Paul Smith
11/02/2010, 15:54
Following on from Chris's mini review of the 7D and Eifion's suggestion that we share our thoughts on new toys I thought I'd write a few words about my little panny lx-3. This is essentially the same camera as the Leica D-Lux4 with some minor tweaks to included software and allegedly jpg rendering.
I'd been on the lookout for a good compact for a while and had narrowed it down to either this or the Canon G11. In the end I decided on the lx3 for it's size and the fact that it comes in a fair bit cheaper than the G11.
The camera is a solid metal frame that looks and feels really well put together. The controls, although a little bunched, are sensibly laid out and are all within easy reach. The mode dial clicks in to place reassuringly but being plastic and very thin it feels that this part may wear before the rest of the body. The battery and card cover are also plastic but lock into place solidly and without fuss. There is a full metal hot shoe attachment so you can easily mount a flashgun for use in manual mode, it does have to be said that a 580ex flash rather dwarfs the lx3 body though and balance is a bit top heavy. There is also a standard metal tripod mount on the base of the camera.
The camera offers the full range of controls found in most dslr's. It's possible to shoot fully manually in RAW if you so wish. The camera also has a mass of film and style pre-sets for shooting in jpg and the dynamic black and white is a particular favourite producing excellent results. I know we're all meant to shoot RAW and labour over the processing but this camera produces such great jpgs that I havent felt the need to bother. I started shooting RAW and jpg but have now dropped the RAW for most scenarios. i should also note that the included RAW processing software is one of the worst programs I've ever installed on my PC. Either stick to shooting jpg or develop through lightroom/photoshop etc.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4312201542_a9f317cfda.jpg
The superb leica vario-summicron 24mm-60mm f2.0-f2.4 lens is an absolute beauty, whilst this is no sports or wildlife camera it does excel at the range it has set itself. At f2.0 and 24mm this is about as wide and fast as you're going to get in the compact market. Coupled with the staggering image stabilisation it's possible to get usable hand held shots in the lowest of light. The following was shot hand held at one third of a second which is just crazy.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/4290457103_3c11cf9672.jpg
Should you wish to light up the room the inbuilt flash is more than adequate, in fact I've found myself dialling down the flash half a stop or so through the flash exposure compensation.
The camera can shoot in a variety of formats with 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 being selectable on the lens barrel and 1:1 via the menus as it was added later via a firmware update. The 16:9 works well with the movie mode and although it's no 5DII it does produce good video that's perfectly usable.
But it is as an ever present day to day camera that the LX3 excels, small enough to fit in a jacket pocket and producing great images whether set to one of the many auto modes or manually adjusted exactly how you want. I'd thoroughly recommend this to anyone looking for a quality compact with the one note of caution that the 60mm top end may be a bit short for some occasions.
I'd been on the lookout for a good compact for a while and had narrowed it down to either this or the Canon G11. In the end I decided on the lx3 for it's size and the fact that it comes in a fair bit cheaper than the G11.
The camera is a solid metal frame that looks and feels really well put together. The controls, although a little bunched, are sensibly laid out and are all within easy reach. The mode dial clicks in to place reassuringly but being plastic and very thin it feels that this part may wear before the rest of the body. The battery and card cover are also plastic but lock into place solidly and without fuss. There is a full metal hot shoe attachment so you can easily mount a flashgun for use in manual mode, it does have to be said that a 580ex flash rather dwarfs the lx3 body though and balance is a bit top heavy. There is also a standard metal tripod mount on the base of the camera.
The camera offers the full range of controls found in most dslr's. It's possible to shoot fully manually in RAW if you so wish. The camera also has a mass of film and style pre-sets for shooting in jpg and the dynamic black and white is a particular favourite producing excellent results. I know we're all meant to shoot RAW and labour over the processing but this camera produces such great jpgs that I havent felt the need to bother. I started shooting RAW and jpg but have now dropped the RAW for most scenarios. i should also note that the included RAW processing software is one of the worst programs I've ever installed on my PC. Either stick to shooting jpg or develop through lightroom/photoshop etc.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4312201542_a9f317cfda.jpg
The superb leica vario-summicron 24mm-60mm f2.0-f2.4 lens is an absolute beauty, whilst this is no sports or wildlife camera it does excel at the range it has set itself. At f2.0 and 24mm this is about as wide and fast as you're going to get in the compact market. Coupled with the staggering image stabilisation it's possible to get usable hand held shots in the lowest of light. The following was shot hand held at one third of a second which is just crazy.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/4290457103_3c11cf9672.jpg
Should you wish to light up the room the inbuilt flash is more than adequate, in fact I've found myself dialling down the flash half a stop or so through the flash exposure compensation.
The camera can shoot in a variety of formats with 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 being selectable on the lens barrel and 1:1 via the menus as it was added later via a firmware update. The 16:9 works well with the movie mode and although it's no 5DII it does produce good video that's perfectly usable.
But it is as an ever present day to day camera that the LX3 excels, small enough to fit in a jacket pocket and producing great images whether set to one of the many auto modes or manually adjusted exactly how you want. I'd thoroughly recommend this to anyone looking for a quality compact with the one note of caution that the 60mm top end may be a bit short for some occasions.