I use this as a companion to my Canon 1200 EOS rather than a long range telephoto lens; The zoom and definition is amazing; At around 360g it's way lighter than a DSLR with 700+mm lens; As a camcorder it's probably the best value on the market; Packed with features and capability.
The menu isn't the most intuitive for a beginner but once one starts to explore it it quickly becomes familiar; As a last resort it's always possible to do a factory reset and start again; A larger screen would be nice but that would require a larger body.