lumix lx3

[aureliaaurita]

I don't know much about this camera- aside from what I can learn on the dpreview!

I was considering buying a dlsr after moving on rfom my ricoh but I honestly don't like carrying them around, it makes me feel very conspicuous which makes me take rubbish photographs in turn

the things that matter to me are

- speed

- image quality

- build quality (I'm not a very delicate person)

I know the last is good.

not so sure about the first two although I know the lumix lenses seem to come up trumps

I'll mainly be using it for portraiture and shots of the horses

see the images I have uploaded onto here...more of the same really.

what are your feelings about it those that own / have used it?

 

[aureliaaurita]

I'd love the e-p-1 but unfortunately it's double my budget!

I'm not too bothered about zoom to be honest.

my last camera didn't have one at all and since having had that I tend to forget it's there anyway so fail to use it even when I perhaps ought to

 

[aureliaaurita]

oh and another thing, can you turn the noise reduction monster off?

I don't want my noise reduced.

 

[Harry Lime]

- speed

- image quality

- build quality (I'm not a very delicate person)

I know the last is good.

I've been playing with one of these for the past few days

Very fast for a compact. In RAW mode it's pushing around a lot of data.
Don't expect DSLR performance, but with a fast SD card it's impressive.

Image quality is very, very good for a compact. I haven't seen a compact that puts out better images, except for the Sigma DP-2 and E-P1, but these have much bigger sensors. The fast lens (f2-f2.8) and built in IS means that you can shoot at a lower asa than most other compacts.
There is plenty of highlight detail to be recovered from the raw files and the shadows have good detail with a reasonable amount of noise. Again, this is not a D700, but impressive for a compact.

Build quality is excellent. Very well put together. One complaint I have is that the buttons are a little small and I'm not sure if I am totally sold on the joystick. But the interface is clean and very well designed. Another problem is that the finish of D-LUX4 is very slippery. Seriously, I hate to handle the camera without a strap wrapped around my wrist, because it feels like it could slip out of your hand without much trouble. I'm not sure if the finish on the LX3 is the same. If I owned one of these I would put some black cloth tape in a few strategic spots to make it a little more tactile. I even saw one camera on the web that had been covered in a material that looked like the vulcanite of a vintage Leica. Sounds stupid, but to be honest the guy did a good job and it didn't look half bad.

But here's the deal breaker for me. You can't zoom to a preset focal length like 24mm/28mm/35mm/50mm/60mm. This makes it difficult to use external viewfinders for anything but 24mm and 60mm.

Also when you manual focus the markings are not ideal for preset focusing. There are distance markings up to 2 meters and after that the next marking is for infinity. It would be better of there were markings for 3 and 5 meters.

So, after a week with this camera I have decided that it is the nicest point and shoot I have yet encountered, but it is more of a consumer tool than a digital incarnation of something like a Canonet G-III QL17.

The GRD series appears to be designed much more along those lines and I would be tempted to call it the better tool for a serious shooter.
The LX3 / DLUX4 may perform better than the GRD II in terms of IQ, but if the handling is inferior and you can't get the shot, that's not going to help you.

I'm going to wait for the GRD III next month before I buy anything. Unfortunately, so far Rioch is not offering the GT-1 (28mm -> 40mm) tele-converter for the GRD III, which is a real let down. A 28mm is a little too wide for portraits, unless you like the distortion. In that case I may just get a GRD II + GT-1.

I played a little with the E-P1, but the interface is a nightmare. Very confusing and awkward. It also doesn't come in black (so far)...

 

[aureliaaurita]

I've seen the rubber thing, what glue would you use though?
a little too far, perhaps.

I cannot afford the ep-1 or to my mind there'd be no contest.

I haven't looked at the sigma....yet

 

[vrgard]

I really like my lx3. Interface could be better, but that's true of most digital cameras as far as I'm concerned. Image quality is great. Speed is very good for a digital camera. Regarding the small camera itself, I find the manufacturer's case to address that problem well (and it looks good, too).

-Randy

 

[hawkeye]

I've had a LX3 for about six months. It is for me a digital version of the Leica CL. And in fact I've put a 24mm viewfinder on it just as I had with the CL. And I use it the same way. For close in street photography primarily and for interiors and landscapes. The image quality is gorgeous and I think better then on my dSLR. The lens is a Summicron and like all Summicrons is amazing.
Yes the zoom range is limited but this camera is not meant to replace my dSLRs with big lenses.

Its my carry around, personal photos camera.

The question to you is what are you going to be shooting, for horses its not the best because the LCD monitor is hard to see in bright sun light. But if that the deal breaker so be it.

Hawkeye

 

[chris00nj]

I have the Leica D-Lux4 which is nearly identical. Overall, it is a very high quality point & shoot.

I wrote a review on my fledgling blog here and part ii, here.

 

[DavidH]

This time last year I was looking for a small digital camera as a 'go-anywhere' but that had the versatility to take great photos and some creative control. Weeks of reading reviews and specs etc eventually led me to the LX3 and I finally got one about last December.

It's a nice looking, well made camera...love the wide angle, switchable formats, size and feel. It also has a pretty good macro capability.

BUT...

While picture quality is good compared to many other digi compacts, it is still obviously just snapshot quality - that nasty, everything in focus look from a tiny chip.
Usability proved a pain, taking shots in bright sunlight was awful with the damned screen - no vf. Eventually I found that I hardly ever used it - I just didn't like the results. It's not that I am anti-digital, I use a Nikon dslr for most of my shooting these days...I just don't like the look of shots from the tiny chips of digi compacts.

So I just sold it. And have gone back to my Contax T3.

 

[aureliaaurita]

*sigh*

I don't know what to do

fork out the extra for a g1?

 

[jmkelly]

I just got an LX-3 last week to replace my LX-2 which was stolen. This is the 4th Panasonic p&s I have owned so I can't complain much about the interface and buttons - I'm used to them, they work OK, and are easier/more intuitive to use for me than Canon or Nikon.

I love the lens on this camera: f2 and be there.

 

[DavidH]

🙂

I have no interest in so-called arty out of focus shots - wouldn't last too long in this business if I did...
And I have no issue with autofocus - and find it torturous to try and manually focus a little digi cam using some mix of buttons and screen display.

I just don't like the look of shots from little digi compacts. I had hoped the LX3 would give me more than my daughter's little Kodak digi snapshot camera...but it didn't to any extent...and spending more on a vf wasn't worth it to me.

It's a personal thing as you say. The LX3 - and other digi cams like the GRD and various Canon G cameras have strong followings, have generated a huge photographic output from their enthusiasm and it's good that so many people are enjoying their photography with these cameras.

Not entirely sure why you chose to insult me in your reply...but it won't change my opinion of the LX3.

 

[sevres_babylone]

that nasty, everything in focus look from a tiny chip.

I'm schizoid on this, having just bought the new Nokton for my R-D1, but I like the deep focus on my Ricoh, and was somewhat relieved to read that the new GRD III will use only a slightly bigger chip. As has been said, it all comes down to taste, but the deep focus look for sure is not intrinsically bad (Hello Citizen Kane).