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Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3
Digital Camera Review
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Viewfinder (0.00)
While the LX3 doesn't have a built-in optical viewfinder, one can be purchased separately and inserted into the flash hot shoe.
The LCD has an impressive 460,000 pixels over its 3-inch, 3:2 ratio area. This is double the pixel density usually found on point-and-shoot cameras, and is very clear. The screen is bright, but does suffer from some solarization when viewed from extreme angles. The brightness of the monitor can be adjusted to one of seven different levels of brightness, or it can do so itself, automatically. While shooting, three different display modes are available: shooting information, with all the pertinent details regarding focal modes, flash, metering, exposure, histograms, battery levels and such; a composition grid to help you compose your photos; or no additional information at all.
The screen is large and bright, but leaves little space for controls
The LCD shows the majority of controls while shooting
Flash (7.50)
The flash on the LX3 is hidden in the body most of time, and only deploys when a small switch on the top of the camera is flicked. This manual method of raising the flash has two advantages. First, the camera doesn’t raise the flash automatically in automated modes, , so an unexpected flash will not ruin your shots. It also places the flash further away from the lens, which means that red-eye should occur less often. When in use, the flash is bright, and relatively even. It cycled quickly, providing us with well-lit shots with a minimal delay.
There are four flash modes: Auto, Auto/Red-Eye, Forced Flash On and Slow Sync./Red Eye. On this camera, the red eye reduction technology works in two ways. First, it fires a less bright flash burst before a second full strength one, which causes your subject’s pupils to constrict, and stops the reflected light beams that cause red eye. The second way is by automatically sensing and correcting red-eye in photos you have already taken. Neither of these options is available independently.
The flash range given by Panasonic is 2 feet to 6 yards (60cm to 6 meters) while shooting using Auto ISO. You will find this increases or decreases depending on the ISO range you're shooting at.
The LX3 has an industry-standard hot shoe on top, so external flash units can be mounted directly onto this camera, which is a definite draw to sophisticated users.
The high flash position helps minimize red-eye, and
prevent stray fingers from blocking the light.
Lens (6.25)
The Lumix LX3 uses a DC Vario-Summicron 1:2.0-2.8/5.1-12.8 ASPH with a 35mm equivalent of 24-60mm. The lens has only a 2.5x zoom, necessitating getting up close to your subjects to get them fully in frame. However, since it is a wide-angle lens, you'll be getting a lot more breadth into the frame than you're used to, which makes this an excellent lens for landscape photography.
The lens does not retract fully, so even while the camera is off, a permanent inch of lens is present. This means that it won't sit comfortably in your jeans, and a lens cap is required to protect it. When the lens is powered up, another two tiers extend, unless, of course, you accidentally left the lens cap on.
While in macro mode, the lens can focus on objects as close as 0.5 inches away. This, combined with ability to precisely control where on the image sensor you want to focus, is a boon to anyone who is interested in macro photography.
The aperture range on the lens is f/2 - f/8 wide and f/2.8-f/8 in tele.
With the addition of a lens adapter, color filters or a wide conversion lens can be used, providing increased flexibility with the camera.
The Leica lens is wide-angle, but low zoom
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