Hi,
just incase anyone might be interested but I have ordered a Panasonic FZ2 digital camera from www.ukdigital.co.uk for £149. This camera is only 2mp but it has a very nice Leica 12x zoom which is f2.8 all the way through and the lense has built in Image stabilisation. This camera as far as I can see usually retails for approx £300 (google searched brough this up). The camera specs are
Panasonic DCM FZ2
Lens
LEICA DC Vario Elmarit, 13 elements in 8 groups
Aperture
F2.8 (Wide to Tele)
Zoom
Optical :12?
Focal Distance
f=4.6 - 55.2mm
Focusing Area
Normal:wide:30cm/tele:120cm - Infinity Macro /Simple/ A/S: wide 5cm/Tele 120cm-infinity
Camera Effective Pixels
2.0 Megapixels
Image Sensor
1/3.2", 2.11 Total Megapixel CCD, Primary colour filter
Focus
Auto Focus System, Normal/Macro (dial), Spot AF On/Off (Spot Mode)
ISO Sensitivity
Auto/50/100/200/400
White Balance
Auto/Daylight/Cloudy/Halogen/White Set White Balance Adjustment (300K Step, -1500 -+1500 K)
Exposure
Auto (Program AE), Scene Mode, Aperture Priority AE, Shutter Priority AE
Exposure Compensation
1/3 EV Step, -2-+2EV
Auto (AE) Bracketing
1/3 EV, -1 EV step, 3 frames
Light metering
Intelligent Multiple/Spot (spot mode)
Scene Mode
Simple, P/A/S mode, macro, portrait, sports, planning, night portrait, moving image
Shutter speed
8-1/2,000 sec
Self timer
10sec/2sec
Picture Adjustment
Natural, Standard, Vivid
Colour Effect Mode
Cool, Warm, Black and White
Recording Image Size
1600*1200 pixels, 1280*960 pixels, 640*480 pixels, 320*240 pixels (Motion Images)
Image Quality
Fine/Standard
Motion Images
10 fps (320*240 pixels) max. recording time depends on Memory Card Capacity
Burst Shooting Mode
Full resolution image, 4 frames/sec, max. 4 frames (fine mode)/7frames(standard mode)
Still Image rec. with Audio
5 sec.
Audio Dubbing
max.10 sec.
Built-in flash
Yes
Viewfinder
Colour EVF (adjustable)
LCD Monitor
1.5" Polycrystalline TFT LCD, Display(114 000pixels),Adjustable brightness (?3 steps)
Recording Media
SD Memory Card, Multimedia Card
Microphone
Yes
Speaker
Yes
Interface
DC Input, A/V Output, USB
Power
Li-lon Battery Pack(7.2V,680mAh), Battery Charger/AC Adapter (input:110-240V AC) (included)
Dimensions (approx)
114(W)*70.3(H)*83.3(D) mm - not including protruding Parts
Weight
318g(body), 350g with Memory Card and Battery Pack
Standard Accessories
Battery Charger/AC Adaptor, Battery Pack, SD Memory Card(8MB), Lens Cap, Lens Hood, Lens Hood Adaptor, A/V Cable, USB Connection Cable, Strap, CD-Rom (SD Viewer for DSC, ArcSoft Photobase, ArcSoft Photoimpression, Arcsoft Panaroma Maker, USB Drive