Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 10.1 MP Digital Camera

Product Description

Panas Ic Lumix Dmc Lx5 101 Mp Digital Camera , Olympus Sz30 16 Mp Digital Camera Wide Angle 24x Optical Zoom , Nik Coolpix L120 141 Mp Digital Camera , Panas Ic Lumix Dmc Zs10 141 Mp Digital Camera , S Y Cyber Shot Dsc Tx10 162 Mp Waterproof Digital Still Camera , Color: White From the Manufacturer
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 is a unique compact digital camera offering photo enthusiasts the ideal way for capturing professional-quality photos and High Definition (HD) video. With an ultra-bright F2.0 ultra-wide-angle 24mm Leica DC Vario-Summicron lens, the Lumix LX5 minimizes image distortion, resulting in stunning, true-to-life images with outstanding resolution and detail. The 24mm wide angle lens offers extraordinarily large viewing space and now the optical zoom is extended to 3.8x (90mm) making the LX5 even more versatile. The F2.0 lens is twice as bright as a F2.8 lens, making it easy to produce beautiful photos with a soft-focused background thanks to the shallow depth of field provided by the extra light. In addition to the newly-designed lens, the Lumix LX5 features an image processing engine that combines technologies resulting in professional-quality photos, especially in low-light situations. Like its predecessor, the Lumix LX5 features the highly-acclaimed 10.1-megapixel CCD, but it has an expanded dynamic range by increasing the sensitivity and the saturation.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 Highlights
Venus Engine FHD image processor The newly developed Venus Engine FHD image processor enables higher-speed, higher-performance while compiling the Intelligent Resolution technology. The triple CPUs in this imaging engine dramatically speeds up processing while achieving exceptional noise reduction performance. With its high-sensitivity CCD and the brightness of the lens, minimum illumination of the Lumix LX5 is as low as 3 lux while shooting video. The predecessor DMC-LX3 played a big role to cease the pixel count war by adopting 1/1.63-inch CCD for 10.1-megapixel recording to realize the unprecedented picture quality with a compact digital camera and even to establish a new premium compact camera category in the market. The CCD in the LX3, which was highly acclaimed from specialists worldwide, is redesigned to achieve further expansion of dynamic range by increasing the sensitivity by approx. 31% and the saturation by approx.38% compared to the LX3. It is made possible by the improvement of on-tip-lens design with larger light concentration and VCCD expansion while deepening the photo diode to manage richer signal more effectively. The result is a high resolution, noise-less pictures even in high sensitivity recording and richly reproduced gradation in highly contrasted situations with the exquisitely wide dynamic range. Taking advantage of the high sensitivity CCD and the brightness of the lens, minimum illumination of DMC-LX5 is as low as 3 lux in movie recording. Record HD videos in AVCHD Lite In addition to Motion JPEG images, the DMC-LX5 can record high-definition motion picture in AVCHD Lite. It features almost doubling the recording time in HD quality compared with the conventional Motion JPEG format. The picture quality is greatly enhanced thanks to the newly added Intelligent Resolution technology. The LX5 also features Dolby Digital Creator to record high quality audio. In movie recording, the DMC-LX5 goes further than simply recording HD movies. Apart from the movie recording capability of conventional digital compact cameras, the DMC-LX5 also features a Creative Movie mode, which lets the user set the shutter speed and aperture manually to make even more impressive movies. Changing the shutter speed brings special effects to movies, which is especially suitable for shooting fast-moving subject. The ability to control the aperture is convenient when there are several subjects at different distances and it is desired to have each of them stand out. My Color mode is also available in movie recording. Ergonomic design for easy control The Lumix LX5 has also been redesigned externally--with a thicker grip making it easier to hold and a newly-incorporated turn-and-push jog dial achieves various selection and setting more quickly. The Lumix LX5 also features a hot shoe, which allows for the attachment of a wide-variety of accessories, such as an optional Live View Finder which helps shooting under strong daylight with high visibility or an external flash. The 1:1 square format setting is added in the aspect ratio option which can be selected with the switch at the side of the lens barrel. Additional Features

• The 3.0-inch large 460,000-dot high resolution Intelligent LCD also redesigned by adopting High CRI (Color Rendering Index) backlight LED to greatly increase the color reproduction, making it more visible both in shooting and playing back images in any conditions from at dark night to under bright sunlight.
• Battery life is extended to shoot 400 photos (CIPA) per a single charge.
• A wide-variety of optional accessories, including a Live View Finder (DMW-LVF1), External Optical View Finder (DMW-VF1), Wide Conversion Lens (DMW-LWA52), Conversion Lens Adaptor (DMW-LA6), MC Protector (DMW-MC52), ND Filter (DMW-LND52), PL Filter: DMW-LPL52, External Flashes, Leather Case (DMW-CLX5) and a Battery Pack (DMW-BCJ13).

What's in the Box LX5 digital camera, battery charger, battery pack, AV xable, USB cable, shoulder strap, CD-ROM, lens ring front, hot shoe cover, lens cap, lens cap string



This review is from: Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 10.1 MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD - Black (Camera)
Buying this camera involved the really hard choice between this camera and the also (apparently) excellent Canon S95. Both are 10MP compact cameras but the Canon is even smaller and lighter weight, so it begs the question, "Why buy this instead of the Canon?"

I often use my compact camera as a video solution too. While I have a nice dedicated digital camcorder (the Canon Vixia HF100), when I only want to carry around one camera and take lots of good quality stills as well as video, I need a camera that does both well. This camera has two things in particular that put its video suitability for me ahead of the Canon.

First is that it has a dedicated video button; mash the button, start taking video. No need to put the dial into some special mode before you can start shooting video. That makes it even more likely that you will take videos and you will capture the right moments when you do. Second is that it allows the use of zoom while recording video. The inability to zoom into something or out from something to capture the bigger picture is a crazy limitation that many compacts like the S95 and my older Lumix LZ10 have. Often it's to keep lens noise off of the audio on the recording but really, shouldn't that be my decision whether I'm willing to live with that or not. In the end, Panasonic seems to have settled on the compromise of just making the zoom be slower during video so you don't end up with lens noise.

Having just had the pleasure of using this camera for a five day vacation in New York City I can say that I am super pleased with the results. Low light results were fantastic for such a small camera. I basically left the flash off for the entire trip and got plenty of shots in restaurants, bars, stores, and even Radio City Music Hall that would have been a grainy mess with my old Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ10 or I could have gotten OK with my Canon Rebel XT but I would have been lugging around something that was five times the bulk and twice (or more) the weight. This slipped nicely into the pocket of my coat and got me great shot after great shot. As some people wiser than me have said, the best camera of all is the camera you actually have with you.

Note how fast the lens is even at the top end of it's range: 3.3. That's as fast at the top end of its range as the kit lens that came with my Rebel XT is at the bottom of its zoom range and faster than the one on the Canon S95 at the top end of its range as well. That additional light helps make for better pictures.

Note: There are some caveats you should know. First is that there are some tools like Google's Picasa that do not support as of Dec 2011 the RAW image format of the LX5. Adobe Lightroom 3 had no problem with them though. Likewise the AVCHD Lite format it uses for recording video is not yet supported by all tools either. While I've been able to play all of the video with ease using VLC, I think if I needed to edit the video I'd have to first convert it to a different format before iMovie would be able to work with it. Also worth noting is that it is not a great pocket camera if your idea of a pocket is your jeans pocket. Because the lens is outside the body of the camera, it is bulkier than a tiny compact like the S95. However it is plenty small enough to fit easily in a jacket pocket, a purse, or just carry in your hand without ever being annoying.