Panasonic Rumor - Panasonic LX8

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Frankly, while my S4 has one of the better cameras available in a smartphone (though I have to admit that what I've seen from the iPhone 5 and 5s is clearly better), I can't take it seriously. Low light performance is dismal, and operational speed is pitiful. Once a suitable app is started, handling it gets a little more satisfying, but the pictures just can't compete if not taken in very good lighting conditions. OTOH, the 1" sensor in the V1, in spite of its reputation, puts out quite usable pictures in low light - not noise free, but noise is pretty well behaved, not blotchy and downright ugly like on the S4 and even the 1/2.3" sensor cameras I own.

And I know for a fact that the 1" sensor in the RX100 (let alone the later iterations) is way better than that initial issue sensor. Pair something like that with the fantastic lens (and good handling) of the LX7, add a decent EVF, and the RX100 III faces a true competitor. I agree that they'd need something considerably better than the LF1's EVF - but Panasonic definitely know how to do that. It's just a question of size and design - but it won't be easy to keep the good while adding the desirable. The LX7 isn't exactly small to begin with, but I'd be very tempted to own that lens in front of a state-of-the-art sensor ...

M.
 
The lx family has never been small.. I still have my lx3. Never upgraded.. It was the p&s that made me realize that a perfectly match lens w/ the sensor can provide some amazing images. If I did not already own a gx7 w/ the 12-32 pancake zoom, I may have considered adding this camera to my collection.

Gary


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The lx family has never been small.. I still have my lx3. Never upgraded.. It was the p&s that made me realize that a perfectly match lens w/ the sensor can provide some amazing images. If I did not already own a gx7 w/ the 12-32 pancake zoom, I may have considered adding this camera to my collection.

I think when the LX3 launched, it WAS considered small for the "large" sensor that was in it - large being relative to the other point and shoot models available at the time. Then Canon came out with the S90 which has roughly the same sensor but was a lot smaller and from that point forward the LX family was never competing for the "TINY" title, but it's still small. To their credit, IMHO, they've updated the family by adding functionality and IQ rather than joining the "tiny" competition, which Canon had to itself until the RX100 came along. The LX8 could be as large as an X100 for my money if they can keep a 24-90 equivalent lens with the same (or very close to) f1.4 - 2.3 lens and the same basic controls and feature set. The LX7 is already the best handling small camera I've used. I'd be OK if it was a big larger to maintain it's performance and features with a high quality 1" sensor.

Who knows, I might even buy one. Following in my proud tradition of not being able to wrap my head around zoom lenses, I'd probably sell it within six months, but it might be too good not to at least try...

-Ray
 
I agree - the LX3 was a exceptional camera at release. It had no real competition. At last I sold the LX3 and a D80 for my X-E1.
The LX7 was released together with the RX100 in competition. The LX7 had the better lens on short end, a hot shoe and the possibility for a filter (like a complete camera :) ), but the RX100 was smaller and had the better IQ. It was no longer a CCD sensor in the LX7 and no owner of a LX5 had the necessity to upgrade. So there was not much love for the LX7 (in exception of buyer who can value a small complete camera) and there was never a firmware update.
Later the XZ-2 and MX-1 joined the club.
Now, if a 1" LX8 is really planned, there is a lot more competition, Panasonic couldn't go smaller than a RX100-3. A viewer, IQ and the lens would be points to improve. And Nikon could conceive the idea to overthink their Nikon 1 line and pricing (but I doubt that).
 
I often hear that the LX3 was an exceptional camera. What was it about that camera and not the later models? When I got into photography I heard about the LX3 and bought the new LX5 thinking it was a new model and an improvement. What have I been missing out on?

How does the LX3 compare with the LX7?
 
How does the LX3 compare with the LX7?

I had owned both and the LX7 is an improvement in almost all areas. The LX7 lens is faster (but not so sharp at 1.4), more responsive, HD video, F stop ring, better noise at "higher" iso, more internal creative modes. Some say the BW mode ooc of the LX3 is better. The optional viewer LVF2 of the LX7 has a better resolution than the monitor.
The LX7 had the marketing problem of a smaller sensor. Before it was a 1/1.63" CCD, now a 1/1.7" CMOS
(http://www.chromaticabrasion.com/bl...x3-lx5-lx7-multiple-aspect-ratios-explanation)

In my own opinion the development of the market is gone faster in a timespan of 5(?) years since LX3 to LX7.
 
