Customer Reviews:
 Excellent compact December 21, 2008
I have only had the LX3 for a couple of weeks and so far it performs as advertised. I especially like the opportunities the wider-than-usual lens offers. Image Quality is at least as good as my other P&S cameras from Canon and Sony, but at this point I really can't say it's any better. Much better value than it's Leica relative. Good, solid feel suggests excellent construction and reliability. I'm quite happy with this camera based on initial results. I do wish there was a good, reasonably-priced auto flash available.
 Integrated lens cap or f2.0, you pick. December 21, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
After years of searching for a "perfect" point-and-shoot to complement my other heavier gear, I think I have finally found a close approximation of THE solution. I am not going to go through the usual pros and cons of this machine, as most have already been covered by other reviews. I just want to touch upon the issue of the much hated separate lens cap.
Yes, I do hate to deal with a separate lens cap, tethered or not. It was not clear to me but once I saw the camera I understood why Panasonic had this "overlook." Well, it was not an overlook, it was an unfortunate design compromise. And the key term here is "f2.0".
This is their flagship point-and-shoot, so they can't use a smaller sensor. To draw enough light onto that sensor to create f2.0 they need some lens real estate. If you look at the lens barrel (the smallest section of the telescopic mechanism), you'll see that the lens actually goes almost all the way to the edge of the barrel. Now take another P&S camera with an integrated lens cover and see how it works and ask yourself, where and how could you integrate a lens cover in LX3 to cover the entire area of the lens?
Sure they can make the barrel thicker, but that will directly impact the overall size of the camera. And I thought we wanted this thing to be quasi-pocketable. Given the current form factor, I won't say integrating a lens cap is impossible but it would certainly take some major innovation.
Another side effect of this large lens is that the mounting hole for the tripod has to be pushed to the side, another victim of f2.0.
So, it all boils down to this. If you want a fast lens in a pocket P&S, you can't have that integrated lens cover. You can't even mount your tripod at the center of the camera. Well that's just too bad. Sure, people have different priorities, but my money goes to the fast lens. I'll live with the lens cap, for now.
PS. I have seen an external integrated lens cover for LX3 made by a third-party. It looks like a pizza cut into three pieces that get pushed open by the lens when extended. Pretty clever idea but very ugly in my opinion. It looks like a cannon popping out from an ambush. I'll stick to my lens cap and risk losing it.
New Firmware makes a great camera greater December 21, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Panasonic has just released new firmware v1.1 on 12/15/2008, which adds these improvements to the great LX3:
1. Compatibility update for the DMW-FL220 flash unit.
2. Improved auto white balance performance.
3. Improved auto focus performance.
I love the LX3. When I go on vacation, I take the LX3 along with the TZ5, and I'm all set. In good lighting, the LX3 takes pictures that can compare to a DSLR. They're stunning. Even in low light, the pictures are still excellent. This camera is perfect for the person that wants a somewhat compact camera that has manual controls, and takes much better pictures than any point and shoot.
Fantastic! Wide, fast lens and great low-light performance. December 21, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's great to see a company focus on actually improving an existing product rather than just bumping up specs in an attempt to sell more cameras, introducing issues such as increased noise that come with cramming additional pixels onto a small sensor.
The LX2 was a great camera and the LX3 is an excellent evolution of this design. I went to look at the Canon G9 / G10 as well as a few Nikon point-and-shoots while shopping for a camera of this feature set.
What really sold me was the wider lens, better low-light performance and HD video capabilities. This camera also has an excellent form factor that can actually fit in a loose jeans pocket. (It's no ultra-slim camera by any means, but when compared to the G10 it's definitely more pocket-able. The P6000 is about the same as an LX3.)
The lens is fast at f/2.0 and pictures look great from ISO 80-400. ISO800 is okay but beyond that, you had best be prepared for some grain.
The only thing that bugs me is that the lens cap comes of a bit too easily. I don't terribly mind using a lens cap -- I'm used to it on an SLR -- but if it stayed on a bit more securely, that would be great. Not enough to reduce my overall rating, however. I highly recommend this camera if you're looking for a great camera with a variety of available accessories that can do all the things this camera can do.
Excellent camera December 13, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I've had the camera about one week and it meets the expectations I had from reading many reviews. I have not had an issue with the lens cap; I use the strap and put it on the left side of the camera and then cup the cap in my hand while I shoot. It actually kept me from dropping the camera once. The picture quality is really outstanding and am having fun with the dynamic B/W. Would recommend this to anyone who wants more than a simple point and shoot but doesn't want to lug an SLR around.
|
