Panasonic Lumix LX7 Digital Camera Review

Conclusion

This was a very tough review—a case where the lab scores don't tell the full story. Judging by our test results you'd think this camera rivals the Sony RX100, or the Canon S100. And in technical terms the LX7 does look great. We were particularly impressed by the accurate color score, as well as the Leica lens' excellent sharpness. Dynamic range was even slightly better than the RX100, one area in which that camera could use improvement. We just don't feel like the LX7 should've outscored the RX100 overall, or even the S100.

But the sad truth is, images captured with the LX7 just aren't very attractive. They're flat, appear soft (despite the high sharpness score), and while F1.4 is impressive, the bokeh looks unappealing. While shooting with the RX100, we could almost forget we were using a compact. Not so with the LX7: image quality kept reminding us of the camera's limitations.

What we'd like to see in the LX9 is a bigger, better sensor. A bright lens is great, but it's wasted here on a 1/1.7-inch chip. Also, we're not usually ones for megapixel wars, but the RX100 has literally double the resolution; there's just so much more data to work with. The LX7 is a good camera, but there's little reason to recommend it when a similar but superior product exists in the same price range.