Thanks for that. It's been a long time since the LX3, I would've expected the LX7 to be a real improvement. Not so sure about the LX5, although I really enjoyed it when I got it and it was what got me started in photography proper.
 
I often hear that the LX3 was an exceptional camera. What was it about that camera and not the later models? When I got into photography I heard about the LX3 and bought the new LX5 thinking it was a new model and an improvement. What have I been missing out on?

How does the LX3 compare with the LX7?
I think they got better with each generation but they were playing in tougher and tougher markets with each generation too. The LX3 lens was arguably the sharpest of the bunch, but also the least ambitious of the bunch - they've increased the zoom range and speed of the lens a great deal through the models and the very fast LX7 is still an exceptional little lens. But other than that, the LX5 was a better camera than the LX3 and the 7 better than the 5...

-Ray
 
So when I hear about the LX3, what people are saying is that it was a great camera for its time?

Kind of. Some people still shoot with 'em and love 'em and don't want the 5 or 7. It had it's strengths, but those strengths were among a more limited camera than what came in later generations. For shooting daylight photos within a limited zoom range, it's arguably a bit better than the 5 or 7. Some people even loved the little joystick controller it had and couldn't get used to the click wheel on subsequent generations - I thought the joystick was a hateful thing and think the controls were better with the LX5 and vastly better with the LX7. But there are loyalists!

And some cameras just have a certain gestalt that makes it more loved than other, objectively better cameras. I'm currently finding it with the RX1, which will no doubt be improved on in some ways in the coming years (and in some ways already has been by the A7 and various DSLRs). But I just re-bought my second copy because I've never shot with anything that just felt so right. Some people feel that way about the LX3 and honestly think it's a better camera than the subsequent models... I don't, but that doesn't make them wrong!

-Ray
 
The LX7 has an interesting price history. Every once in a while, it has dipped to $300 or perhaps below. I caught one of those low points and have been happy ever since. Current price is an oddball $379.99 at the usual suspects (B&H, Adorama and Amazon).
 
The LX7 has an interesting price history. Every once in a while, it has dipped to $300 or perhaps below. I caught one of those low points and have been happy ever since. Current price is an oddball $379.99 at the usual suspects (B&H, Adorama and Amazon).

The LX7 had the misfortune of hitting the market at basically the same time as the RX100. ALL of that oxygen was sucked up by the RX100 for understandable reasons. So the LX7 started getting discounted heavily almost immediately - you could find them for $300 within a few months of it's $500 or $550 release. I shot the LX7 and RX100 back to back for a week or two and I personally preferred the LX7, but the sensor in the RX100 was a small-camera revelation at the time and clearly re-defined the whole category.

Hopefully, if the LX8 is real, it will be a refinement of the current state of the art rather than hitting the market at the exact moment that standard becomes obsolete. The LX7 hit at the very worst possible moment. The LX8 probably won't share that bad luck!

-Ray
 
Kind of. Some people still shoot with 'em and love 'em and don't want the 5 or 7. It had it's strengths, but those strengths were among a more limited camera than what came in later generations. For shooting daylight photos within a limited zoom range, it's arguably a bit better than the 5 or 7. Some people even loved the little joystick controller it had and couldn't get used to the click wheel on subsequent generations - I thought the joystick was a hateful thing and think the controls were better with the LX5 and vastly better with the LX7. But there are loyalists!

And some cameras just have a certain gestalt that makes it more loved than other, objectively better cameras. I'm currently finding it with the RX1, which will no doubt be improved on in some ways in the coming years (and in some ways already has been by the A7 and various DSLRs). But I just re-bought my second copy because I've never shot with anything that just felt so right. Some people feel that way about the LX3 and honestly think it's a better camera than the subsequent models... I don't, but that doesn't make them wrong!

-Ray

I understand the whole LX3 thing much better now. I still have my LX5 and sort of don't have any specific plans to update it. But it holds a special place for me because it was the camera that I started taking everywhere and it got me into photography in a huge way.
 
The LX7 has an interesting price history. Every once in a while, it has dipped to $300 or perhaps below. I caught one of those low points and have been happy ever since. Current price is an oddball $379.99 at the usual suspects (B&H, Adorama and Amazon).

I have certainly seen the price dip very very low at certain points. I thought it was going to be the demise of the LX series when I saw that.
 
Honestly, I've been surprised by how long it's taken Olympus and Panasonic to respond to the RX100. All I can figure is it's a combination of caution in the face of financial trouble and development time.
 
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