You might think that the aspect ratio of photographs was somehow set in stone, engraved on a tablet that read “thy photos shall be 4 units in length and 3 in height.” But the truth of the matter is that the aspect ratio (the ratio of the width to height) of modern photographs is more accident than design: it was first developed in the 1930s when a technician in Thomas Edison’s lab took some 70mm film stock, sliced it in half and used it in an experimental still camera, leading to the 35mm film format that most film cameras still use to this day. The width of this 35mm film has defined the size of modern photographs ever since. With the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2, however, the traditional format is ousted for a more modern 16:9 format optimized for widescreen televisions. Moviemakers have long known that an aspect ratio of 16:9 is more pleasing to the eye because it’s closer to what your eyes naturally see. That’s why modern HDTVs are wider than conventional ones, and why the Panasonic Lumix LX2 breaks the 4:3 rule and takes photos with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The 10-megapixel Panasonic LX2 is an update to the LX1, and adds more resolution and new features such as the world’s first Intelligent ISO control that measures both lighting and movement in an image, and adjusts the ISO appropriately.