Daily Giz Wiz 722: Panasonic Lumix LX3

Episode 722 of the podcast

Subject:	Review of Panasonic Lumix LX3
Released:	Tuesday 16 December 2008
Length:	about 23 minutes
Download file:	dgw0722.mp3 (10.7 MB)

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Detailed information

Leo finally gave something to Jennifer which she loved, but sadly she has lost it, but Leo may well buy her another one.  It's the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3, a compact camera.  It's at the high end of compact/point-and-shoot cameras.  Instead of simply upping the pixel count meaninglessly on a tiny CCD sensor common in compacts, Panasonic has decided to stay at a decent 10 MP, but on a larger CCD sensor, which means less noise, especially for high ISO images.  Available in silver and black.

The Leica lens range is 24mm to 60mm (35mm equivalent), which is very wide, with a small sacrifice of the zoom range.  It offers 3 aspect ratios - 16:9, 4:3 and 3:2, but all shot with the same angle of view.  Image stabilisation is by way of lens shift technology.  The lens is a very fast lens for a compact, with aperture values from F2.0-F8.0 at the wide end, and F2.8-F8.0 at the telephoto end.  On the back is a 3" LCD screen, but no view finder (although an expensive view-finder accessory is available).  Supports RAW and JPG.  ISO values from ISO 80 to ISO 3200, with an additional high sensitivity mode (1600-6400).  Has an off-axis pop-up flash, with AF Assist Lamp.  Takes movies at resolutions up to 720p at 24 fps.  It also has a hot shoe for add-ons, such as a flash or viewfinder.

The combination of a fast lens and image stabilisation means you need resort to high ISO values less often, but if required, high ISO performance is better than most cameras in this category due to the larger CCD size and the resulting lower noise, outperforming the Canon G10 and Nikon Coolpix P6000 at ISO 400.

A real advance from the first sub-$1,000 consumer digital camera, the Casio QV10 (Episode 15).

For a detailed review of the camera, see Digital Photography Review.  For Scott Bourne's mini review, go to TWiPPhoto.

(source: insidedgw.vox.com)