Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3EB-K

Featuring a F2.0 24mm ultra-wide angle Leica DC Vario Summicron lens, the new Lumix DMC-LX3 from Panasonic offers the performance of an SLR with the convenience of a compact. Now professionals and enthusiasts alike can capture stunning images whenever inspiration strikes, even in low light. Simply put, the LX3 smashes all previous perceptions about the limitations of a digital compact camera, setting a lofty new standard in performance, quality and creative capabilities. The fantastic step up is represented by the newly developed F2.0 24mm equivalent ultra-wide-angle LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMICRON lens in the LX3. The F2.0 lens is about twice as bright as the F2.8 lens, itself generally considered a bright lens. With the new F2.0 lens, the LX3 can shoot at higher shutter speeds and capture stunningly clear, sharp, blur-free images in lower lighting situation. This advanced lens also makes it easy to produce beautiful photos with pleasing soft background focusing thanks to the shallow depth of field provided by the extra light. In addition, the 24mm ultra-wide-angle lens – rare on a compact camera – gives photographers a wider range of composition possibilities. The super-high-quality LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMICRON lens minimizes distortion at the wide end, so users can get stunning, true-to-life images with outstanding resolution and detail. The LX3 captures approx.213% larger viewing space compared to that of a normal 35mm camera, and even approx.136% larger compared to what a 28mm wide-angle lens can do. The LX3 is also equipped with Panasonic's advanced image processing LSI, the Venus Engine IV. This high-speed high-performance imaging engine makes it possible to capture clean, beautiful, low-noise photos even when shooting at high sensitivity settings. Separating chromatic noise from luminance noise and low-frequency noise from high-frequency noise, and applying the optimal noise-reduction processing to each, the Venus Engine IV provides superior noise control and minimization of color bleeding. The LX3 boasts a large 3.0-inch LCD with a 3:2 aspect ratio and high 460,000-dot resolution. Performance is outstanding for both shooting and viewing. A new LCD panel provides bright, easy-to-see images over a wider viewing angle. The Intelligent LCD function, standard on all Lumix models, assures comfortable viewing in virtually all conditions by automatically adjusting the backlighting of LCD as the ambient light level changes. At the heart of the LX3 is a key component that distinguishes it from all other compact cameras: a 1/1.63-inch 10.1-megapixel CCD. Boldly defying the trend to cram in the most pixels possible, Panasonic limited the LX3's large 1/1.63-inch CCD to 10.1 megapixels. This made it possible to make each pixel around 45% larger than those in ordinary 10-megapixel cameras. As a result, both sensitivity and saturation is around 40% higher than in ordinary models, giving the LX3 exquisite image quality with both excellent sensitivity and a wide dynamic range. The LX3 also provides dramatically improved color reproduction in low lighting, where noise is typically a problem. Normally, to produce an image of 3:2 or 16:9 aspect ratio, a 4:3 picture will be cropped, so the picture does not retain the best resolution. However, the CCD in DMC-LX3 can reproduce images shot with the lens set from 24mm to 60mm in any of three aspect ratios; 4:3, 3:2 or 16:9, so you can always capture dynamic, richly expressive shots with a wide perspective. The newly added Multi Aspect mode allows the camera to take an image in all three aspect ratios simultaneously for the photographer to choose the one that best takes the advantage of the scene after shooting.