for what it's worth, I have the Panasonic fz-50 (10mp) and the noise is an issue. very poor in low light situations.
as much as I like the camera, I would not recommend it for this reason alone.

I also have the canon sd400 (5mp) and while I am no pro, I would say it's image quality in low light is much better.

hope that's of some help.

-dan