These are some of the information which I think might be useful:
1)Optical: 12x Digital: 4x (36mm* wide angle to 432mm* telephoto)
2)F2.8 brightness throughout event in the telephoto range.
3)Optical Image Stablizer(Mega OIS)
4)Shutter Speed:
8 - 1/2,000 sec.
5) Hotshoe for external flash unit
It produces satisfactory pictures for outdoor photography.However,when it comes to indoor.......simply CANNOT MAKE IT. Shooting with ISO 200, 400 produces visible noise.It's a well-known issue that lumix cameras have high signal to noise ratio. Although you can use tools like "Neat image" or "Helicon Filter" to remove those noise, that will compromise on the details of the photo. The hotshoe for non-TTL external flash tend to overexpose my subject most of the time.....need to "aga aga" the firing range. Hard to acheive perfect exposure.
last but not least, the OIS doesnt seems to be as steady as what they depicted in the TV commercial....anyway, it helps to counter minor shakes.
I bought my Lumix FZ20 for 480 SGD in Japan, not really sure how much they are selling here.
The specification:
http://panasonic.co.jp/pavc/global/lumix/fz20/specifications.html
The review :
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz20/
Cheers