Want my first digital camera: LX3 - large print and autofocus capabilities?

[Tompas]

I'm thinking about buying my first digital camera ever -- maybe some of you can help me decide whether a Panasonic LX3 is the right one for me?

My questions about the LX3 first:

- Does a LX3 produce "digital negatives" good enough to make high-quality prints of 40x60 or 50x75 (cm, not inches 🙂)?

- Are the LX3 auto-focus and auto-exposure systems good enough to blindly rely on them, usually? I would want to use it as a point-n-shoot with an optical viewfinder.

Why am I contemplating a LX3 and not something else?

Well, I currently don't want a DSLR because everything not "full-frame" is not for me -- I love wide-angle lenses and want mine to stay wide-angles. Existing "full-frame" cameras are currently far too expensive for me. As soon as either Nikon or Pentax has an affordable "full-frame" DSLR I'll buy one.

I'd rather not buy a micro 4/3rds camera because I already have "enough" camera systems -- don't feel like investing in another.

Since I'm the wide-angle type everything with a (shortest) focal length longer then 28mm (35mm equivalent) is not for me.

And I want to have RAW "negatives".

So my research has dug up the LX3 as apparently my best choice currently. I imagine to use it more or less exclusively with either my Voigtländer 25mm viewfinder or my Mamiya7 50mm viewfinder as a 24mm-point-n-shoot.

Thanks for any input!

 

[thegman]

No experience with the LX3, although looking at your requirements, a Sigma DP-1 might be worth a look. Wide angle with a decent size sensor. Lens is slow though, and high ISO performance is weak.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

I have an LX-3, which I love. Can the camera make good prints that size? Yes. But everything has to be perfect. And things rarely are. As good as the camera is, and it's a fine camera, you can only expect so much from a small sensor P&S camera. The advantage is that it's easy to have always with you.

A M4/3 camera would probably serve you better.

 

[donmcmahan]

I have made several images that I have successfully printed as large as 16x22 inches. within the limitations of a camera with a sensor of this size it is amazing. a previous poster mentioned the Sigma DP1, if your shooting style suits such a slow camera it might well be a good choice but if you are doing something like street photography that requires a quick responsive camera you would be hard pressed to find anything better than a LX3