Now, it wasn't one of my original choices, but I made my decision. I just paid for a used FZ-300 for US $346.50 (the current new price at my brick & mortar store is $499.99).
On the face of it, the FZ-300 doesn't give me more zoom range than I have (600mm equivalent focal length with the Panasonic 100-300mm lens), but for a vacation camera, it can allow me to ditch the camera bag with two bodies and at least 3 lenses (12-40mm, 14-150mm, and 100-300mm). Sure, there are times when I will take the big gear, but there are other times, when I want to go back to just having a single camera with no extra lenses.
After posting my initial query, I found I kept coming back to the FZ-80, primarily because of the touch screen. I find with my recent cameras, that using the touch screen to set the focus point to be really helpful, particularly when the camera is on a tripod or monopod. But as I dug through the various reviews and postings in the Panasonic Compact Forum, one theme kept coming back. The FZ-300 was a much better camera than the FZ-80 (sure the FZ-1000 is better than both, but it is more expensive, and it only goes to 400mm equivalent). But of course the FZ-300 'only' had a range of 25-600mm while the FZ-80 had the range '20-1200'. But the FZ-300 is like the Stylus-1 in that it has a f/2.8 constant aperture lens, while the FZ-80 (and the B500, B700, P900, etc.) went down to f/6.x at the long end. This means you can only use the camera in good light at full zoom.
So as I looked into the FZ-300, I discovered the FZ-300 has a feature my G85 and E-m1 don't seem to have. It has an extended optical zoom. If you change the picture setting from the normal 12 megapixels to either 8 megapixels or 3 megapixels, if you enable the extended optical zoom, it will allow you zoom further as the camera crops picture to the smaller size. Sure, you can do this in post processing (and in fact that's what I did in my previous trip), I would find it useful to have the camera do it automatically, so that I can properly frame the shot as I take it. If I set the picture to 8 megapixels, it would give me the equivalent focal length of about 750mm. If I set the picture 3 megapixels, it would give me roughly 1,170mm equivalent focal length. Given most of my pictures are web only, and I only print the occasional 8x10 calendar or 4x6 photo, I don't really need the extra megapixels.
Another factor is the FZ-300 and the Fuji S1 are just about the only super zoom cameras that are splash proof. As somebody who seems to get a lot of vacation days with some amount of rain, I appreciate cameras that I don't have to carry a plastic bag to protect the little dear from getting wet. My E-m1/G85 laugh in the face of rain, and now the FZ-300 will join them.
One thing that initially drew me to the Nikon B-500 was it used AA batteries, while the B-700 and P-900 used yet another battery type. I have plenty of rechargeable AA batteries from my flashes, and from previous use of my C-2100UZ and SP-550UZ cameras. The FZ-300 uses the same batteries that my G85 uses. While it is a minor thing, I find having several different cameras, each with different batteries means I have to have a collection of batteries and chargers for my trip.
Another thing that I started thinking of is I'm used to the Olympus color signature and method of doing things, and in the last year and a quarter, I've been adapting to the Panasonic signature and method as well. I would prefer not having to learn the Nikon, Canon, or Fuji method as well.
One other thing for extreme zoom, is you can attach a teleconverter to the FZ300. I have a Tcon-17 from many years ago. I ordered a cheap DMW-LA7 to be able to mount the Tcon. From what I've read, the original Tcon-17 isn't that great on the FZ-300 (it was much better on the previous FZ-200), but I figured it might be useful to play with it.
Though with my last 3 cameras (G-85, LX-10, and now FZ-300) and my last lens (100-300mm mark II) being Panasonic, it does sadden me that Olympus hasn't put out anything recently that would tempt me. I fear that Olympus is getting into a mold where they are only producing high end, high $$$ bodies (E-m1 mark III) or low end bodies that have a lot of the useful features removed (E-m10 mark III), and there seems to be nothing in the middle to tempt people like me that are beyond the beginner camera, but may not have the budget to drop $2k on cameras and $1+k on lenses each year. Sure Panasonic is putting out the high spec bodies (G9, GH5s) and Leica lenses, but they are also putting out more moderate offerings as well. And in the context of this forum, they are still putting out fixed lens bodies in various price points.
