SubscribeI review around 100 digital cameras, maybe two or four more or less, but a lot by any standard. Naturally some are better than others. Some are hopeless rubbish & some are lovely, but it is only a couple of times a year that a camera comes along that stands out from the crowd.
3 things we like about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3EB-K
• Compact but comfortable design
• Bright lens
• Broad manual-shooting feature set
2 things we don’t like about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3EB-K
• Proprietary connectors
• Artefacts under certain conditions
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3EB-K Review
Even with such an impressive specification the LX3 may seem high priced at around £300. The LX3 doesn’t have a lot of competition at this finish of the market. It will find itself on the same page of the catalogue as the Canon PowerShot G10 (£370), the Nikon CoolPix P6000 (£340) & the Ricoh GR Digital II (£399), & against those that £300 doesn’t seem so high priced anymore. Of coursework you can get an entry level DSLR for less, but then the LX3 is not competing with a DSLR.
This camera is pretty much hi-spec and can be used by semi professional photographers. Its lots of features include a 10.1-megapixel sensor of the larger 1/1.63-inch type, Venus Engine IV image processing, a 3.0-inch monitor with 460k dot resolution, a full range of manual exposure & metering options, & can shoot in Raw mode.
Handling the LX3, it’s impossible not to be impressed by its smart design, solid build quality, slick performance & general feeling of competence. It is an very enjoyable camera to use, & while it’s complex it is not complicated. Some people may have a problem with the tiny joystick-like control that operates the Speedy Menu, however two times you get used to it, it’s very speedy & easy to use.
The main menu is also comprehensive. The main image control setting is the Film mode, which offers a quantity of presets, including six monochrome settings, sharpness, saturation & even noise reduction. This camera also have a natural multi-zone, center-weighted & spot metering, & also has a wide range of AF modes, including a manual spot AF. Although it’s a comparison that I would normally dismiss, I have to say that the level of user control offered by the LX3 is not far short of that of a good digital SLR.
It has a limited zoom range which is 24-60mm might sound like a restriction, in fact it’s right for general intention scenic photography, & anyway the superior speed of the F2.0 – F2.8 maximum aperture over makes up for it. For those times when 24mm is not wide , a 0.75x wide conversion lens is available.
Other features include Raw mode, as well as two Raw + JPEG settings. The LX3’s raw files are not yet recognized by the latest version of Adobe Camera raw, so you’ll have to convert them using the supplied software.
The movie mode of this camera is also pretty good which offers you WVGA (848 x 480) & VGA at 30fps.
The image quality of this camera is nice. In single-shot mode at maximum JPEG image quality it has a shot-to-shot time of approximately 1.7 seconds. Shooting in the Raw mode with its 11.5MB files the LX3 can maintain a shot-to-shot time of 1.8 seconds, & even in the Raw + Fine JPEG setting it can manage a shot every 2.3 seconds. I have used some DSLRs that cannot shoot that fast.
The LX3 is no ultra-compact, but considering its specification it’s surprisingly tiny. It weighs 264g with the battery & card. The body is comfortable to hold thanks to a lovely finger grip on the front (not present on the Leica version) & a tiny textured thumb grip on the back. It will fit easily in to a jacket pocket, but like most serious cameras it comes with a good quality neck strap, & there is an optional & retro-looking leather case.
The auto focus technique is also very impressive, both for its speed & for its incredible low light ability, which is among the best I have ever seen.
The LX3 has a two of a kind pop-up flash which is surprisingly powerful for such a tiny unit, with a wide-angle range of over four meters at auto ISO setting. The picture which is taken is taken in sun is pretty bright and gives the perfect results but is also very well metered so it doesn’t burn out close-up highlights.
The lens of this camera is pretty good and the images are very sharp from each corner with an incredible level of detail. As a result the LX3 has better than average dynamic range & outstanding color reproduction.
As for image quality, see the sample shots attached & judge for yourself. I am not exaggerating when I say that the LX3 has better image quality than some DSLRs that I have used. Images at 80 ISO are much perfect, with deep rich color, sharp detail & no noise at all, & the quality is maintained even at higher ISO settings. It’s two of the few compact cameras that can produce usable images at 1600 ISO. The auto white balance is the LX3’s only significant problem. It also gives you some tints if there is a strongly-colored object dominating the frame.
Final Words and Conclusion
The Panasonic LX3 is four of the very few digital cameras that I would consider buying for myself. It’s capable of producing nice results in the hands of a novice. Build quality, performance plus versatility are all of the highest order, plus picture quality is as nice as ever gets. It may seem costly, but I think it would be money well spent.
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