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Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 Review (x2)

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Posted by Patrick on Sep 21, 2008 in Cameras, Reviews

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I’ll admit, I’m on the Panasonic LX3 bandwagon. If for nothing else, I love the f/2.0-f/2.8 24-60mm Leica lens, something appealing about fast, wide glass on a compact. But the LX3 packs other very neat features into it’s slick but old-school body, like the ability to shoot 720p HD video, built in optical image stabilization, a 460k 3 inch LCD, and most prominently a larger 1/1.63 10.1 megapixel CCD sensor. How does it add up? Well 2 reviews this week help (maybe, kind of?) point the way.

First up we had DigitalCameraInfo.com’s review which unfortunately had this to say about the LX3:

It’s a camera we want to love: if it cost less we would be more forgiving of the mediocre test results. But for $500, we expect something better, and as much we admire the aesthetics, feel and control offered by the LX3, it costs too much and performs too poorly.

-DigitalCameraInfo.com

Ok, that sounds bad. Pretty bad. But let me run you through the review: They liked the looks, scores well on color accuracy, average on resolution, “average” on dynamic range (though outscoring the Canon G9 and Nikon Coolpix 5100), AWB performed better than average (not so with presets though), and the LX3 outscored every camera on noise:

The LX3 scored above average in the area of the tests, and managed to prevent passing 2% noise until ISO 1600. There is a significant jump in noise at ISO 3200 but once again, this is to be expected.

The Lumix LX3 did well in this test; scoring above every camera we compared it with. It outdistanced the Canon, Nikon and Samsung significantly in noise levels, a performance we’ve come to expect from the Lumix line. This means that if you’re using this camera, and you manually choose the best ISO for your situation, you can expect your images to be comparatively low on noise, which makes for cleaner, better looking pictures.

-DigitalCameraInfo.com

To summarize the rest: the LX3 is scores average on too many tests to justify the cost. What’s missing for me is any real world analysis of image quality. But there is another review…

PhotoReview has also put the LX3 through its paces. There’s a nice feature run through, then finally, some real feedback:

Shots taken with the test camera contained plenty of detail and appeared sharp to the corners of the frame. The dynamic range recorded in outdoor shots was substantially wider than average for a small-sensor digicam. Colours appeared natural and saturation was well-controlled in JPEG images. Metering and autofocusing were fast and accurate across a wide range of shooting conditions and subject types, although a few focusing problems were encountered with close subjects in dim indoor lighting.

-PhotoReview

That sounds good, exactly what I was hoping to hear. After all, I’m only buying the camera because:

I like the lens
I like the styling
720p video
and image quality

Thus far, it’s a mixed bag. I’ll have to wait for further reviews to make up my mind.

Read the DigitalCameraInfo.com review here.
Read the PhotoReview review here.

The Panasonic LX3 is available at:
Amazon:Panasonic DMC-LX3S 10.1MP Digital Camera $479.95
B and H: Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 Digital Camera $459.95
Adorama: Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 Digital Camera $479.95

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