How about a constant f/2.8 24-600 lens?

[jcuknz]

Latest news from Panasonic the FZ200 with that lens and other goodies. I read at dpreview.

[Black Pearl]

It's a brave move and good luck to them - in a market that is pushing the boundaries in focal length to keep yours short (relatively at least) but improve its performance might be a hard sell.
I flog these things day in day out and pretty much every customer wants an upgrade because they want more zoom. It appeals more to me as I find the output from current Bridge Cameras a bit rough at times but it will sink or swim on the back of it's marketing campaign.

[rpcrowe]

I am very impressed with the Leica Branded lens on my dedicated Panasonic HDC-TM900 video camera and if the FZ200 lens quality id anywhere near that, it whould be quite good.

The constant f/2.8 on a lens of this focal range is quite impressive. Most super zoom lenses have variable apertures which stp down a the point where yu need the utmost shutter speed: the telephoto end.

The ~12MP resolution seems qute reasonable for a camera with a sensor of this size.

A 25mm wide end would suit my needs just fine. My 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens is plenty wide enough for most of my shooting and... a 600mm long end WOW!

It has an eye level viewfinder which, if it works as touted, would be nice for me since I am an advocate of eye-level viewing and would not use a camera with only LCD viewing.

Sure, the camera is not as small as many photographers would wish for but, it is cetainly not a large or heavy package. Considering that you would not need to carry additional lenses, the total package for this camera would be pretty light weight.

I have been of the opinion that many photographers may just be "overgunned" in their choice of cameras for their uses. If you use your camera for posting on the Internet, sending shots of the kiddies or Rover the dog to the grandparents and occasionally printing 4x6" prints at the photo counter of a discount store; you really don't need a top end camera along with several lenses.

Will I buy one, highy unlikely but, would I recommend one to someone who is not a dedicated photographer? Depending on the image quality and the quality of the electronic viewfinder; I probably would. (BTW: the quality of the electronic viewfinder in my HDC TM900 is excellent). Given decent quality, this camera has virtually all the bells and whistes most non-dedicated photographers would ever need.