Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 10MP Compact

[BertieWooster]

October 4, 2006 at 11:16 am

Has anyone got or used a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2?

I?m on the lookout for a good carry-everywhere compact and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 at 10MP, 28-112mm, ISO 100-3200, with full manual control of shutter speed and aperture looks appealing at around Eu 350. However one reviewer didn?t sound impressed about the print quality, stating the higher ISO settings and/or large prints weren?t great quality. He did add that using RAW mode and tweaking the images in Photoshop could produce better results, but didn?t seem to have tried it himself. I?d be happy to shoot in RAW mode and tweak those few important images in Photoshop if necessary. Most of my serious photography, bar a bit of Macro work, would still be done with my Nikon DSLR.

BTW, the review was at:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_lx2-review/index.shtml

If anyone recommends good alternatives, that?s welcome, but one feature the alternative compact must have is full manual control of shutter speed and aperture ? the ?M? of ?MSAP?.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Bertie

[Allinthemind]

October 6, 2006 at 9:26 am

Bertie,

Also consider if you’ll need a hot shoe or external flash attachment. Alex Ingram uses a lumix (the previous version) and raves about it. Perhaps give him a call? He likes the widescreen aspect.

All best

Si

[BertieWooster]

October 9, 2006 at 1:23 pm

Allinthemind wrote:

Bertie,

Also consider if you’ll need a hot shoe or external flash attachment. Alex Ingram uses a lumix (the previous version) and raves about it. Perhaps give him a call? He likes the widescreen aspect.

All best

Si

Thanks, Simon.

I think you mentioned that to me one other time but I forgot that he had that camera. I’ll have a chat with him indeed.

It is a new camera, and hence info on it seems to be scarce. But I think that it is something of a standards-setter among today’s compacts and worth looking into.

[Not Pete the bloke]

October 10, 2006 at 8:42 pm

DPReview have now posted a review of the LX2 –

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/PanasonicLX2/

conclusion:
“Perfect for: advanced users (particularly landscape photographers) prepared to do raw processing, who rarely if ever need to go over ISO 200

Not ideal for: Casual ‘snap shot’ photographers, anyone who takes most of their pictures in low light (particularly if you always leave your camera on ‘auto everything’).”

[ellude]

October 11, 2006 at 2:48 am

Hi Bertie

Unfortunately the compact camera manufacturers find themselves in such a competitive market that the two main priorites have become craming in as many megapixels as possible and building at the cheapest possible price. Those are the important things in the average consumer’s eye. I bet if someone came up with a well-built camera, with the emphasis on image quality and decent manual controls rather than mp count they could make a packet!

Some alternatives:

One ‘quality’ compact is the Ricoh GR. I love the thinking behind that camera, but the 28mm fixed lens makes me hesitate. If it was a 35mm, or even 50mm, I might go for it, but 28mm just seems a bit too wide for general photography (for me anyway).

Likewise, the Fujifilm 30 camera seems to get good reviews, especially for low light work, but silly cost-cutting ideas like removing the viewfinder (can you believe it!) makes me hesitate. This means you are forced to hold the camera out at arm’s length and look in the screen at the back to take a picture. Hardly ideal, as pressing a normal viewfinder against your face is a big help in avoiding camera shake. Other downsides are the lack of a true manual mode. It doesn’t have a hot-shoe either.

If you can find a used one, I have read very good reviews of the now discontinued Olympus C7070 (it has lots of good things – olympus lens which means sharp, magnesium body, ‘easy to reach’ manual controls, a raw mode, takes an external flash, etc)

One review, from someone I think knows a lot about photography, at this site http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/c-wz/c7070.html concludes: “The C-7070WZ would be still my top choice for a user who needs a pro-grade, non-SLR model for good handling, full control, and serious results.”

Sample pictures from the olympus can be found here: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/c7070_samples.html

Hope it helps…

[BertieWooster]

October 11, 2006 at 5:17 pm

Brandyman

Thanks for the link to that recent review. Those guys really do leave no stone unturned in their reviews. They are saying something similar to the other reviewer though – above ISO 100 the digital noise is a problem. Dunno. I’m less sure now about buying it.

ellude

Thanks for the info and suggestions. As luck would have it, the only other camera I was considering as an alternative was that Ricoh GR. I can’t quite fathom why they chose to supply it with a 28mm (equivalent) lens. But that aside it seems to be capable of outstanding quality and does have manual exposure and ev. In macro mode it is supposed to focus from 2cm to infinity. 2cm! Am I reading that correctly?

Decisions, decisions, decisions…. :-(

[stasber]

October 30, 2006 at 10:45 am

Just idling about on here today & came across this thread, seems I’m a bit late for it.

Bertie, you know I’ve been having the same raving loony discussions with my brain over the past few weeks and came up trumps with the LX2 above all other options too. Read many many reviews and am still unsure because of one small (NOT) ‘glitch’! If this thread went to a ‘buy buy buy’ tune that probably would have sold it to me there & then.

But the qualm is how some of the reviews pick up, and concur with, the issue of NR. Apparently the lowest NR setting is still too aggressive even for ISO 100. I’m not too bothered by lack of viewfinder and think I can cope without external/hot shoe-mounted flash. But the NR is a bug bear as it’ll affect pretty much every one of those perfectly concocted images. One person has even started a petition to address the issue (http://www.gopetition.com/online/9523.html). It being a firmware issue, it has the possibility of being fixed with an update. At Panasonic’s whim.

So I’m still in the quandary and am reserved about this camera until something positive comes of the NR issue. For me too the Ricoh GR was the other contender and ticks all the boxes (and love that clean design!) except for the fixed lens. Nice though it is there are situations when a zoom is very practical. Decisions indeed.

[BertieWooster]

November 1, 2006 at 3:50 pm

Interesting conclusions, stasber. I have arrived at the conclusion that I’ll buy neither the Lumix nor the Ricoh until either Panosonic improves the noise problem or Ricoh offers a model with another lens. The cameras are nearly there – but not quite ideal yet.