Portrait I know the FZ20 has a portrait setting, but can still remember from my old 35 mm SLR camera days that the best lens to use for portraits is a 135 mm lens. What would the same zoom setting be on a digital camera?

You're trying for what's called a narrow depth-of-field (DoF).

DoF is controlled by three factors: the aperture of the lens, distance to the subject, and the focal length of the lens. This has nothing to do with any particular design, it's simply physics.

The wider the aperture (smaller the f/number), the narrower the DoF. The A1200 does not have an Av mode which would let you control the aperture directly. However, it does have a Portrait mode, which is supposed to give you a wider aperture.

The closer you are to the subject, the narrower the DoF. This suggests that you get as close to the subject as practicable. However, in general you don't want to get too close for portraits as this tends to exaggerate certain facial features, like making noses look bigger.

The longer the focal length of the lens, the narrower the DoF. This suggests that you back away and zoom in. Yes, this conflicts with the previous paragraph.

Unfortunately, it's the actual focal length of the lens that matters here, not the "35mm equivalent" often quoted in the spces. The lens on the A1200 zooms from 5mm to 20mm. Landscape photographers like to use 24mm lenses on their 35mm cameras because that gives them practically infinite depth-of-field, from the flower in the foreground to the mountains in the background. The lens on your camera is shorter than that, so you're going to have a hard time blurring portrait backgrounds.

The best I can recommend is to put the camera into Portrait mode, put as much distance as possible between the subject and the background, get as close to the subject as possible, and zoom in to the longest focal length you have (remembering that the last two are in conflict).

You can't. The Portrait mode, like all the other point&shoot modes, are automatic. The camera controls most functions, like exposure metering, auto-focus mode, and white-balance. If you want control over the camera, you'll have to use one of the PSAM modes.

To take a picture in portrait mode, you just have to turn the camera 90 degrees. When you view the pics, the camera will automatically make the picture upright for viewing but it will still be a portrait.

Try eBay or Craigslist. Shutterbug magazine may also provide some reliable sources

That would depend on several factors. I'll assume that, since you asked this question, you don't want to read a lot of technical stuff about apertures and shutter speeds and so on.

If you want to use the flash, use either the Auto or Night Portrait modes.

If you don't want to use the flash, use either the Auto or Portrait modes and turn off the flash.

There are several different lenses that are commonly used for portrait photography with this camera. I need more information to tell which one would be "best" for you, but these are all excellent choices:

85 mm f/1.2 (many portrait photographers prefer this lens)
24-70 f/2.8 (I own and love this lens)
24-105 f/4 - a great all-purpose lens that also works well for portraits

I can help more if you can tell me what lenses you already have, and what you will be shooting in addition to portraits.

I would recommend the 17-35mm f2.8D ED-IF rather than the G series

Program Auto (Factory default setting) Program Auto mode is used for regular photography. The camera automatically makes the settings for natural color balance. Other functions, such as the flash mode and metering, can be adjusted manually. Portrait Portrait mode is suitable for taking a portrait-style picture of a person. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. Landscape + Portrait Landscape + Portrait mode is suitable for taking photos which include both your subject and the landscape. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. Landscape Landscape mode is suitable for taking pictures of landscapes and other outdoor scenes. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. Night scene Night scene mode is suitable for shooting pictures in the evening or at night. The camera sets a slower shutter speed than is used in normal shooting. If you take a picture of a street at night in any other mode, the lack of brightness will result in a dark picture with only dots of light showing. In this mode, the true appearance of the street is captured. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. If you use the flash, you can take pictures of both your subject and the night background. Indoor Indoor mode enables you to take pictures while indoors by allowing the flash to reach farther away. Beach & Snow Beach & Snow mode enables you to take pictures of scenery containing white sand or snow. Cuisine Cuisine mode enables you to take pictures of food by increasing the saturation, sharpness and contrast settings to take sharp, vivid pictures of the subject. Self-portrait Self-portrait mode enables you to take a picture of yourself while holding the camera. Point the lens towards yourself, and the focus will be locked on you. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. The zoom is fixed in the wide position and cannot be changed. QuickTime Movie QuickTime Movie mode lets you record movies with sound. The focus and zoom are locked. If the distance to the subject changes, the focus may be compromised.

What is the best situation to use each of the shooting modes? The shooting modes are described as follows: Program Auto (Factory default setting) Program Auto mode is used for regular photography. The camera automatically makes the settings for natural color balance. Other functions, such as the flash mode and metering, can be adjusted manually. Portrait Portrait mode is suitable for taking a portrait-style picture of a person. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. Landscape + Portrait Landscape + Portrait mode is suitable for taking photos which include both your subject and the landscape. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. Landscape Landscape mode is suitable for taking pictures of landscapes and other outdoor scenes. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. Night scene Night scene mode is suitable for shooting pictures in the evening or at night. The camera sets a slower shutter speed than is used in normal shooting. If you take a picture of a street at night in any other mode, the lack of brightness will result in a dark picture with only dots of light showing. In this mode, the true appearance of the street is captured. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. If you use the flash, you can take pictures of both your subject and the night background. Self-portrait Self-portrait mode enables you to take a picture of yourself while holding the camera. Point the lens towards yourself, and the focus will be locked on you. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. The zoom is fixed in the wide position and cannot be changed. QuickTime Movie QuickTime Movie mode lets you record movies with sound. The focus and zoom are locked. If the distance to the subject changes, the focus may be compromised.

The shooting modes are described as follows: PROGRAM AUTO (Factory default setting) Program Auto mode is used for regular photography. The camera automatically makes the settings for natural color balance. Other functions, such as the flash mode and metering, can be adjusted manually. Portrait Portrait mode is suitable for taking a portrait-style picture of a person. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. Landscape Landscape mode is suitable for taking pictures of landscapes and other outdoor scenes. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. Night scene Night scene mode is suitable for shooting pictures in the evening or at night. The camera sets a slower shutter speed than is used in normal shooting. If you take a picture of a street at night in any other mode, the lack of brightness will result in a dark picture with only dots of light showing. In this mode, the true appearance of the street is captured. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. If you use the flash, you can take pictures of both your subject and the night background. Self-portrait Self-portrait mode enables you to take a picture of yourself while holding the camera. Point the lens towards yourself, and the focus will be locked on you. The camera automatically sets the optimal shooting conditions. The zoom is fixed in the wide position and cannot be changed. QuickTime Movie QuickTime Movie mode lets you record movies. The focus and zoom are locked. If the distance to the subject changes, the focus may be compromised.