Panasonic FZ7 vs. Canon S2 IS

[Anodyne]

<<First Post!>>
Looking for a compact ultrazoom to complement my Minolta Xt...

Budget: $300-400
Size: Would prefer more compact but since I have the Xt I don't need a 'pocket' camera.
Megapixels: 5 or 6 should be plenty.
Optical zoom: 6x min., 10x-12x great.
Image quality: Rate it a 7...doubt I'll enlarge pictures too often, but of course better is always better.
Manual controls: Not so important.
General useage: Vacation/holiday/family photos, also kids' sporting events.
Big prints: Occasionally but not often.
Indoor photos: Yes - this is my main complaint about my Minolta Xt, it has a terrible flash. It is basically useless indoors. The new camera must have a decent flash for photos in up to medium-sized rooms.
Sports/action: Yes - mainly kids' sports.
Brands: Like my Minolta except for the flash. My office has a Canon I use a lot for business (an A60) and I like it - not enough zoom though. Other than that no experience with other brands.
Brands in mind: I think I have it narrowed down to the Canon S2 IS or the Panasonic FZ7.
Other features: Image stabilization a must. AA batteries nice but not a deal-maker. Quality/reliability important as I will not buy another camera anytime soon. SD memory a must as I want to stay with the format I have.

Any real feedback on these two models? I have been reading a lot of reviews and it always seems to come down to these two...the Pana is a bit more compact (good) but the Canon uses AA batts (also good)...I read about noise problems with the Panas but also raves about the Leica lens...Canon has swivel LCD but that's not really a big deal to me...

I've also seen the pics of the new Pana TZ1..that would seem perfect except that the flash doesn't look like it will be powerful enough and I'm not sure I trust having only the LCD for framing.

Any advice would be appreciated...I can't seem to find any reviews or opinions that really sway me one way or another. I think I like the Pana better but I have had good experiences with the Canon at my office and no experience with Pana cameras...Wish I could find a website or article that had a direct comparison of the two!

[timmciglobal]

Might consider looking into a FZ-30 and ability to add a hotshoe flash..

Or add a few $ and pickup a refurb D50 and a telephoto lens. Both do pretty bad indoors and low light, I owed a FZ-5 while I loved it outdoors it sucked indoors. S2 is had alot of focus erroras indoors on the longer end of zoom when I tried it.


Tim

[Anodyne]

Errgh...too many options...I should say that I don't want to get into auxiliary flashes, lenses, etc. I do own an older Nikon SLR with external flash I could use if I really need those items, but I only load it up about once a year anymore. Digital is so much easier!

Maybe I overstated the flash, I do want a good flash for indoor shots, but maybe I'm overcompensating for the miserable one on my Xt. I went to my local Circuit City with an SD card to take sample photos for comparison. I wasn't able to test the FZ7 because the security cord prevents you from opening the memory/battery door. I was able to test the S2 and a Pana LZ5. The Canon's flash performance was obviously better (but I assume the FZ7 would outperform the LZ5 also, based on the size of the flash). To my eye the Canon's photo appeared sharper also, but again I was not able to directly compare to the FZ7.

I don't know if I would be using the long end of the zoom indoors all that much...I guess it is possible at school plays, indoor sports etc. When you say the FZ5 sucked indoors do you mean in flash and exposure or also in focusing?

Thanks for the response.

[timmciglobal]

The flash isn't at all useable in conjunction with the zoom. The flash range just isn't there.

I don't think either camera is useable indoors or low light really without flash and without being < 5 meters to subject.

Tim

[Anodyne]

I see that both cameras have a 1-year warranty...can I assume that the overall quality/reliability of these cameras is similar?

As I mentioned, I have some experience with Canon digitals but no experience with Panasonic. Part of me wants the Pana because I like the design and compactness better, but the Canon brand is more of a known quantity with me. The Panas are sold locally, but I can't say I've ever met anyone who uses one.