How much lumix lx5

Reviewed Dec 15, User reviews. See all user reviews. Gear list. Product description. Announced Jul 21, Discuss in the Panasonic Compact Camera Talk forum.

Product timeline. Interview: Sofi Lee is a pro shooting with vintage digital compacts. Just posted: Enthusiast Compact Group Test. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 is the much-anticipated successor to the LX3, a compact digital camera that proved especially popular with experienced photographers due to its fast lens, full range of manual shooting modes and RAW file support.

The new LX5 aims to build on the success of its predecessor with a new 3. Other key improvements to the LX5 include a re-designed user interface, Power OIS anti-shake system, Intelligent Resolution technology and an optional electronic viewfinder.

Successor to the LX3, the metal construction Nevertheless, as folk from the Midlands would say, it feels 'quality', and is certainly the most intriguing Lumix model among the five compacts and superzooms announced back in July. Its closest rival is to be found in Canon's G-series PowerShot range, or at least that's Panasonic's stated intention. Aimed at both high end amateur photo enthusiasts plus existing snapshot owners looking for a step up, but presumably not wanting the comparative bulk of a Micro Four Thirds hybrid model nor DSLR for a similar price, the LX5 provides both full iAuto and manual shooting options.

It however gives a nod to Panasonic's G-series hybrids, in particular the GF1, by including an accessory port for an optional Live View finder just below its vacant hotshoe.

So, in the absence of built-in optical or electronic viewfinder, the LCD is naturally used for shot composition and review. The screen itself is a bright, class leading 3-inches with k dot resolution that provides a naturalistic translation of the scene before the lens. However you will still find yourself squinting and cupping a hand around it in bright sunlight. It further boasts a 3. Quite effective this is too. OK, so that focal range is still modest compared to the delights of Panasonic's TZ series or even its recent FZ super zoom, but in practice it does the job.

And, being forced to take a step forward or back to frame the shot how you want can actually have a positive effect; you spend more time considering it and weighing up the options. The result? Hopefully you capture a better photograph. That said, if photographers really want, they can take advantage of the fact that the DMC-LX5 also provides an Extra Optical Zoom option - albeit with incremental resolution decreases. There's a choice of 4.

Rest the LX5 in your palm, a manageable g even with battery and card inserted, and you'll be tempted to make exploratory prods, twists and presses almost immediately. The sliding switch that releases the pop-up flash with a satisfying 'clunk' being particularly enticing, as is, just as obviously, the slider switch sitting atop the lens barrel for adjusting picture ratios.

The LX5 is, for those looking to tentatively get more hands on with their images, a veritable box of goodies. There's the option of selecting the standard digital ratio dead centre of the 'dial', with , and, more unusually, , being the alternatives. Slide your left hand down and to the left of the lens surround and there's a further tactile switch for swapping between auto focus, macro focus and manual focus. Panasonic suggests the LX5's grip is an improvement over the LX3.

It may not be large but its leather-effect rubber padding further prevents the camera from feeling like it will slip from your grasp in a strong wind. Overall it comes across as a more compact and elegant solution than Canon or Nikon alternatives, with body proportions measuring a manageable This therefore is a camera that will slip readily into a pair of jeans, not just a safari jacket.

So, as we did, you'll find yourself taking it out more often. The 'tweaks' referred to at the outset govern the LX5's CCD sensor, which has been re-designed over the LX3, claims Panasonic, as has its image processor. If you care about the quality of your pictures and the control you need to take them, but you want a camera you can take everywhere and not notice its weight, this is your camera.

The only gripes I have are that the audio pickup for shooting movies isn't great quality, and I always forget to put the macro mode switch back to normal auto-focus. But those are minor compared to this excellent camera. Well, I've searched tremendously a lot before purchasing a camera. I was looking for a quality camera that would take very clear pictures in house as well and even when it's a bit dark.

I am NOT an experienced camera user, I am a simply man who looks for the best sharp image camera out there in all daily situation without using the features, simply using the auto version. And I can tell you that I am very pleased for the image quality and great resolution in low light in house pictures. One more thing, it takes pictures pretty quick, meaning you won't need to wait too long between each picture you'd like to shoot.

That's a great plus too. Am moving from a heavy Canon 40D to lighter weight equipment. Am doing an advanced compact and superzoom bridge. This little LX5 is a dream to use, and carry around. More than enough buttons and dials to keep me happy and picture quality is very impressive. Because of the size I'm skipping it in my jacket pocket and taking it almost everywhere I go.

Now just have to hope the superzoom bridge will fill the telephoto needs as well. Waiting for it to arrive. So impressed with Panasonic the the bridge superzoom ordered is also Panasonic FZ As a ditigal photo beginner, the Panasonic LX5's artifical intelligence is smarter than I am. So, maybe, one day, I will know enough to use the manual and raw to create works of art. However, my photography is more for informational content than works of art, so manual and raw are there just so if I ever get around to it.

My buying decision was to purchase a camera with a high probability of a good photos by "point and shoot" in potentially low light situations at short range. The LX5 had very good reviews with sophisticated analysis of technical data and sample photos and comparisions to other cameras.

The LX3 was noted for its excellent performance, so the LX5 has a lot to live up to. It gets off to a promising start, powering up and taking a picture in approximately 2. Unlike the LX3 the LX5 has no unlimited continuous shooting mode, but does have a burst mode, shooting three frames in just under a second. Its low-light performance is still just as outstanding.

The AF assist lamp is still a bit weak, but it will focus in total darkness at a range of several metres. The pop-up flash is also unchanged, with an effective range at wide angle of and impressive 7. The new lens is just as good as the old one, producing pin-sharp focus from corner to corner with very little wide-angle barrel distortion and no trace of chromatic aberration. At 80 to ISO the results are pretty much the same as the LX3, with excellent clarity and no noise at the lowest settings.

However at ISO upwards the results are surprisingly somewhat worse than the LX3, with a lot of noise and lost detail at ISO, while the new lower resolution and ISO settings produce very poor results.

The image quality is still exceptionally good by the standards of most other compact cameras, but apart from slightly faster performance and a more versatile zoom range there seems to be very little significant improvement over the LX3. On this page the full size image at the minimum and maximum ISO settings have been reduced to let you see the full image, and a series of full resolution crops have taken from original images at a range of ISO settings to show the overall image quality.

These pictures were taken indoors using reflected natural light. In some cases, the full size image has been reduced for bandwidth purposes, and a crop taken from the original full resolution image has been placed below it to show the overall image quality.

Some other pictures may be clicked to view the original full-size image. See below for a full res crop, or click to see the whole picture.

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