Thread: LX7 down to $275 directly from Panasonic.

Down to $275 now. How low can it go?

Enter coupon "LX745" to take $225 off.

Panasonic DMC-LX7K - LUMIX LX7 10.1 Megapixel Digital Camera - Overview

Hmmm... the LX7 got a glowing review from DPReview - perhaps even better than the review the Sony RX100 got. Dunno... what do the best and brightest at Serious Compacts think? Better to grab this, wait for the inevitable one-inch sensored enthusiast compact from Panasonic or just buy an Olympus E-PM2 and use it with pancake lenses like I've been using my E-PM1 (which would be gifted away)?

I've used both the LX7 and RX100 and believe the RX100 has a pretty large IQ edge even at the telephoto end (90-100mm). F2.3 is nice to have though. How do you like the 06 zoom on the Pentax Q, btw...?

The RX100 definitely has a sensor to die for and if you like the rest of the camera they built around it and want to spend the money, it's a great little camera. I had one that's my wife's now and she leaves it on auto and loves it. But to get that big a sensor in such a small camera, the lens is pretty compromised in terms of both aperture (which I care about) and corner softness (which I don't). And the handling, to ME, is terrible. I just couldn't enjoy shooting with that camera.

The LX7 sensor isn't in the same league, but the lens is really nice. The sensor is only good up to 400-800 and maybe useable to 1600 in a pinch, (the Sony is good at 3200) but you can do a LOT with that at f1.4 - 2.3. And the multi-aspect sensor and all of the external controls make it waaaaay too much fun to shoot with. I'm hopeful they'll do a good 1" sensor compact within the next year or so, but to maintain a sharp and fast lens they're gonna have to make it bigger than Sony did and bigger than the LX7 - maybe X100 size? Or maybe they'll compromise on the lens too and keep it smallish? Hopefully the trade offs will work out. Meanwhile the trade offs on the LX7 work way better for me and at that price, it was an easy call. I suspect we'll look back at the LX3-7 as classics of their era. I'm loving the LX7 again - it was hard to justify at full price,given its obvious limitations compared to the RX100 and X10, but at $300 or less, I couldn't pass it up. Ita one of the most capable and enjoyable all around cameras I've ever shot with.

-Ray

Originally Posted by zapatista

I've used both the LX7 and RX100 and believe the RX100 has a pretty large IQ edge even at the telephoto end (90-100mm). F2.3 is nice to have though. How do you like the 06 zoom on the Pentax Q, btw...?

I'll have to let you know. It's actually a Christmas present that bought for myself but gave to my wife to wrap for under the tree. Does that make sense?

Originally Posted by Ray

The RX100 definitely has a sensor to die for and if you like the rest of the camera they built around it and want to spend the money, it's a great little camera. I had one that's my wife's now and she leaves it on auto and loves it. But to get that big a sensor in such a small camera, the lens is pretty compromised in terms of both aperture (which I care about) and corner softness (which I don't). And the handling, to ME, is terrible. I just couldn't enjoy shooting with that camera.

The LX7 sensor isn't in the same league, but the lens is really nice. The sensor is only good up to 400-800 and maybe useable to 1600 in a pinch, (the Sony is good at 3200) but you can do a LOT with that at f1.4 - 2.3. And the multi-aspect sensor and all of the external controls make it waaaaay too much fun to shoot with. I'm hopeful they'll do a good 1" sensor compact within the next year or so, but to maintain a sharp and fast lens they're gonna have to make it bigger than Sony did and bigger than the LX7 - maybe X100 size? Or maybe they'll compromise on the lens too and keep it smallish? Hopefully the trade offs will work out. Meanwhile the trade offs on the LX7 work way better for me and at that price, it was an easy call. I suspect we'll look back at the LX3-7 as classics of their era. I'm loving the LX7 again - it was hard to justify at full price,given its obvious limitations compared to the RX100 and X10, but at $300 or less, I couldn't pass it up. Ita one of the most capable and enjoyable all around cameras I've ever shot with.

-Ray

I hear you and, as you can see in my signature, I still have my LX3. The LX7 is a good deal larger than the LX3, isn't it?

Originally Posted by Biro

I hear you and, as you can see in my signature, I still have my LX3. The LX7 is a good deal larger than the LX3, isn't it?

Some, but very very close to the LX5. The LX7 is less than 1mm longer than the LX5, about 1.5mm taller, and a little over 2mm deeper, but a lot of the depth is attributable to a small rear overhang of the hot-shoe to make room for the microphones in front of it. I had an LX5 and don't really feel or see any difference between that and the LX7 - you have to put them next to each other and measure to find the difference. From what I can find on the LX3, its within a mm or so of the same length, but is notably shorter, about 7-8mm. The measurements of depth of the LX3 are sooooo much smaller than either the LX5 or LX7 I frankly can't believe they're measuring the same dimension. About 27mm for the LX3 vs 43 for the LX5 and 45 for the LX7 - that just doesn't sound believable to me. I've seen and held an LX3 in the past - its not that much different...

But yeah, some growth over the years. To me, well worth it. If small size was my primary consideration, I'd be looking at the S110 or RX100 - I've shot with both the S90 and RX100 and I just find other factors far more important. The LX series and the Fuji X10 are coat pocketable, not pants pocketable (at least not easily) but they handle like real camera with easily accessible controls. The little guys try to cram so much into so little space that they've had to come up with some pretty clever control-design solutions and you've gotta hand it to 'em for making it work at all. But neither of them ever felt at all right to me for anything other than putting them on Auto and just hitting the shutter button.

-Ray

Ray, I just measured my LX3. Sure enough, the depth is 27mm...but that doesn't count the (fixed) lens. Taking into account the lens, the depth is 43 mm with lens cap off, 50 mm with cap on.

Originally Posted by Crsnydertx

Ray, I just measured my LX3. Sure enough, the depth is 27mm...but that doesn't count the (fixed) lens. Taking into account the lens, the depth is 43 mm with lens cap off, 50 mm with cap on.

Thanks Chuck, about the same as the LX5 or LX7 without the hot shoe extending back a couple of mm. So the only notable difference between the LX3 and its younger siblings is the height, which is a noticeable difference.

-Ray

Obviously, I still have my LX3, but I rarely use it. I never got comfortable with the joystick controller; is that still a feature of the LX series?