Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Panasonic LX3 Product Review
In this summer, carrying a DSLR is certainly a lot of toil (literally!) Hmm, the 10.1 mega-pixel LX3 feels sturdy and has a DSLR-like operation, can it help shed a few hundred grams from my bag? I am just as eager to find out as you are.
The package comes with a battery and a charger, a cap and a strap for it, 1 AV cable and a USB cable, a manual and CD-ROM. More heart-touching is the battery carrying case and a shoulder strap. Except a camera case, the package has all the accessories you will ever need.
The small hand grip is a trade-off of comfort for portability. I had to use both of my hands to get a stable shot.
It has a Leica lens! Highlight include: super wide 24mm end, 2.5X zoom to 60mm, large aperture across the range and the well-acclaimed VARIO-SUMMICRON design. Vignetting and distortion is kept to a minimum with a lot of sharpness. Two thumbs up for the lens!
Ouch! The pop-up flash hurt my finger several times because of the proximity between the flash and the button. If the built-in flash is not powerful enough, the camera has a hot shoe for an external TTL flash (optional). Panasonic has two models of external flash for purchase, both of them have the cool LUMIX label to match the LX3 design. The dial has C1 and C2 positions for saving your most common settings. The joystick is a brilliant design which allows users to change the exposure settings in P, A, S or M mode just by flipping the joystick. On top of the lens barrel is the switch for changing the aspect ratios of images without diving into the menus.
The zoom rocker feels a bit flimsy, but it doesn’t hinder operation one bit. Pressing the focus button allows you to control the focus point by moving the joystick.
This camera has a professional look and the moving parts (lens, flash) do not wobble easily. There is an extremely handy AF-Marco AF-MF switch on the left side of the barrel.
The camera produces a magnification in the centre of the image to make manual focus a lot easier.
In the menu, you may select one of the 7 modes of Auto Focus including Face Detection, Multi-area, 1-Area High-speed, 1-area AF, Spot AF, and Continuous AF. The menu is well-organized and all the common settings (white balance, ISO, Metering and AF…) are consolidated in one tab.
For image stabilization, LX3 uses Panasonic-brewed Mega O.I.S. This is the lens-shift type stabilization, not the more common CCD-Shift type developed by Minolta. Despite the drastic difference in how the two anti-shake technology works, the actual results are similar and both are great.
The multi-exposure mode allows you to “stack” up to 3 images onto the same frame. This task normally requires software like Photoshop to produce with an ordinary camera. The LX3 simplifies the process (considerably, I must say) by guiding the user step-by-step and optimizing the exposure.
We put a few unmodified (except resizing) sample shots to demonstrate the prowess of the LX3. This shot is taken in the multi-exposure mode, note how beautiful the effect is.
This marco shot is razor-sharp and is most noticeable in the eyes of the yellow toy.
Another marco shot, the texture is again very clear, but there is not much blurring effect in the out-of-focus area due to the physical length of the lens.
It is a great camera with DSLR-like operation and photo quality. The only regret is the very short tele-end of 60mm, which seriously limit the LX3’s application to landscape photography and perhaps some occasional portraits. However, the impeccable photo quality will fight back all your misgivings. Isn’t it?
Another Sample Pictures of Panasonic LX3 Marco
Full Size
Full Size
The package comes with a battery and a charger, a cap and a strap for it, 1 AV cable and a USB cable, a manual and CD-ROM. More heart-touching is the battery carrying case and a shoulder strap. Except a camera case, the package has all the accessories you will ever need.
The small hand grip is a trade-off of comfort for portability. I had to use both of my hands to get a stable shot.
It has a Leica lens! Highlight include: super wide 24mm end, 2.5X zoom to 60mm, large aperture across the range and the well-acclaimed VARIO-SUMMICRON design. Vignetting and distortion is kept to a minimum with a lot of sharpness. Two thumbs up for the lens!
Ouch! The pop-up flash hurt my finger several times because of the proximity between the flash and the button. If the built-in flash is not powerful enough, the camera has a hot shoe for an external TTL flash (optional). Panasonic has two models of external flash for purchase, both of them have the cool LUMIX label to match the LX3 design. The dial has C1 and C2 positions for saving your most common settings. The joystick is a brilliant design which allows users to change the exposure settings in P, A, S or M mode just by flipping the joystick. On top of the lens barrel is the switch for changing the aspect ratios of images without diving into the menus.
The zoom rocker feels a bit flimsy, but it doesn’t hinder operation one bit. Pressing the focus button allows you to control the focus point by moving the joystick.
This camera has a professional look and the moving parts (lens, flash) do not wobble easily. There is an extremely handy AF-Marco AF-MF switch on the left side of the barrel.
The camera produces a magnification in the centre of the image to make manual focus a lot easier.
In the menu, you may select one of the 7 modes of Auto Focus including Face Detection, Multi-area, 1-Area High-speed, 1-area AF, Spot AF, and Continuous AF. The menu is well-organized and all the common settings (white balance, ISO, Metering and AF…) are consolidated in one tab.
For image stabilization, LX3 uses Panasonic-brewed Mega O.I.S. This is the lens-shift type stabilization, not the more common CCD-Shift type developed by Minolta. Despite the drastic difference in how the two anti-shake technology works, the actual results are similar and both are great.
The multi-exposure mode allows you to “stack” up to 3 images onto the same frame. This task normally requires software like Photoshop to produce with an ordinary camera. The LX3 simplifies the process (considerably, I must say) by guiding the user step-by-step and optimizing the exposure.
We put a few unmodified (except resizing) sample shots to demonstrate the prowess of the LX3. This shot is taken in the multi-exposure mode, note how beautiful the effect is.
This marco shot is razor-sharp and is most noticeable in the eyes of the yellow toy.
Another marco shot, the texture is again very clear, but there is not much blurring effect in the out-of-focus area due to the physical length of the lens.
It is a great camera with DSLR-like operation and photo quality. The only regret is the very short tele-end of 60mm, which seriously limit the LX3’s application to landscape photography and perhaps some occasional portraits. However, the impeccable photo quality will fight back all your misgivings. Isn’t it?
Another Sample Pictures of Panasonic LX3 Marco
Full Size
Full Size
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