WOW! It’s LX5! Longed for upgrading their camera, many LX3 users must be very glad that Panasonic has finally launched the superb LX5! As a prosumer product with upgraded interface and technical specifications, LX5 will definitely be attractive to both high end photo enthusiasts and snapshot lovers.
Don’t waste time. Let’s check out what are in the box. You will find the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5, a battery pack, a battery charger, a set of cables, a CD-ROM and a user guide.
As we say, the LX5 has pretty much upgrades than LX3 . Panasonic has really taken consumers’ comments into account. It comes with not just black in colour but also a white one which is lovable to female users. Also, its enhanced thicker body and anti-slip plastic make it more comfortable when gripping. The redesigned LX5 uses a CCD sensor which gives sharper and brighter images. But on the other hand, the 10.1 MP remains unchanged, and there’s also the built-in flashlight at the top left corner.
When it comes to the screen, in fact there’s not much upgrades. It is still a 3-inches one with 460k dot resolution, even less competitive than the others. But it still got some slight improvement compared with LX3 : LED backlight, and anti-reflection screen surface.
At the top there is the top plate dial, power key, zoom and shoot button and the newly added video key for you to shoot video by one tap! When we talk about shooting video with LX5, it has got a really evolutionary upgrade. LX5 changes from Motion Jpeg to AVCHD Lite in terms of video format, in which videos will occupy less space and that means you can shoot more and more videos! Most importantly, LX5 supports P/S/A/M manual video shooting function and enables zooming while shooting. You can also make your movie with the Creative Movie Mode and Film Simulation Modes!
Can you spot out any change of LX5 from this photo? Right, the mini “joystick” is removed and the G-series wheel is used in LX5 instead. A small change. A great upgrade.
The ratio dial is kept in LX5 for users to choose the picture ratio. But when you look carefully, you will know the 1:1 ratio is added beside the standard 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9.
The focus dial has got no change as Autofocus (AF), Auto macro-focus and Manual focus (MF) are available for users to switch between focuses quickly.
You may wonder how the lens of LX5 is. It is a LEICA CD VARIO-SUMMICRON 24-90mm one with f/2.0-3.3. And for optical zoom, LX5 has done a greater job by upgrading to 3.8x wide zoom at maximum resolution. You may also choose a 4.5x zoom at 7MP, 5.4x zoom at 5MP, or 6.7x at <3MP. All are optically stabilized to help prevent image blur.
Well, to sum up, LX5 has really got much improvement even though some are slight, and all are more user-friendly upgrades. With features of 24-90mm f/2.0 and other new functions like intelligent Auto (iA) mode, and My Color with 23 scene modes, LX5 does sounds very attractive to both professionals and snapshot lovers. But as there are more and more competitors (like Sony NEX) in the market, LX5 may not be as outstanding as
LX3 did two years ago. Users would need some more time to figure out what they actually want.
