Honey, My Camera is Broke - Not Really

I pulled out my TZ3 in the airplane, just in case there would be a good shot. The passenger next to me asks about the camera and as we talk, he mentions his camera is also a 10x camera. Turns out he has the TZ1, but he says the photos are nearly always blurry when he uses the zoom and he wants to buy a new camera. I said it must have been dropped, because I've seen a bunch of photos and videos from the TZ1 and they are every bit as good the TZ3. As we talked, I realized he most likely inadvertently switched off the Image Stabilization (IS). This explains why the wide angle shots are in focus, but the telephoto shots are blurry.

I'll never find out if this was the case, but neither will his wife (he said he wasn't going to tell her) , because it turns out all of his daughter's graduation photos were blurry - Ouch!!

For key events, professionals recommend you review a couple of photos on the camera's lcd, but zoom in on the lcd to a small section to ensure focus. Cheers, Kevin.