He is :-)
I use a Lumix FZ38 and it is great. I chose it because:
a) I was on a low budget and you can pick them up for less than £200
b) I HAD to have something that shoots in RAW.
Also, I like the way Panasonic Lumix bridge cameras give you lots of control over white balance, shutter speed, aperture and focus.
If you are unlikely to be doing much (or any) post production, then your choices are much wider in the non RAW shooting category. The FZ45 is the next step up from my 38, it has slightly higher resolution (14MP I think) and 24 times optical zoom. The only disadvantage I could see with it is that it has a different battery from all its predecessors and you can only buy genuine Panasonic batteries for that model afaik. When I go out and do a lot of pic taking I can easily get through two batteries so I have four in total ! I bought 'after market' ones which were cheap.
Have a look here - this is where I got all my info before I went out to buy my one:
http://www.photographyblog.com/
Here's what they have to say about the FZ45:
http://www.photograph...umix_dmc_fz45_review/