Paul Petch

My new toy- Panasonic Lumix LX3

Time for a change

After close to 5 years my trusty Olympus Mju is literally falling apart in my hands and with a start up time at about 20 seconds and questionable picture quality- a replacement was needed. Aside from the wear and tear (and the front slider coming off during each use) the Olympus had fared well with a lot of neglect and had seen more adventures than any other camera that I’ve owned. Seeing as it has lasted relatively well I checked out the current and equivalent Olympus Mju camera (Mju Tough 6010) aimed at a robust “outdoor” lifestyle. Heading off to the local electrical store and handling the Mju, quickly highlighted that this camera was basically the same 5yr old unit with a different exterior! It took terrible images that blurred when the subject was moving (um….like always) or when the lighting conditions were not “perfect” (so indoor photography was basically a no go). As for the flash, it just swamps everything and images look washed out. Basically, it looks more robust but is crap.

When I had a look at the other brands that offered similar features to that of the Mju Tough, I found the same thing…..and in particular the sports “mode” lacked balls. So it was back to the drawing board. Thankfully, with a little bit more research I was happy to find that there were quite a few compacts on the market boasting features that were exactly what I wanted….and more in that they offer features usually exclusive to fully fledged SLR’s.

After some more research & counting the pennies,  I narrowed my search down to two cameras, the Olympus EP-2 Pen and the Panasonic Lumix lx3. Both cameras look stunning with their retro charm and offer exactly what I wanted (and more), but the Olympus costs twice as much as the Lumix LX3 which sealed the deal for me at the end of the day. So that was that :)

Features

Unlike a standard compact camera, the Lumix LX3 enables you to control the aperture and exposure,  just like a digital SLR and the picture quality is far superior due to the higher quality/larger lens which is a staggering 24mm. Panasonic sums the LX3 up with these features:

The highlights so far are:

1. It has a true 16:9 aspect ratio and I love it.
2. I adore the LX3′s ability to take great shots at low light – something that the Olympus always struggled to do.
3. The interface is really simple to use with a large bright LCD screen- so much so that Any can actually understand it!
4. It has a sturdy “old school” metal body and feels like a “real camera”.
5. It takes rapid images in a burst mode- one after another- like a SLR.
6. The sports mode and anti shake feature is amazing- at last I can capture moving objects!
7. The wide 24mm lens is nothing short of stunning and the death it captures just takes my breath away.
8. It has awesome HD 720p format video- which is visually rich.
9. The Macro photography is spot on…..with such a great perspective.
10. I’m going to learn alot about photography with this beauty :)

I’ve only just scratched the surface of what the LX3 can offer- but one thing is for sure- it is pretty much perfect for what I currently want – and I can surely grow into the more advanced offerings :) This video pretty much sums up the LX3.

As for the video quality, well- check these out.

Escalator from Saodesign on Vimeo.

Sea Monster Attack from Luis Vieira on Vimeo.

The Mystery of Flowers from Brian Harris on Vimeo.

As a bonus the LX3 has some really sweet accessories that include lens protectors, fish eye lens, mixed filters, retro leather cases and even an external optical viewfinder which helps the 007 vibe even more :)  As you can see this pocket camera is simply stunning and packed full of manual features if required. I pretty much carry a camera with me everywhere I go and while the LX3 is more bulkier to carry than other compacts, the picture quality and control I have over the settings make up for it. The LX3 is an awesome camera and a recommended purchase that has already turned into a true love affair.

This camera is simply stunning!

Related posts:

1. Mountain biking at Lysterfield Park, Melbourne
2. Toycamera Analogcolor
3. Bright Bike – being seen on the road at night
4. The Canberra Champs through the eyes of Wild Wassa
5. Flow?

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 6:36 pm and is filed under Photography and tagged with gadgets, Geekery, panasonic lumix LX3, Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.