| Products Electronics & Photo Cameras Panasonic DMC-LX3 | Satisfaction | Experience | |
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| Name | Date | Helpfulness | Review | Overall satisfaction | Ease of use | Quality of Manufacture | Durability | more... |
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| Amazon.com customer | 2008-12-01 | | surprisingly good 'all around' camera | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | I have been using the LX3 for about 1.5 months. I find it to be a good substitute for my DSLR in many situations. One weird thing about it: when the lens is set at the widest setting the lens is fully extended. This works really well, because I can put on the lens adapter and use it like a lens shade. In other situations, if you have shading for wide, you have no protection for telephoto. Not so for this camera, because if the lens shade is not blocking anything at wide, it certainly is not going to block anything at the telephoto (retracted position). Those who use off-camera flash/strobes should consider a hotshoe-to-PC synch cord adapter such as the Nikon AS-15. I used this camera to do my son's passport pictures and it worked surprisingly well. This camera is designed for those who crave for wide coverage. Those who like to use 85mm+ lenses on a full-frame DSLR (equivalent) should not consider this one. | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-12-01 | | First ProConsumer "companion" camera. | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | Took this beauty across country from Utah to NY State and NH during the Fall color season right after it was released from Panasonic to this country... amazing camera! All external buttons are quick and strategically placed... still have not used manual control much AND I always shoot in RAW PLUS LO-JPEG with a 16 gig sdhc class 6, "standard" speed memory. Leica Summicron lens history... are low light capable optics - these lenses sold for over $2k each on Leica SLR version bodies as removable 35mm lenses at f2.0 fastest aperture. AND widest, at 24mm equivalent! This camera also has a very interesting new feature from Panasonic called: "AF Tracking", by setting the menu option to use the external button designated "AE/AF", you can do some amazingly simple depth of field control shots by picking the object you most prefer in focus in a still life picture, for example, and click the AE/AF button on that spot then move your LX3 where you want to frame the actual image. A little yellow square stays with the part of the picture you fixed on while you are re framing to where you want to take the picture int the frame... very coool, and really works well. This is my third Lumix from LZ 5x to TZ1/10x, to TZ3/10x. It has been worth the 2.5x optical trade off because of the RAW capability. I read somewhere, the TZ5/10x now handles video zoom capability like the first TZ1 model... TZ3&TZ4 did not have video zoom. I only wish Panasonic would partner better with Adobe: Photoshop CS3/CS4 RAW plugin ver. 5.2 works, HOWEVER, Lightroom 2.0 will not handle 5.2 RAW files until LR 2.2 is released next year... see Mike Lao Photography blog for more detailed info. [...]
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-11-29 | | Excellent image but falls very short. | 6 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | I really want to keep this camera, because the image quality is so good, and wide angle is heavenly. However, after some use, I found that I need a little bit more reach too often. For a general purpose pocket camera, 24mm X 2.5 zoom is way too little. 3.5X could have been acceptable. And I was very disappointed by the huge video file size. It uses Quick Time JPEG motion, which is an outdated technology. And when you take HD video, the file size is ridiculously immense. Panasonic should have used H264 mpeg, which will reduce the file size at least by quarter. When I pay almost $500, I don't want to pay for the outdated technology. I am looking forward to the next version, LX4 which will fix these two problems. But I praise Panasonic for its first try to "Image quality, not mega pixel war". Good work ! | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 6 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-11-24 | | Outstanding camera! | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | The camera is performing exactly as designed. The many professional reviews I could find on the net helped me to pick that camera. Smallest digital camera with full manual control and superb lens! | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-11-20 | | Tradeoffs between LX2 and LX3 | 8 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | I've owned the LX2 for a year and a half now and decided to try an LX3 to see if any of the LX2 shortcomings were remedied. Long story to short,don't bother. Yes the lens on the LX3 is slightly faster and goes a little wider and yes the noise has been reduced a bit but in reality you will rarely notice the improvements in noise over the LX2. Unfortunately none of it makes up for the big detraction from the new LX3 which is the radically shortened Zoom range which I miss a lot.You just can't move in on a subject like you could with the LX2 and therefore must do it with software after you have taken the picture.Of course when you have to blow up and crop a photo is when the noise in the photo can become a more noticeable problem. The camera is also slightly larger than an LX2 and unfortunately Panasonic decided to continue with the very annoying lens cap design for lens protection.If they are going to make us use a lens cap why then would they make us buy a special adapter just to add a filter to the end of the lens.The lens sticks out anyway so let us screw a filter on it without adding even more length of an extra adapter barrel. Another annoying carryover is if you decide to use the video recording mode you still cannot zoom the lens while shooting video.And why are video clips limited to ten minutes when you use a multi-gigabyte card that could record for much longer ? So I'm not finding the