Panasonic Lumix LX3
I just got a Panasonic Lumix LX3! I am very excited about this camera for many reasons. I had a Canon SD700 (3.2 Megapixel), in other words “crap.” It was good in its day, but that was over 5 years ago.
This new LX3 is awesome! It has a lot features which can compete with many DSLR’s, yet is still compact enough to travel around with easily! It even can shoot HD video at 720P! That is the equivalent of the Nikon D90 (I did not get this camera for filming though)! Of course the D90 has many other lens options and will provide better depth of field shots/shooting among some other features, but for this pocket size “point and shoot,” it steps it WAY up from the many others.
I’m really excited about the manual controls and features of this camera. Aperture, exposure, ISO, down to flash brightness and bracketing is all there! The Macro shooting is pretty amazing for this size camera. You can practically stick the lens on the subject you’re shooting and get a very crisp photo.
It also can shoot in both jpg and RAW2 formats! Very high quality for this size camera. I do not have a DSLR, if I did get one it would probably be the Canon 5D Mark II, but I don’t have $3500+, also when I go traveling or shooting, it is nice that I can get some high quality photos without the hassle of lugging around large equipment. I’m not claiming to be a pro-tographer at all, or else I wouldn’t mind having all of that. This can still fit in a large coat pocket nicely and get the ideal shots.
Did I mention it has a Leica lens? It is practically the equivalent of the Leica D-Lux4 which goes for almost twice as much $850+.
The only slight negative thing is it has a 2.5x optical zoom vs. some of the higher zooms many other PAS’s have. But many of those have slightly higher optical, and a much higher digital zoom where quality is quite degraded. Since this shoots in RAW, I can achieve the digital zoom in post production in an image editing program and still achieve a pretty high quality. You can get several other lenses and accessories for this camera to make up for that. You can even get an external flash (hot shoe), and view finder.
Here is a review on this camera:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0807/08072102panasoniclx3.asp
I’ll be posting some new photos on my Flickr account soon!
Here are the specs:
Camera Type
Compact Wide-Angle Advanced Digital Camera with Optical Image Stabilization
Image Sensor
1/1.63″ 11.3 Megapixel CCD with Primary Color
Effective Resolution
10.1 Megapixels
Color Depth
24-Bit RGB
Color Modes
Standard, Dynamic, Natural, Smooth, Vibrant, Nostalgic, WB/Standard, WB/Dynamic, WB/Smooth, My Film1, MyFilm2, Multi Film
Image File Formats
JPEG (Fine, Standard)
RAW
RAW + JPEG
Recorded Resolution
4:3 Aspect Ratio
3648 x 2736
3072 x 2304
2560 x 1920
2048 x 1536
1600 x 1200
640 x 480
3:2 Aspect Ratio
3776 x 2520
3168 x 2112
2656 x 1768
2112 x 1408
2048 x 1360
16:9 Aspect Ratio
3968 x 2232
3328 x 1872
2784 x 1568
2208 x 1248
1920 x 1080
Video Recording
QuickTime Motion JPEG with Audio
4:3 Aspect Ratio
640 x 480 @ 30 or 10fps
320 x 240 @ 30 or 10fps
16:9 Aspect Ratio
1280 x 720 @ 24fps (HD format)
848 x 480 @ 30 or 10fps
Clip length limited only by available memory.
Audio Recording
WAV Format
Up to 5 seconds record time with image, up to 10
Seconds Dubbing
Lens Type
Leica DC Vario-Summicron Lens (8 elements in 6 groups with 4 Aspherical Lenses/surfaces)
Optical Zoom
2.5x (up to 4.8x Extra Optical Zoom)
Lens Focal Length
5.1-12.8mm (24-60mm equivalent)
Digital Zoom
4x
Minimum Focus Distance
0.4″ (1cm)
Maximum Aperture
f/2.0-2.8
Optical Image Stabilization
Yes (MEGA O.I.S.)
