Opinion: I was actually a little worried before I had it in my own hands. I heard many complaints about it's jumpy, hard to control zoom. But first of all, you must remember that this is not a DSLR, even though it has a zooming ring (and it turns into the oposit direction). Do not expect it to react like one. Treat it as it's meant to, and it will do just fine! (especially after the firmware update). It's still one of the fastest cameras regarding zooming and focusing in it's class. Great feel, easy to operate and great image quality