improvements to the LX3 and the continued glaring lack of other improvements all that useful in the real world. | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 8 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-11-18 | | Finally a Panasonic camera that lives up to its Leica lens | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | This is the first Panasonic camera that lives up to the Leica name on its lens. Images from the JPEG engine show both accurate colors and plenty of detail. You can take great pictures with the camera out of the box, or you can dive deeply into the manual controls to get exactly what you want out of an image. Buyers should be aware that you have to give up the telephoto end of the zoom range in exchange for this camera's 24mm wide end. It may seem like a difficult compromise to make until you remember that you can always zoom with your feet. Give 24mm a try. | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-11-07 | | Amazing little camera | 8 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | Had this camera for 2 days now and I'm amazed by it's set of manual exposure. I was deciding between the LX3 or Canon G10, but the wide lens on the LX3 really got my attention. Although this is not a DSLR, I expected less noise on high iso shots. Better than it's competitors though, including the G10 | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 8 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-11-06 | | High quality in a small package. | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | Panasonic DMC-LX3S 10.1MP Digital Camera with 2.5x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver) I'm mainly a film user. For digital, I use a Nikon D200 and this Panasonic DMC-LX3. I just went on a vacation to Zion National Park last month and just brought my Leica and Panasonic with me. The bulky Nikon was left at home. The Panasonic, with its f2.0 lens, gives excellent quality pictures, usable up to ISO400. That's equivalent to an ISO800 speed for a comparable camera with f2.8 lens. The camera does occasionally show purple streaks on the LCD preview when I focus under a bright back light condition, but the streaks don't show up in the picture. Not a big deal and tolerable to me. Hope Panasonic will have a firmware fix. Otherwise, it's a gem. [...] | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-10-30 | | The thrill of photography has returned | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | This camera is a pleasure to use. Whether using manual settings or the automatic (ia) setting, the IQ is fantastic. My first Lumix was the FZ-10. It, too, produced amazing shots. Since then, I've had two other cameras in the Lumix lineup. I enjoy both of those, but they've never given me the excitement of the FZ-10. With the LX3, I've found that excitement all over again. The Leica Summicron lens give super sharp, beautifully saturated photos. In short, I love this camera! | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-10-28 | | Maybe the best point-n-shoot, but noisy in shadows | 8 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | I'm a professional and I bought the LX3 as a travel/take everywhere camera. Unfortunately, I was not satisfied with the noise in the shadows even at ISO 100 and 50. It wasn't just noise either, it was bad or lack of data. I don't mind a little noise----in fact I like it in black and white and that's what I shot mostly. But the color shifts in the shadows, and the noise were unattractive and simply not up to snuff. My ideal camera of this size would have at least a sensor the size of a 35mm dslr (like the Rebel), and a fixed lens the equivalent of 28mm or 35mm. Unfortunately, this just isn't "the one." I will say the optics are superb. It's just that the dinky little sensor can't do it justice. | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 8 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-10-28 | | Lens Barrel Distortion | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | FYI to all- Imaging Resorce has reported that if viewing images captured with RAW you will see barrel lens distortion in the picture(s) UNLESS you use the Silkypix RAW viewer to open the file. Apparently the Silkypix SW corrects for this problem that is already corrected internally in the camera for the JPEG files. | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-10-28 | | IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS! | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | First let me establish some credentials. I have been making photographs for 57 years, for personal satisfaction and for work. For 24 of those years, I also ran a part-time wedding photography business. I have been using digital cameras since 2001 and have owned many Nikon digital SLRs (D100, D200, D300) and a number of compact digital cameras. With that out of the way, let me simply say, "the Panasonic LX3 is the BEST compact digital camera I have ever owned and, in my opinion, there is nothing else currently in its class that even comes close." I feel so strongly about the merits of the LX3, I am purchasing another one to put up for future use. It's THAT good! Yes, its a bit pricey ..... no, it will not replace a DSLR for some things ..... no, it is not for everyone. Because of the limited zoom range (35mm equivalent of 24mm to 60mm), I would not recommend the camera to those who might need more zoom for outdoor sports, etc. But, if you can live within the zoom limitations, you will find the 24mm wide angle, amazing low-light capability and VERY effective stabilization system to be priceless. The "iA" setting (puts the camera on "fully automatic") is the best I have ever seen, allowing anyone to routinely make outstanding images. For experienced photographers, the LX3 opens up a whole new world for compact cameras, used when it is not possible or convenient to carry a DSLR or used as a back-up or companion camera for your DSLR. I purchased my LX3 in September 2008. Since then, my D300 and other cameras have likely felt very neglected! I have posted some sample images on this page.