Accessory Lens/Filter Mount
No (46mm with optional DMW-LA4 lens Adapter)
Focus Control
Focus Type
TTL-AF (Face, AF tracking, multi-area, 1-area high speed, 1-area, spot) with AF assist lamp
Focus Modes
Normal, Macro, Quick AF, Intelligent Auto, Continuous AF, Manual Focus(Joystick), One Shot AF, AF Area Select, AF Tracking
Focus Range
Normal: 19.7″ (50cm) – infinity
Macro: 0.4″ (1cm) – infinity wide
Exposure Control
Sensitivity
Auto ISO
High Sensitivity Auto (1600 – 6400)
Selectable ISO (80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200)
Shutter Type
Not Specified by Manufacturer
Shutter Speed
60-1/2000 seconds
Aperture Range
f/2.0-2.8 – f/8.0
Exposure Metering
TTL-AE (Intelligent Multiple, Center-weighted, Spot)
Exposure Modes
Intelligent AUTO, Program AE, Aperture Priority AE, Shutter Priority AE, Manual, Program Shift (Program AE mode), Exposure Compensation (±2 EV in 1/3 EV increments), Auto Bracketing (±1/3 EV – 1EV steps, 3 frames), Backlight Compensation, Custom1, Custom2, Portrait, Scenery, Sports, Night Portrait, Close-up, Scene
White Balance Modes
Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Halogen, White Set, White Balance Adjustment
Scene Modes
Portrait, Soft Skin, Scenery, Sports, Night Portrait, Night Scenery, Self-Portrait, Food, Party, Candle Light, Fireworks, Starry Sky, Beach, Aerial Photo, Snow, High Sensitivity, Baby1&2, Underwater, Sunset, Pet, Hi-Speed Burst, Flash-Burst, Multi Aspect, Film Grain, Pin Hole
Flash
Built-in Flash
Yes (Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Slow Sync, Flash Synchro (1st & 2nd), Flash output Adjustment, Forced Off)
Effective Flash Range
Up to 27.2′ (8.3 m)
External Flash Connection
Yes (Hot Shoe)
External Flash Control
Not Specified by Manufacturer
Performance
Start-Up Time
Not Specified by Manufacturer
Shutter Lag
0.005 seconds
Time Between Shots
1 second
Burst Capability
1 fps in Unlimited Consecutive Mode
2.5 fps Burst Mode (Up to 8 images in Standard, 4 images in Fine, 3 images in RAW)
Self Timer
10 seconds or 2 seconds
Interval Recording
No
Date & Time Stamp
Yes (with text edit)
Memory & Power
Built-in Memory
50MB
Compatible Memory Cards
Secure Digital (SD/SDHC) Card
MultiMediaCard (Still image only)
Recording Capacity
Not Specified by Manufacturer
Battery Type
CGA-S005A Lithium-ion Battery (3.7V, 1150mAh)
Power Adapter
DMW-AC5 AC Adaptor (Input: 110-240V AC) (Optional)
Input/Output
Computer Interface
USB 2.0
Direct Print Capable
PictBridge
Remote Control
No
Video Output
AV Output (NTSC/PAL)
HD AV Output (Optional component cable required)
Web-Cam Capable
No
System & Software Requirements
Windows 98/98SE, 2000, ME, XP
Macintosh OS X (10.1 or later)
Display
Viewfinder
No (Optional external OVF available)
LCD Display
3.0″ Polycrystalline TFT Color LCD Display (460,000 pixels)
Language Options
English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Hungarian, Russian, Chinese(Traditional), Chinese(Simplified), Netherlandic, Thai, Korean, Turkish, Portuguese, Arabic, Persian, Japanese, Swedish, Danish, Portuguese, Finnish
Playback Options
Auto Review (1 second, 2 seconds, Zoom, Hold), Full image, Thumbnail Display (30 & 12-up), Calendar Display, Zoomed Playback (16x max), Playback of Fav Pics, Image Rotation, Resize, Trim, Protection, Aspect Conv. DPOF Print Setting Creating Still Pics from Motion Picture, Dual Image Playback, Picture Adjustment (Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation, Noise Reduction), Real-time Histogram / Highlight Display
Physical
Dimensions
2.4 x 4.3 x 1.1″ (60 x 109 x 27mm)
Weight
8.0 oz. (227g)