think it's worth a try. You just need to accept that you won't get the autofocus speed, sharpness, and lack of noise that a Canon EOS offers.

How about the new Olympus 410/510. E-510 has IS. Small with great telephoto possibilities.

It was the Olympus E500 that I was going to get before deciding on the Panasonic after reading reviews that there were few macro lens alternatives other than those provided by Olympus.

Olympus 35mm f3.5, Olympus 50mm f2, Sigma 105mm f2.8, Sigma 150mm f2.8 extension tube for nearly all the rest. I use 35mm and extension tube on 40-150. The E510 is not available until June but I may get one spec looks good. Live view is useful for macro although I use an Angle finder with 2x magnification.:)

Unless you have a firm reason for pana or any other camera, I would strongly second the excellent suggestion of Christine for Canon S3. I don't say that just because I am a Canonist, but for about $350 this camera won't stop to amaze you for long time to go. Has all features you want including IS, long sharp diamond quality optical zoom, versatile capabilities both auto and fully over ridden manual. I suggest you look at some of these first moon shots taken by S3 to judge for yourself.

LINK

BTW where is USA are you leaving that you don't need a personal car??! You must be either in Pittsburgh or Boston... Well no mater what, have fun and don't forget there is no 60s or earlier guy around who has switched to digital and has had a second thought.

My wife has had some very good results using FZ7 for birding pics, so I'd imagine Z50 would be better. However, good light is needed as quality fades after ISO100 (although ISO200 can be acceptable). Remember that even with that great zoom on the Pana, wou will still need to get relatively close to the bird - if it's small bins, it'll be small in camera.