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-10-24 | | Just superb: lens, body, features | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | For a compact, non-SLR camera the LX3 seems to have everything a photographer could want. The features do go well beyond what someone interested in a simple point-and-shoot would need. However, for those looking for something more, the LX3 offers some fantastic additions. The highlights: -A nice, wide angle Leica lens (bright enough not to require the flash where lesser cameras would only see black and shadows) -Multiple film 'modes'--different color and B/W options for a different looks, all with great results allowing for a tremendous range of artistic expression -Solid body feel, compact size (but the lens does protrude a bit) -16:9, 4:3, and 3:2 aspect ratios -Great macro capabilities -Full auto and manual capabilities Some cons: the menu options/navigation screens have a steep learning curve; the battery/SD card door seems a tad flimsy, no optical viewfinder In short, the LX3, as many other reviews have noted, is one of the nicest digital cameras available, offering fine quality photos with options that allow one to shoot more than just nice vacation photos. | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-10-24 | | Hard to beat! | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | I received this camera a week ago & have not had all the time I would like shooting pictures but anyway. I understand why people make reference to DLSRs but as a threshold issue-it is NOT a DLSR so I don't know why people even mention it. I am an average camera user, and have had a FZ50, FZ1, TZ1, & FZ8. This model is the Gem of gems. I now have just this camera & a Sigma SD14 which I will be bequeathing to someone. Given all the cameras I have owned-why does the LX3 beat them all? If I had to say it in a sentence-it would be the high quality of the picture I get without any post processing. I know digital photographers don't seem to mind PP. I think it's a pain where I sit down. And i don't buy the argument that with 35 millimeter film cameras-having owned my share-that much PP was done when you had the film developed. Some-yes; a lot no way. So what does this have to do with the LX3? Simply that for me this camera over all takes the nicest pictures I have seen without a lot of encumbrances. I don't have to hassle with a DLSR's size, the zoom is enough not to compromise the quality of the image it produces, the build is lovely. Not a lot of frills but many options. How can you beat that combination?
