Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 | Take Great Pictures

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3

Fast, Wide and Spectacular - by Jon Sienkiewicz

Article rating: 8.53

Just exactly how many exciting features can you pack into a camera that’s small enough to slip into your jacket pocket? Panasonic broke all records by squeezing more versatility and capability into their new Lumix DMC-LX3 than anyone thought imaginable. At the same time they managed to keep the camera small—small enough that you’ll carry it with you everywhere you go.

Everything starts with the lens

The Lumix DMC-LX3 has an ultra-wide wideangle zoom lens that delivers full 24mm coverage. That’s professional-range wideangle and virtually unheard of in a compact camera. Even more important, the Leica lens is so highly corrected that the aberrations and optical flaws often found in super-wide lenses have all been eliminated. (You can still get bent perspectives—that’s a matter of physics that no one can change—but if you hold the camera straight you will not get optical distortion.)

The Lumix LX3 has a unique Pinhole Mode that creates a simulated pinhole camera image © Jon Sienkiewicz

And this 24mm lens has an aperture of f2.0. That means it is “faster” (i.e., transmits more light) than the typical “kit” zoom lens that people get when they buy a digital SLR. In fact, an aperture of f2.0 puts this lens right up there with some of the fastest zooms you’ll find on ANY digital camera.

Steady as she goes

Camera shake is the #1 cause of unsharp (and unpleasant) pictures. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 uses three comprehensive technologies to assure excellent low light performance and sharp, blur-free images even in dimly lit conditions. Anti-shake technology is provided by Panasonic’s proprietary MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer). It’s a time-proven method that is sufficient to deliver sharp images all by itself. But it gets help from two other features. First, the Lumix LX-3 suppresses signal noise at high ISO settings, so you can shoot at ISO400, for example, without flash and without that frustrating grainy appearance. Second, the f2.0 lens provides a large, fast aperture throughout the entire 2.5X zoom range. Combined, these three features assure outstanding performance in low ambient light—the sort of lighting you often encounter in homes, restaurants and other public places.

Operation

Despite its advanced, photographer-friendly feature set, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 is quite easy to use and does not require any special skills. The menu is simple and intuitive and the interface provides joystick-operated manual control of common settings. One very handy feature: the user can determine the operation performed by the Fn button—you can configure it so that when you press Fn it shifts into Playback, for instance.

Although it’s quite compact, the camera is comfortable to hold and operate. The high-quality construction gives it a luxurious feel. The Zoom control is smooth and fast and there’s enough room to park your fingers when they’re idle. Macro Focus and Aspect Ratio are selected from external buttons (no need to browse the menu) and you can select 16:9, 3:2 or 4:3 proportions. And to speed up overall operation, a there’s a dedicated Focus Check button—press it once and the image being played back on the LCD is quickly magnified.

Performance

Technically, the images are superb. Exposure is dead on, colors are bright and vibrant, and resolution is excellent. There is virtually no DPF (Dreaded Purple Fringe). Also known as Chromatic Aberration, DPF is the violet-blue border that often haunts edges of highlighted areas in digital images. It’s caused by the fact that different colored wavelengths of light focus on different points. It’s a condition that’s hard to avoid, but the Lumix LX3 does an outstanding job of correcting this aberration.

Advanced Features

There are many, but here are the highlights—the items that will strike home with seasoned, advanced photographers. Most of these sophisticated features can be found on full-sized digital SLR cameras but will not be found on compact cameras in this category. And I can’t think of any other camera in this price range that has all of them.

First, you gotta love the Manual exposure and Manual Focus options. The benefits are obvious. You can also shoot in fully Auto, Shutter Priority Auto and Aperture Priority. In other words, you have full control over every shooting situation. On the video side of things, HD 720p movies are captured at 30 frames per second.

The LX3 has a top shutter speed of 1/2000th second and, on the other end, up to 60 full seconds. There is a hot shoe for advanced flash options, and a dedicated flash that’s available as an optional accessory.

To the delight of photo enthusiasts, the LX3 has Multiple Exposure capability. Yes, of course you could get practically the same effect by spending hours using Photoshop, but it’s really fun and way cool to produce multiple image shots by composing right on the LCD.

Last but actually at the top on the list, the Lumix LX3 can shoot in RAW file format and is supplied with Silkypix, which is very good RAW decoding software.

Will I trade in my digital SLR? No, of course not, but on those days when it’s more convenient to leave the big camera at home, it’s great to be able to carry so many powerful features and exciting performance options in a tiny, pocket-size package.

Feature Summary

1. Wideangle 24mm lens
2. Fast f2.0 lens for low light (or controlled Depth of Field)
3. Excellent low light performance with three components:
      a. MEGA O.I.S.(Optical Image Stabilizer)
      b. Low noise (without compromising sharpness) at High ISO
      c. Fast lens throughout entire zoom range
4. Excellent Macro (close-up) performance
5. Fast into action overall (start-up, click-to-click, write speed)
6. RAW file format with very good decoding software
7. No DPF (Dreaded Purple Fringe) Chromatic Aberration
8. 1280x720 (30 fps) pixel movie capture
9. Full manual, Aperture and Shutter Priority exposure modes
10. Hot shoe for advanced flash options
11. Large, sharp 3.0” LCD monitor
12. Three switch-selectable aspect ratios: 16:9, 3:2, 4:3