Lumix LX-3 is here

[lct]

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Newbies may come and learn from old grumpies as well. Of course i don't refer to you Simon.

[Ruhayat]

Compare as well A3 or even A4 prints out of your digicam to others and you will understand why we are not totally stupid when we use APS-C, 35mm, medium format or large format cameras. There's no free lunch i'm afraid.

 

I agree. I used small sensor digicams exclusively prior to 2008 out of choice -- Panasonic LC40 + FZ5, Leica Digilux 2 + D-Lux 3, Ricoh GRD . Then I decided to get a secondhand dSLR with 50mm prime lens even though I don't like SLRs very much (something to do with the camera getting in the way, mostly psychologically). The main reason being I was doing more and more shoots of people at events, and I wanted the bokeh that's so easy to get with the bigger camera, and achievable with small sensor cams only with some hard work.

 

It's not just the image quality when blown up and printed plus the reasons you've mentioned. Small sensor cams -- excepting the Digilux 2 and Ricoh GRD/GX100 -- are generally incredibly fiddly (joysticks?), difficult to operate in manual mode (exposure, shutter speed, white balance), and hard to focus (forget about moving targets -- it's not just the AF, but the shutter lag too).

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[hoppyman]

The new f/2,0-2,8 lens looks great, they're adding an external VF and boasting ISO 6400. This little baby is gonna be a M8 killer.

You're kidding right? With its tiny sensor?

I think the idea is great for a compact but hardly meant to compete with the M8, certainly. The hyperbole in the web release is just a little silly, talking about exquisite image quality and its 'large' sensor.

By the way, here in Australia it will cost more than the Olympus E420 with kit zoom.

 

I'm sure we'll see it with a Red Dot attached but I really hope that this isn't the star of Photokina for them.

[sean_reid]

I'm sure we'll see it with a Red Dot attached but I really hope that this isn't the star of Photokina for them.

 

The star of Photokina for Leica? Probably not...<G>

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[ho_co]

... I really hope that this isn't the star of Photokina for them.

I'm sure as usual Sean knows more than he's telling.

 

My guess is that the big item at photokina will be the solar-powered M8 charger.

 

It will have no carbon footprint at all, and mean the end of all those reports of the current charger's wall plugs breaking off.

 

Of course, its physical footprint will be fairly large since it's designed for mean daily sunshine amounts in western Germany.

 

[Guest stnami]

We can squeal and wriggle as much as we like but this is about Panasonic and others, Leica just adds a tweak and re-badges the work of others in the p&s market

[gepetto]

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I didn't read through the whole thread so please forgive me if this was mentioned but why oh why would they change the aspect ratio of the LCD again? The beauty of the LX2/DLUX3 was the LCD matched the sensor. Now it is back to cropping the image on the LCD for 16:9. So they went from a 4:3 screen LX1/DLUX2 to 16:9 LX2/DLUX3 and now to a 3:2 LCD.

 

That is just insanity.

 

Plus I think they should make a viewfinder that covers the LCD that attaches using the tripod mount. Kind of like the one with the Digilux 1 but that covers the whole viewfinder with a viewing hole.

[ho_co]

Gepetto,

Any size LCD screen is going to be wrong for two of the formats, so whatever ratio is chosen is fine with me. This screen may be less expensive, or easier to use with the new sensor; and I hope it will leave more room for my thumb on the back of the camera, though it doesn't look as if that's the case. Since the LX-1 LCD didn't crop the image, but used as much of the screen as necessary to display the whole image, I imagine Panasonic will do the same here.

 

I'm very interested to know what size the actual recorded RAW image is, and whether it varies with choice of aspect ratio. The LX-1 and LX-2 both recorded the full 16:9 image for every exposure but only displayed the ratio you had set. You can uncover the rest of the image by using DNG Recover Edges, but even though I've asked, no one has said what the image dimensions are when recovered with the software. I guess I'm just going to have to get the camera and try it myself.

[Ruhayat]

Had a chance to play with a friend's new LX-3 for a bit. It's certainly better value for money than my D-Lux 3, with the hotshoe and sharper lens. Feels good in the hand, too, although given that the lens protrudes anyway -- making it not really pocketable -- they could have made it a tad bigger overall.

 

My wish list? They should have made the lens a series of primes instead of a seamless zoom. A thumbwheel control dial would be a good idea. And a manual focus ring would have been good -- even a pseudo-manual one like that on the LC5/Digilux 1 would be 100x better than the tiny joystick.

 

Can't wait to see what the Micro 4/3 turns up.

[ptomsu]

Owning the Dlux2 and 3 I will most probably not go again for the LX3 (or future Dlux4. Reason is, the lens makes the body to thick.

 

This type of camera is something I want to use as everyday tool, so I can easily slip it into some pocket. This is not really easy given the thickness of the camera.

 

It is really sad that they do not offer something like a FX-100 with the same sensor, but fully integrated lens and RAW capabilities. I love the FX-100, because I can carry it really easy with me all the time. Only thing I miss would be the low light capability of the LX3, I would even be happy with a zoom starting at 28, well maybe at 25.

[Bob Ross]

I don't know about the others on this forum, but I am a little surprised here; having tested numerous cameras, both digital and M + R models, I am quite disgusted really, at what i am seeing. I have a very old 4mp Olympus, which i use as a comparison type camera.

bearing in mind thid cameras is at least 6/7 years old, has had atleast three owners !- It still wipes the floor with these so called state of the art point and shoot cameras, not withstanding the stated 10.3 available MP. I regularly print up 8x10 shots from the Olympus; it takes a hell of a lot of looking/ comparing, but these are the equivalent of an M6 image. i have yet to see an equivalent from a panasonic whatever. Even the maligned Digilux 3- showing same subject side by side, without knowing which camera took which shot, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. And this is supposed to be the latest ? Words fail me. Sorry about that, but i really had to post.

You didn't really have to post did you? There are lots of facets to image quality and if you know how and where to look you will notice differences, even in 8" X 10" prints, between the older low rez small sensors and the newest generation of larger sensors. If you are not seeing the differences and others are, then good for you, you'll save a lot of money.

Bob

[achix]

greetings,

 

i just bought lx3 and i am very happy the result in the "LCD", all of the results are outstanding however, when i transfered all the photo into my computer, they are not as good as on the lcd they tends to be darker. does anyone experience this as well? please help me find the solution

 

ps": i seldom use flash to caputer my photos because i feel using flash makes the picture look unatural. should i use flash? please help

 

Chris