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-10-18 | | Brilliant lens, ordinary sensor, user unfriendly | 8 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | Very different and cool compared to the hundreds of me-too pocket cameras out there, all with the same specs and aimed at the same middle of the road market. But it's not perfect on all scores. Unique lens - extremely wide angle, large 2.0 aperture, and macro close focus down to 1 cm. Enables some photos you cannot capture with any other pocket camera. Ordinary sensor, nothing special, and much too noisey to use above ISO 400. Advertising that it will do ISO 1600 and 3200 is untrue and misleading. Far too many little levers and buttons - some actually redundant - the joystick does the SAME EXACT THING as the multi-controller. Could have had all the same options with a greatly simplified interface. Many options and settings but perhaps the worst owner's manual ever. 150 pages in broken English and almost incomprehensible in parts. Be prepared to spend hours puzzling over it if you want to take advantage of all features. Some features - such as "Food Scene Mode" to take photos of your plate in a restaurant - just a waste of space. Summary: Great lens but uneven otherwise and far from user-friendly. | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 8 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-10-07 | | Crystal Clear Photos | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | This camera was a delightful surprise. It is small and easy to use, yet takes beautiful pictures. I am especially pleased with: 1) Uncanny flash performance - the flash looks like a joke, it is so tiny, but it really does the job. Closeups without being washed out, surprising distance range as well. 2) Battery life - also uncanny. You can shoot hundreds and hundreds of shots without depleating the battery. Fringe benefit of buying a camera from a leader in battery technology. (I bought spares but don't expect to ever need them). 3) Gorgeous LCD - best in the business, viewable in any light. 4) Virtual film types - there are several effects to choose from. My results have been startling - especially the dynamic B&W and Vivid Color settings. 5) Quick Menu - a tiny joystick gives instant access to many popular settings. Very cool and uncomplicated. 6) Multiple Exposure - you can use this for impressive artistic results. 7) Fit and finish are like fine jewelry, it's a pleasure to hold and to use Other reviews have hit the basics, but these are a few of my favorites that may not be obvious from the other reviews. Kudos to Panasonic for making such a ground-breaking product even when the competition is so good. | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-10-03 | | The Digital Camera I've been waiting for!!!!!! | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | O.k. Let me start off by saying that I bought this camera via 17th Street Photo's actual store in the photography district on 17th street here in New York City. I called (on Sept. 10th 2008) before I went to the store and I spoke with a super friendly man named Doug who told me that they got the silver and black ones and that they had 50 each. So, I went down there and immediately bought one. They have a 7 days no questions asked return policy so I tried it out like a crazy man. Keep in mind that if you mention the fact that on EBAY they have the price listed at $475, they will honor it in the store even though they have it priced at $499. Anywho, the purchasing experience with them was excellent. By the way, I've been waiting for Amazon to have this camera too. I pre-ordered both of them (black and silver), and never received an email saying that they were finally available to purchase. So, I took things into my own hands and found it myself (which is explained above). So, onto the previous testing and my current camera: Before purchasing the LX3, I bought the fx500 from Panasonic (from amazon.com) and the Fujifilm f100 (from B&H) in order to try those out. I wanted to try the fx500 because of the 25mm wide angle lens, 5x optical zoom, and to see what recording movies at 1280 x 720 at 30fps was like. And, I tried the f100 because I was told at B&H that the f100 was the best non-noisy camera to shoot indoor shots without flash (FYI the best movie option on the f100 was at 640 x 480 at 30fps so I had no desire in trying that). I'll get to the results in a minute. Before those two, I was a Canon Powershot sd500 owner for more than 5 years and loved the camera, but I needed a new one for my honeymoon that is coming up on 10/12 for Hawaii. Results of testing: FX500: 25mm wide angle was awesome, 5x zoom was nice but focusing was a problem even after trying to focus 3 times (keep in mind my hands were steady as a rock so it wasn't due to camera-shaking). the movie quality at 1280 x 720 at 30fps was a nice improvement from my powershot sd500's 640 x 480 at 30fps, but in the end the actual quality and sound wasn't as eye popping improvement. Picture quality was very noisy, no matter all of the tinkering that I tried. F100: