Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3EB-K > Reviews (3)

Panasonic have released a number of different camera's in their lumix series and this one is the DMC-LX3 - it's at the more expensive end of the the series costing between £350 and £400 to buy new.

Specifications and points of interest:
- 10.1mp
- 24-60mm optical zoom
- Leica lens
- SD compatability (small internal memory)
- 3" LCD
- inbuilt flash (well hidden by being recessed into the top of the camera's body, it pops up when you slide a button across)
- Capable of shooting RAW (useful for say the professional photographer looking for a professional compact, however most people won't need this function and probably shouldn't use it as you'll find that your standard computer won't be able to open the files - you need proper software to do it)
- Hot shoe
- 10 second timer
- exposure compensation

The lens is quite chunky and doesn't fully recess into the body of the camera, however despite this the camera manages to retain quite a compact size with a decent weight - not so light you'll forget you've got it, but not so heavy that it will get on your nerves. The body also feels well made and durable and has a matt finish which doesn't attract finger prints.

As far as shooting is concerned, there are a number of options including the standard scene selections such as pet, food and baby. The intelligent auto function is very capable, with auto white balance also being effective and the camera copes very well with shooting indoors without flash. The camera is capable of taking images in very quick succession (easily less than a second between each) which is handy if you're trying to take action shots and is capable of focusing from roughly 2cm from the subject and there is a focus button although pressing it doesn't seem to make the camera do anything that it doesn't already do of it's own accord.

The movie function is good and keeps focus well even when moving the camera rapidly past a scene.

The results are very pleasing in most circumstances - crisp, sharp photos with accurate colour and contrast although you want to be careful with the ISO settings. The camera does go up to 3200, but this is so noisy it's unuseable - it's useable from about 400.

The setting adjustments are not the most intuitive and it would be advisable to read the manual - I didn't and it took me 10 minutes of pressing random buttons just to work out how to set the ISO (for reference you have to press and hold down the 'q.menu' button to bring up options).

Overall I like this camera - it's capable of producing some very pleasing photos and has a decent movie function, however I feel that the setting adjustments are needlessy complicated and for the price I would expect a greater degree of manual adjustments available or at least improved noise levels at higher ISO's. I can't say that I either would or would not recommend this camera - if you don't mind the price then this would be a great compact for taking photos in decent light conditions and even indoor shots due to the accurate auto white balance, however if you plan on taking very low light shots (evening, night etc) you'll probably be disappointed with the noise, I also wouldn't recommend the camera to someone who wanted to learn more about photography through manual adjustments as you won't get it with this.

*also posted on dooyoo*