the thing FOR it is dat it has a nice bright lens... with constant aperture... and stabalisation...
BUT it realli is on the LARGE size of things compared to other ultra zoom camera's...
U can check out the other ultrazoom camera's like the olympus c-740, c-750,
Fuji s5000, Minolta Dimage z1....
Also, remember to budget for accesories too.... like memory ($$$ 100+),
tripod (cheap/good = 30+ ), small camera bag ( $30 ), dry box??? , etc....