yes, the picture quality indoors without any flash with this camera was better and less noisy than the fx500, but I ultimately did not keep this camera because of the poor movie quality, wide angle only goes to 28mm, the LCD is small and it's resolution is horrible. So, sorry for the wait, but I thought I'd be as thorough as I possibly could about my review before the review. LX3: Keep in mind, I'd say that I'm an advanced beginner digital photographer. So, after owning the LX3 for almost a month, I simply have to say that I am SOOOOOOOO happy to have finally found the digital camera I've been looking for. I've read all of the digital camera websites out there, gone to the brick and morter stores to ask specialists directly, gone out and purchased digital cameras to test hands on, etc. etc. to finally come to the pleasure of owning the LX3. What I was look for was a compact digital camera that had: -Excellent wide angle: at 24mm, it's the widest I've ever used, and I cannot go back to a camera even with 28mm ever again. the 24mm on this camera is SICK! it blows 28mm out of the park. I haven't noticed any barrel distortion at 24mm. if wide angle is the main thing you are looking for in a compact digital camera, LX3 is where you will need to stop. and it doesn't stop there. if you get the lens adapter and purchase the wide angle lens, you'll be able to even go to 18mm!!!!. I haven't gotten that yet. Oh, I definitely do no mind that this camera doesn't have insane optical zoom options. I'm totally happy with the 24mm-60mm range. I found out that I personally didn't even use the zoom options that much when I had the sd500 canon that it's range was 35mm-115mm. -Low f-stop: Finally the LX3 is the camera that steps up to the plate to offer an f-stop starting at 2.0. The slowest you'll see on the other comparable camera companies are at like 2.8. -Excellent indoor no flash quality: If you use the "iA" mode in a low light situation it will most likely automatically use ISO400 to take the picture and in the darker parts of the photo (like shadows, etc.) there will be noise, which is common anyway. But, if you use the "P" or "A" modes and change the "+/-" with the "Q.Menu" joystick, it will lighten up the photo and reduce the amount of noise. I found this out on my own, and I've been INSANELY pleased with the difference. So, all in all, in indoor low light situations, I now use either the "P" or "A" mode over the "iA" mode. -1280 x 720 HD movie quality: The fx500 had 1280x720 HD quality at 30fps, while the LX3 has 1280x720 HD quality at 24fps. And honestly, the LX3 resolution LOOKS and SOUNDS much better to me than the fx500. Movie after movie that I take, they look and sound amazing. i LOVE the movie HD option on the LX3. My advise, I bought two 16gb extreme 3 sdhc cards from amazon and I'll have no worries about recording speed and space issues. -Easy to use manual controls: It took me no time to learn them. Easy breezy for a photographer at my level (again: advanced beginner) -Easy to hold: I actually use the around the wrist cord that came with my powershot sd500 and that's fine. The LX3 comes with a around the neck strap (which I don't use). It does not come with an "around the wrist" cord. Maybe I'll use the "around the neck" strap for days that I would go on hikes or something like that. This is NOT a pocket camera. More of a "around the wrist" camera. -3.0inch 460k resolution LCD: Best LCD for a digital camera I've ever used, and it's AWESOME. I'd rather have this than a 3.0inch 230k resolution touch screen LCD that the FX500 had. -South of $500: Bought it at $475, no sales tax. ...and the LX3 met all of those requirements. CONS: You do need a cap for the lens (it comes with one and a cord to attached it to the camera). Initially, I'd say that was the only semi-annoying thing, but I've already gotten used to it, and it's no biggie at all. It's a little tough taking vertical shots, but again ... not a big problem at all. Any questions let me know. I've easily taken north of 2000 shots already of all different types. Honestly, I'm insanely pleased with this camera. Oh, I read in another review about noise at iso400. If you really want to keep a shot taken in iso400 indoors without flash and there is still noise in it, there is an AMAZINGLY helpful plugin used in Adobe Photoshop that you can get called "Imageonic Professional Noiseware" that does an amazing job in totally removing it. Mark.
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-10-02 | | A JOY! | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | Finally found the digicam to replace my DSLR. No, it doesn't have high ISO performance equal to any DSLR but the f2.0 lens and image stabilization more than compensates. I also got the Panasonic 18mm wide angle lens. Well worth the money. In all, a great little system that's good enough to have me selling off my DSLR for our needs. The greatest surprise? How well that tiny little flash works. It's far more powerful than I anticipated and works great even in mid day fill flash. A remarkable camera. This camera is just a joy to use.
