This camera falls into what has come to be known as the ‘prosumer’ category, offering many of the features of larger and more complex cameras in a compact format. Panasonic have now established themselves as one of the leading makers of compacts and offer a wide range of different cameras to suit various tastes and budgets. Does this top of the ‘stylish compact’ range live up to the billing, with it’s wide range of features?
Panasonic feel their cameras offer something different to their competition and notably all of their models feature Leica lenses. The LX3 is equipped with a 24mm f/2.0 Leica Summicron lens and offers a relatively modest 2.5 x optical zoom, which I found a bit limiting but I would assume this keeps the size and weight of the camera down. This gives an equivalent of 24mm at the widest to an unimpressive 60mm at the telephoto end. I would imagine this is where this camera will lose sales to many of its rivals, as many equivalent models offer a longer focal length. Speaking of weight, the camera weighs only 290g and is small enough to fit in the users pocket, providing you leave the tight jeans on the hanger.
Kulturhuset, Stockholm taken by Rafa Torcida
Inside the camera, there is a 1/1.63 inch sensor with a resolution of 10.1 Mp, which is about average. in today’s high end compact market. As you would expect, the LX3 takes SD or SDHC memory cards and has a lithium ion rechargeable cell included.
Physically, I was immediately impressed with the build quality – the LX3 is a very well screwed together product. The controls are logically laid out and I particularly liked the wheel on the top of the camera for selecting the different exposure modes, which I much prefer to having to navigate through menus.
On the lens itself, there is a switch for selecting aspect ratio allowing the choice of 3:2, 16:9 or 4:3. There is also a switch to allow quick change of focussing mode from AF to manual and Macro. I don’t imagine many users selecting MF but it’s nice to know it’s there if you need it.
London Naked Bike Ride taken by Ian Brumpton
On the rear of the camera, there are a couple of buttons, the most important being a small joystick which allows access to the Q-Menu (more on this shortly) and which controls either focus, aperture or shutter speed, depending on the exposure mode you are shooting in. It’s easy to use, simply select your exposure mode, using the wheel on top of the camera and you have control of aperture, shutter speed or exposure compensation value using the joystick. If you enter manual focus mode, the same joystick is used to focus the camera, with the centre of the screen becoming enlarged to allow easier focussing.
The Q-Menu is a very useful feature allowing quick and easy access to some of the LX3’s most commonly used features. It is very simple to change basics such as white balance, resolution, ISO and focussing modes. The Q-Menu is a nice touch as it can be frustrating trying to get to these adjustments on some cameras.
Transit spatio-temporel by Frederic Giet
The camera has a built in flash, which pops up out of the body and is ready for use pretty quickly. The LX3 also sees the addition of a hot shoe, so an external (and better) quality flash gun can be used. I’m not sure how many users are likely to take advantage of this but it also doubles up as the means of mounting an optionally available external viewfinder, which I would find extremely useful, especially in high ambient light situations, where you simply cannot see the LCD screen.
PERFORMANCE
In all exposure modes, I was extremely impressed with the performance of this camera. It takes great shots in its iA (‘Intelligent Auto’) mode, which – in theory – chooses the best exposure mode for the shot, by working out what exactly you are trying to photograph. This feature can be manually overridden and you can manually select the scene most appropriate for your shot. I, however, was quite happy to shoot in the normal ‘automatic’ mode and the camera did a great job.
I think the most notable feature of shots taken with the LX3 is how natural they look and I would say they are well above the average for a good compact. Light metering is always accurate (for a compact) and the camera renders details well and colour fairly accurately.
AZZO vuoi? by Luca Napoli
Like most compacts, it was, without doubt, happiest in situations with good ambient light levels but it also worked well at higher ISOs. The performance of the inbuilt flash was acceptable when called upon but typically was quite poor at anything more than close range. The fact an external flash can be added would certainly be a massive help for this type of shot.
Shooting pictures in RAW format is another one of the advantages of the LX3 and allows greater creative control in post processing and helps cement its place as a serious ‘prosumer’ compact.
You can get some pretty amazing shots with this little camera and everybody I have spoken to who owns this camera is impressed with it.
SUMMARY
From the travel photographer’s perspective, this camera would undoubtedly be a good buy, with its compact size and high performance. I must admit though, I did find it a tad on the bulky side but not heavy, as the lens sticks out of the front. I used to own an LX2 and whilst this camera is without doubt better, I still find it a bit large. I have been using a DMC-TZ5 for about a year now and it is a very impressive piece of kit. I would say its size suits me better and I cannot fault the performance, although it would be nice to be able to shoot in RAW. That said, if LX3 camera is to be your only travel camera or it is taken in preference to something large, such as a DSLR, then it will fulfil your needs and you will be delighted with the quality of shots it takes. The range of creative options and build quality make this camera a serious contender in the high end compact market. Recommended.
Nick Morrow, August 2009
Nick Morrow runs a successful home entertainment business in central Scotland and is a keen amateur photographer. He travels regularly and will be working with me on a project that will see us follow Celtic Football Club through the 2009/10 season. He shoots exlusively with Leica M series equipment. You can view a wider selection of his photographs at his Flickr page www.flickr.com/photos/endofcity