Featured Forum Post: 'The Amazing Versatility of the LX7'

[thekeddi]

I have a question? Does the LX7 do a better job with JPEGs than the LX5? That model made a mess of them, and I am a JPEG shooter, cant be bothered with raw.

[Ripleysbaby]

The time I had the LX5 proved to me it was a great picture taking machine .
But that rear jog dial was a piece of ####. And from what I have read the 7 is even worse. I did post about it in the past but it seemed I was in the minority.
To be fair my hands/thumbs are quite messed up through work. Now if panasonic were to rearrange their control system (loose the click bit) I would buy one in a second.
The images are all wonderful. The first one blew me away.

[Ray Sachs]

I have a question? Does the LX7 do a better job with JPEGs than the LX5? That model made a mess of them, and I am a JPEG shooter, cant be bothered with raw.

I'm a raw shooter with everything except Fuji cameras, so my experience is quite limited. The little bit I played around with the jpegs, I didn't find them objectionable - plenty of settings to fine tune. I think I used the "vivid" mode mostly. But then I didn't hate the LX5 jpegs when I had that camera either, so if you did, don't listen to me!

-Ray

[Ray Sachs]

The time I had the LX5 proved to me it was a great picture taking machine .
But that rear jog dial was a piece of ####. And from what I have read the 7 is even worse. I did post about it in the past but it seemed I was in the minority.
To be fair my hands/thumbs are quite messed up through work. Now if panasonic were to rearrange their control system (loose the click bit) I would buy one in a second.
The images are all wonderful. The first one blew me away.

I never had a problem with the jog dial on the LX5 and I don't have one with the LX7. But the good news with the LX7 is you don't need to use it nearly as much. I shoot a fair amount in manual focus, using the cameras deep DOF for zone focussing. With the LX5 I was always using the dial to click between aperture, exposure compensation, and manual focus. The LX7 now has an aperture ring on the lens and a dedicated slider for manual focus (it clicks to engage the ND filter), so the only thing I use the jog dial for is exposure compensation. So I have to click it less to arm different modes and I have to turn it less because I'm only controlling one function with it generally. If I shot in manual or shutter priority more, I'd have to use it to control shutter speed too, but I rarely do. The wheel itself feels about the same as on the LX5, if my tactile memory is any good, which it may not be....

-Ray

[ggibson]

Great images... goes to show it's the photographer, not the camera!

[nianys]

Wow. Truly beautiful images that really make one reconsider the usefulness of a high quality compact. Sure, your skills are mostly responsible for the awesome results but still, I feel great about the X10 I have in the mail if it's anything as capable as the LX7.

[Crsnydertx]

My GGS LCD protector just arrived in the mail from Hong Kong; took about a month, I believe. Now ready to give the LX7 a proper workout. Thanks, Ray, for the ongoing inspiration!

[Crsnydertx]

New wife = smaller disposable income!

Still have my M9, OMD and XE1. In the process of selling/trading the XE1. The X10 is in a state of permanent loan to my dad, while the X100 is on temporary loan to my sister. Preordered a X20 and waiting on arrival of the Oly 17/1.8 tomorrow.

B&H listing X20 expected availability as February 28, 2013. Looking forward to your report, Armando!

[Ray Sachs]

Wow. Truly beautiful images that really make one reconsider the usefulness of a high quality compact. Sure, your skills are mostly responsible for the awesome results but still, I feel great about the X10 I have in the mail if it's anything as capable as the LX7.

The X10 is more capable than the LX7 in many ways, once you figure out the tricks the sensor can play with the EXR settings. But in good light, almost any of today's premium compacts are excellent. The differences show up in lower light, where the X10 has some advantage and the RX100 more advantage still. But the LX7 has some features that just fit me and my shooting preferences incredibly well and I don't really rely on compacts for low light shooting anyway, so it was a better choice for me. I suspect you'll love the X10.

-Ray

[Ray Sachs]

My GGS LCD protector just arrived in the mail from Hong Kong; took about a month, I believe. Now ready to give the LX7 a proper workout. Thanks, Ray, for the ongoing inspiration!

I didn't know you'd gotten one Chuck - I thought you were sitting tight with the LX3. Glad to hear - look forward to seeing what you do with it....

-Ray