The Panasonic LX100 Mark II

[kshapero]

The LX100 Mark II

 

[Jeremy Z]

Are you just showing off your baby? (if so, that's fine, but maybe include a few words to that effect)

Nice camera. I've thought of buying one more than once.

 

[Archiver]

Yeah, this is nice. A few years ago, I bought myself a Sigma DP2 Merrill for my birthday, but I should have got the original Panasonic LX100 instead. Never gelled with the DP2, and it remains one of the very few cameras I've bought and not liked. This made me decide to only buy a camera if I like the look of the images produced by it, rather than just looking at specs. The LX100 would have been a perfect complement to my m43 cameras like the GH4 and GM1, even sharing the same battery with the GM1.

 

[Archlich]

I have always insist that the LX100 makes for the ultimate family camera...

 

[agentlossing]

I am really hankering after this camera, I sold my GX9 for a nice DSLR (Pentax KP) but I'm seriously missing the Panasonic MFT experience. Detail on the 20MP sensor is really good and L Monochrome D with grain makes for a really nice JPEG look.

 

[Nitroplait]

Fine, but the corporate photos looks better than yours. What are you trying to say?

 

[agentlossing]

For anyone interested, I am testing one of these, and here are my notes so far:

1. IQ is a little less good than I was hoping for. I think the lens has a lot of sample variation, and has frequently been criticized as producing slightly mushy detail at farther focus distances. I think I'm seeing that - however it could also be the way the sensor processing handles the cropped files. It's just not as good as the GX9 with a good lens.

2. JPEGs look considerably more muted than the GX9, and show more noise in lower-contrast, lower-light areas. I'm sure the RAWs allow for much more detail, but my non-subscription Lightroom 6 doesn't support them, so I need to use some other options (which I don't use as often and am less familiar with).

3. Lens stabilization is not great. I've been focus and recomposing from the center point and the IS tries to counteract my recomposing, even a little after the camera goes steady again.

4. On the better side, build and controls are great. Even the EVF, which is the same subpar one that has been on the GX line of cameras for too long (excepting the offshoot GX8), feels decent, probably because while it is small, it's relatively big for the size of the camera. Love the aspect ratio switch.

5. Step zoom feature takes all the annoyance out of using a power zoom, because instead of using the toggle to try and time the zoom to stop right where you want it, you can just flick it to switch from 24, 28, 35, 50, 70, 75 equivalents.

 

[taemo]

For anyone interested, I am testing one of these, and here are my notes so far:

1. IQ is a little less good than I was hoping for. I think the lens has a lot of sample variation, and has frequently been criticized as producing slightly mushy detail at farther focus distances. I think I'm seeing that - however it could also be the way the sensor processing handles the cropped files. It's just not as good as the GX9 with a good lens.

2. JPEGs look considerably more muted than the GX9, and show more noise in lower-contrast, lower-light areas. I'm sure the RAWs allow for much more detail, but my non-subscription Lightroom 6 doesn't support them, so I need to use some other options (which I don't use as often and am less familiar with).

3. Lens stabilization is not great. I've been focus and recomposing from the center point and the IS tries to counteract my recomposing, even a little after the camera goes steady again.

4. On the better side, build and controls are great. Even the EVF, which is the same subpar one that has been on the GX line of cameras for too long (excepting the offshoot GX8), feels decent, probably because while it is small, it's relatively big for the size of the camera. Love the aspect ratio switch.

5. Step zoom feature takes all the annoyance out of using a power zoom, because instead of using the toggle to try and time the zoom to stop right where you want it, you can just flick it to switch from 24, 28, 35, 50, 70, 75 equivalents.

thanks for sharing your opinion, a little disappointed as this camera was on my radar too as travel camera, guess I'll stick with my X100V for this.

do you have some images to share by any chance?

 

[farlymac]

I too don't like the looks of the OOF areas in the distant background, they're too much like my old TZ-3 I gave up on years ago, so Panasonic has never improved in that respect.

Of course like any other camera, one needs to find just what it is really good at. It's great for a walk around, but I can't trust that the focus will always work. Could just be me, but in certain situations it just has fits, and I can't interpret what the screen is telling me at the moment. I don't carry the manual with me all the time (a lot of times I just have the camera with me, and not the bag) so I can't easily check to see just what the issue is that is keeping it from working correctly.

But one thing it has excelled at is low light.

Night Lights by P F McFarland, on Flickr

Monochrome is pretty good too (This one was in the rain, and the camera had focus issues forcing me to shift it into manual)

Another Year Gone By by P F McFarland, on Flickr

I tried everything but manual to focus this shot (in Macro), but settled on this exposure since it turned out so nicely (I wanted the closest flower heads in focus but the camera just refused).

Middle Focus by P F McFarland, on Flickr

This one looks good till you blow it up (click on any of my photos to see them larger on Flickr).

Nice Day For A Ride by P F McFarland, on Flickr

The aspect ratio switch does allow one to get creative in camera so as not to wast any pixels in post (L-Mono D with a Levels adjustment to bring out the sky detail).

Waiting For A Signal by P F McFarland, on Flickr

I'm still trying to get used to all the features (haven't done any video yet). It's a pretty ambitious camera what with all the features baked in, but it's far from perfect. Definitely an enthusiast model.

PF

 

[taemo]

great photos, thank you for sharing
looks like im going to pass on this unless i can snag one for under 200$.
i feel like wanting to get the olympus tough tg-6 or hopefully a tg-7 next once we can travel again. rugged and for web size pictures or 4x6, it is good enough

 

[agentlossing]

You won't find a Mark II for anywhere near $200, but the older model could probably hit $400...

I will have a few photos at some point, right now I'm still tinkering with them in various programs to try and determine their quality level. JPEGs I haven't taken anything really worth sharing or any different from lots of the sample shots you can find on the web. Part of the problem is actually that I haven't had any sunny weather, it's been a dark & stormy January so far, so the lack of contrasty situations makes it hard to determine how the camera will act in bright light.

 

[Archiver]

@agentlossing - I've been using Lightroom 4.4 for years, and never got around to upgrading. Adobe DNG Converter works with every new camera model and creates DNG's which are readable in old versions of Lightroom.

 

[agentlossing]

@agentlossing - I've been using Lightroom 4.4 for years, and never got around to upgrading. Adobe DNG Converter works with every new camera model and creates DNG's which are readable in old versions of Lightroom.

Thanks, I've started using it for the GX9 files and LX100II files, however I can't tell whether the image quality on these DNGs is truly "raw" like the RW2 files. For example the noise on higher ISO images seems even more pronounced than I remember it being when working with the GX85 files natively inside LR6. That may have to do with the under-the-hood import settings, however, and not the program "baking in" anything to the DNGs.

 

[farlymac]

Another example of what this camera is good at, and that's being there at the right moment. I was headed out to capture something that would depict the end of 2020, and halfway down the hill I came across this scene. I stopped and snapped off two exposures before the next cement load showed up to spoil the composition.



End Of A Beginning by P F McFarland, on Flickr


PF