Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3
Digital Camera Review
Sep 18, 2008
- By Tim Barribeau
2.3
The Lumix DMC-LX3 is Panasonic's newest high-end point-and-shoot camera. Marked by an eye-catching retro aesthetic, the LX3 is designed with photo enthusiasts and professionals firmly in mind. Priced at $500, the camera is armed with the new 1/1.63” CCD sensor, and is meant to deliver lower noise and better low light results. Did it manage to live up to this goal? How did it perform on the rest of our rigorous testing? Read on and find out...
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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.
Section
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The Good
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The Bad
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Tour
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Attractive retro body |
Cramped, small buttons
|
Testing/Performance
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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
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Attractive aesthetic, feels solid and well built |
Poorly designed menu system |
Modes
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Extensive scene modes, HD video |
Minimal editing in playback, almost no control in Auto Mode |
Control Options
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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
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Three aspect ratios, RAW and RAW+JPEG modes |
Limited number of picture effects |
Connectivity/Extras
|
Worthwhile included software |
Minimal DPOF support |
Value
|
Able to use existing external flashes |
Expensive for average test results |
