I've gotten good results from my Lumix FZ-40. It's a nice pro-sumer P&S with some good manual features. I've had it for a year and haven't figured out how to do everything with it.
It's been a good camera for planespotting and I've also gotten some nice long-exposure shots out of it.
I teeter on the edge here between the far end of pro-sumer land and not wanting to pick up another $3500 hobby while at the same time wanting a bigger zoom and more control in some situations.