This is my third Lumix. We have a more expensive LX-2 -- top of the line in its time -- which is an excellent almost-pocketable camera. I also bought a cheaper FZ-28 for hiking, which is disappointingly noisy. This camera is /very/ nice for what it is. It's smaller than I expected, which is a good thing. It's also lighter than I expected. It's not a tank, like some of the Olympus cameras. [I'm neutral whether that is good or bad.] It tends to flare some since the lens is covered by a piece of flat glass with no sun shade, but as long as you watch where the sun is, that's not a big problem. I have gotten it wet while hiking but haven't yet taken it underwater. There are lots of YouTube videos from people who have. I expected the door for the battery and SD card to have some kind of lock on it (like the Sanyo waterproofs) so one doesn't accidentally open it underwater. If someone made a camera condom for this model, I'd probably use it just to cover the door. It exposure brackets only +/- 1 E.V.; I'd prefer 2 so I could shoot HDRs when the situation requires it.
But it takes _wonderful_ video. The raw video on a large screen television is gorgeous. It has a nice wide lens, adjusts focus and exposure quickly (and in small increments). I use AVCHD Lite with a Mac. The first time I used it as a videocam was at a dog show. I posted the results on YouTube under "Beck - Best of Breed." Most recently I shot "Moanalua Valley Trail - After the Rain" with it. I'm very pleased with its macro capability too. I bought the green color; it's subtle and doesn't look cheap or industrial. It's rugged enough that it gets used a lot. Although I bought a second battery, the battery for this camera is not a skinny little toy. I've never had an issue with the first battery running down but I tend not to use a flash.
I'd recommend this camera if you regularly do any kind of outdoor activities and take an extra second or two to see where the sun is relative to the camera. Get more detail about Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 12MP Digital Camera with 4.6x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Green).