Digital Camera Review

Digital Camera Review

Nov 04, 2005 - By Emily Raymond
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 enters the compact market with 8.4 effective megapixels and a nice Leica Vario-Elmarit DC 4x optical zoom lens. The lens is complemented by Panasonic’s Mega Optical Image Stabilization system, which has two modes and shuns hand-shake from pictures and movies. A 2.5-inch LCD screen graces the back of the Lumix LX1. While comparable features can be found on other models, the LX1’s native 16:9 format is unique – viewing slide shows on the widescreen television will look better than ever. And if the elongated perspective looks too experimental, users can easily switch over to both 4:3 and 3:2 aspect ratios as well. This compact digital camera retails for $599.
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Likes
- 16:9 movie mode
- Nice LCD screen
- High quality Leica lens
- Durable aluminum body
- Decent burst mode
- User friendly exposure controls
- Thorough software package      
Dislikes
- Expensive
- Images are extremely noise (ISO 200 setting is pushing it, 400 is unusable)
- Rickety pop-up flash – placed off lens axis
- Slippery zoom toggle
- Small controls
- Poorly translated scene help screens     

Conclusion
With 8.4 megapixels, a 2.5-inch LCD screen, and a Leica 4x optical zoom lens with optical image stabilization, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 has a lot to offer consumers. That is, consumers with lots of money to offer Panasonic. The LX1 retails for $599, which is a substantial amount of money for a compact digital camera. The camera body itself isn’t especially gorgeous; it is more functional than sleek. The camera body has some good aspects to it: sturdy construction, a large LCD that can be viewed at just about any angle, and the compact dimensions; however, if consumers are expected to drop $599 on a point-and-shoot camera, noise should not be an issue.

The big distinguishing mark of the LX1 is, of course, the native 16:9 aspect ratio; the Panasonic Lumix LX1 is marketed as the first consumer digital camera with a 16:9 mode optimized for widescreen televisions. This does make the LX1 unique, though admittedly users can resize pictures to that format anyway – but not without a loss of quality. This is where the LX1 would shine, except it is not anything special in terms of image quality. In fact, this is one of its weaker points. It comes back to noise; like many other Lumix models before it, the LX1, with shutter speeds of up to 60 seconds cannot be used in anything other than bright daylight if optimal image quality is to be preserved. Users who do not mind chroma noise (colored grain and speckles) throughout the image will not object to the LX1, however, if clarity is an issue (as one might expect for users looking for a camera compatible with their HD television), the LX1 is surely not the answer.

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