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Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3

Digital Camera Review

This review is organized into 15 pages

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Physical Tour

September 18, 2008 By Tim Barribeau

8 Comments
(add your own)

Section The Good The Bad

Tour

Attractive retro body

Cramped, small buttons

Testing/Performance

Good color, manual noise and video scores

Unimpressive automatic noise, resolution, white balance, low light and dynamic range scores

Components

High quality wide-angle lens, powerful pop up flash

Fixed lens bulks up body considerably

Design/Layout

Attractive aesthetic, feels solid and well built

Poorly designed menu system

Modes

Extensive scene modes, HD video

Minimal editing in playback, almost no control in Auto Mode

Control Options

Fast auto focus, good macro mode, extensive ISO range, good automatic white balance

No fluorescent white balance preset, maximum 8 second exposure in Shutter Priority mode

Image Parameters

Three aspect ratios, RAW and RAW+JPEG modes

Limited number of picture effects

Connectivity/Extras

Worthwhile included software

Minimal DPOF support

The Lumix DMC-LX3 is Panasonic's newest high-end point-and-shoot camera. Designed for use by photo enthusiasts and professionals, it boasts a distinctive retro style, the option to use an external viewfinder and external flash, and extensive manual controls. However, for a camera that is aimed at such a sophisticated market, it produced average results on the majority of our performance tests, only distinguishing itself in color, manual noise and video capture. Its mediocre scores are problematic for a camera that’s trying to attract serious users, and while it regained some ground by having a high level of customizability, a good lens, and extensive controls, we found its test results were too low to justify the $500 price tag.

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