Generally, some of the advantages of the Panasonic DMC-FZ2 compared to entry-level DSLR competitors include: it has image stabilization (lens vs none), is much smaller (prosumer size (114×70×83 mm) vs prosumer size (125×96×77 mm)) and is slightly lighter (350 g vs 505 g).
However, on average it records lower quality movies (320 x 240 @ 10fps vs 1080p @ 30fps), has a much smaller screen (1.5" vs 3"), has a much lower resolution screen (114k dots vs 921k dots), takes much lower resolution photos (1.9 MP vs 24.1 MP) and doesn't record movies in 24p.
Nikon D3200
8 years newer
$550 (body only)
Significant advantages of the D3200 (vs the DMC-FZ2)
- Much higher true resolution: 24.1 MP vs 1.9 MP
- Much larger screen: 3" vs 1.5"
- Much higher resolution screen: 921k dots vs 114k dots
Significant disadvantages of the D3200 (vs the DMC-FZ2)
- No image stabilization: None vs
- Lens
- Much larger: Prosumer size (125×96×77 mm) vs Prosumer size (114×70×83 mm)
common strengths of the D3200 and DMC-FZ2