I will mention the decline in the first place. Despite an increase in the order of 5 to 8 megapixels, image quality has not improved much. New 8-megapixel Panasonic chips is quite noisy (equivalent to "grain" in film cameras) and in general the images do not look much better in a print size as the old camera of 5 megapixels. This does not mean that the photos are unacceptable - they are good, in fact, accept for the images taken in low light - but if you have a 5 megapixel camera, you should not rush to buy a 8-megapixel and we expect great improvements. The details of the shooting, however, is very good.
With that out of the way, almost everything else about the camera has improved somewhat quite incredulous. Panasonic really feels like to hear your response to the client and fixed at the most disliked.
The camera is a bit larger than the FZ20, so it is quite strong - bigger than some SLR cameras, in fact, despite a digital SLR with a comparable goal would be much greater. Nor is the light, about a pound and a half. This means it is easy to adjust and maintain, but is far from a pocket camera.
The lens is brand new and, unlike in the FZ20, does not retract or move during focusing or zooming - all the movement is internal. This means that the unit is much more closed and solid feeling, and contributes to faster boot times commendable. Unlike the previous model, the zoom is done with a ring around the lens as a traditional camera, instead of a motor and a switch. This takes a little getting used to, if you have been using most digital cameras, but soon becomes second nature and much faster than the engine. In manual focus mode, the lens can be focused with another lens mounted ring. The screen shows a zoomed-in area to help manual focus, and I found this feature very useful.
The zoom range of 35-420mm (equiv. 35mm), which is almost identical to the anterior chamber and provides a wide range of 12x. This gives telephoto reach as much as possible to keep on hand and get a clear picture, even with image stabilization. If you want more information, Panasonic sells an additional lens to reach more, but I advise a tripod. It is more likely that the desire of wide-angle, in my opinion, and a conversion lens is available for that.
Unlike the anterior chamber, the target has a constant F2.8 aperture, but gives f2.8 at the wide end and F3.7 at the long end. This is still very good, clearly, a compromise had to be done.
In general, the construction feels much more solid and high quality as the FZ20. The grip is also improved, with much deeper and easier to maintain, and location of the shutter button is improved. The FZ20 always felt a little fragile, and this camera does not.
The LCD screen is much improved and is now a folding model spin, which means it can be folded inward to protect, or bent down to see from above, or (with a twist) below. This is a very useful feature, making it easy to shoot over crowds or have a more natural children, pets, etc. I think the style sideways-flipping is a bit easier to use than this lower, but this is still very good, and a solid upgrade.
The menus and the operation seems little has changed since the FZ20, and are good. The flash seems better than most, and do not wash things with people close either.
Although I do not use film mode almost nothing, I think from reading the manual that the movie mode here is much better than the FZ20, and can produce at full speed VGA quality videos short duration. For more than short clips of their children, I'd recommend a film camera instead.
In conclusion, it is a high quality camera at the moment is the king of the mega-zoom, the market sets the camera lens. The images are as good or better than others on the market, and the solid "real camera" ergonomics, ease of use and the FZ30 is now unbeatable. It works and feels like a very high quality piece of equipment, and do not think you can get a better "all-in-one" camera of money at this time.
You have to understand, however, that the commitments are made to get the 12x zoom range in a camera. If you do not need all that telephoto lens, you could buy a digital SLR entry-level for very little money, although the kit lens comes with will be much lower than the mega-zoom Panasonic lumix FZ30 Leica, chip digital SLR camera image produced higher quality images, especially in low light.
If you have the FZ20, it's worth the upgrade? No, if you want to upgrade the image quality, yes, if you want a much more solidly built, ergonomically satisfying camera. It is worth the money? In the end, depends on you, but I advise going to a store and management of one, you may fall in love with him, is that good.