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-09-28 | | A real gem of a camera ... but don't expect image quality miracles | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | In the last 6 years I've used a couple of compacts which I've since got rid of after upgrading to DSLRs (Canon XT and then 40D). For a while I was waiting for a compact that I could carry with me anywhere I want, and particularly to parties and other social occasions where bringing a DSLR is really not an option. When this camera was announced it really looked like a dream compact for me. Fast, wide and optically stabilized lens is ideal for low-light indoor shots. The design is stylish and beautiful, the camera is quite compact and it has all the controls an advanced amateur would need. Further the sensor is essentially as big as they get in compact cameras and with almost reasonable 10mp (still about 5mp too many but not as bad as 12-15mp you would get in any other compact with a comparable sensor). I've had the camera for a couple of weeks now (and shame on Amazon for not having it in stock a month after it appeared in some other big stores). I like it a lot and the camera delivers on most of Panny's promises. Here are some of the experiences. 1. The image quality is certainly and noticeably better than the ulracompact cameras (like Panny's own FX series). It is however still a compact camera ... meaning there is visible noise even at ISO 80 and lots of noise at ISO 400. However noise reduction algorithms seem to be doing quite a good job and ISO 80 pics look very nice ... sometimes almost like a DSLR. And even at ISO 400 most shots are good enough to keep. In general the output from this camera is comparable to my 40D at 8 times the ISO (that is 80 on LX3 is about 640 on 40D and 400 LX3 is a bit better than 3200 on 40D). Fortunately, with fast lens and image stabilization I almost never need to use ISO above 400. 2. The camera is very responsive and the autofocus is fast and seems accurate. 3. Changing ISO through the menus is a bit of a pain but a variety of useful ISO regimes are provided. In general controlling all the options is not very easy ... but I guess that's the compromise you get with such a small camera with a large LCD. Update: it is possible to simplify ISO changing by reassigning a button for this purpose. The drawback of this is that now reviewing pictures becomes more cumbersome. 4. Aspect ratio switch on the lens is more useful than I thought ... saves quite a lot of cropping. 5. White balance is not very reliable ... but I can live with it 6. Shooting in RAW+jpeg is fast enough but annoyingly neither Lightroom nor Photoshop recognize the LX3 raws. The supplied software is not so convenient (and I don't want to deal with two programs for processing my pics) 7. The camera is quite a bit bulkier than it might seem (and the given dimensions are misleading since they do not include the lens and other protrusions from the main part of the body). It is not pocketable both because of its size and weight. 8. The macro capability of the camera is really excellent. 9. Having user customizable preset regimes on the dial is very useful and quite a luxury not present even on Canon XSi DSLR (shame on Canon!) Overall it's a great compact camera: in my opinion certainly the best on the market by a margin (I've studied the market very thoroughly). It is in the same league as Canon G-series (which I owned back when they were the best and liked a lot) but fits my current needs much more than a Canon Gx. I also think it's a real bargain at around $400. But it is still a compact camera with a sensor 1/8 area of most DSLRs and 1/20 of full frame (mostly pro) DSLR. So those expecting miracles like close-to-DSLR quality or usable ISO 800+ might be disappointed. A quick update in response to a comment: 1. At widest setting of the zoom there is quite significant distortion especially noticeable in 16:9 regime. There is also noticeable loss of sharpness in the corners. This might not look good in some shots (like if a straight like or someones face is close to the border) but nothing too bad for most of the shots. 2. HD video is very good for a compact. There is no zooming, no auto focus and sometimes exposure adjustments are not very smooth. So I'd not recommend to treat it as a camcorder. But overall it gives detailed and reasonably smooth video (well not quite 30fps smooth). I've just made a quick comparison with Canon HF10 dedicated compact camcorder (which is as good as they get these days). In bright light LX3 cannot quite match the 1080p detail of Canon. But in relatively dim light it is about as good. Also LX3 has a huge advantage in wide angle. All dedicated consumer camcorders have widest angle around 40mm which is much worse than 24mm of LX3. Another impression which I have with LX3 and certainly did not have with other compacts is that it is a tool worth learning and investing some time and experimentation. My pics with this camera keep improving even the first ones were already decent. For anyone interested in sharpness and noise level comparisons with some cameras you can check out http://www.dkamera.de/testberichte/panasonic/lumix-dmc-lx3/bildqualitaet
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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| | | | | | | Amazon.com customer | 2008-09-25 | | Compact that thinks it's a DSLR | 10 | NR | NR | NR | | | | Helpful? | I've owned a lot of digicams including a Canon 20d with a slew of "L" lenses. The DMC-LX3 is the best of the bunch. I've had it for over a month bringing it on a recent trip to Sydney as a backup to my dslr setup. After the first day I left the dslr in the hotel room and spent the remaining week with the Panasonic. This is not a point and shoot and allows me to be as creative as I want to be (I can finally get a nice bokeh with a compact!). However, unlike the 20d where I can get clean shots up to ISO 1600 the noise is definitely noticeable above 100 with the LX3. Save for that I have no other complaints. | Satisfaction | Score |
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| Overall satisfaction | 10 |
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