Micro 4/3 Played with the LX100 today!!

Location
London UK
Name
Andy
Had a chance to play with the Panasonic LX100 at work today. What a nice camera!!

Good bits:
Fast Focus
Feels nice in the hand
Feels very well made
Excellent view finder
Good rear screen
Good colour rendition, natural skin tones
Plenty of Fn buttons
Dials and buttons feel good quality
Aperture ring is wonderful
Not too heavy
Smooth Bokeh

Bad points:
No flip screen
At f1.7, backgrounds were not as defocussed as I thought they would have been
Not as sharp as I was hoping.

All in all a great replacement for the LX7 but not as pocketable.

8/10

Please be aware that it was a PRE PRODUCTION camera that we were using and we were looking at images from the back of the screen, not on a PC. Also I have high expectations for this camera. I did not say it wasn't sharp but I was expecting it to be a bit better than it was. It's still very good.

I thank you :)
 
I'm looking forward to trying this one, too. If it's as good as I hope, it will be a fine addition to the family.

Your comment about the lens sharpness is one I was wondering about, as the LX7 lens is quite remarkable, but I almost doubt that such a good lens could be fitted to a camera like this for less than a thousand. We shall see!
 
Please be aware that it was a PRE PRODUCTION camera that we were using and we were looking at images from the back of the screen, not on a PC. Also I have high expectations for this camera. I did not say it wasn't sharp but I was expecting it to be a bit better than it was. It's still very good.

All things considered it's a GREAT camera!!!
 
You should see the difference between images PC to screen off my P60

Not even fair to judge image quality - & then there's printing
 
I'm pleased to hear that the viewfinder is a good one. One of the reviewers at Photokina was quite down on the viewfinder.

-R

It sounds like it has the same issue as the EVF in the GX7, which affected some people big time and others not at all. I had a GX7 for a while and I never even noticed it, let alone being bothered by it. It drove some folks crazy. So I'm guessing I'd be just fine with the EVF in this camera but others may have real and legitimate problems with it... Since I've never seen it, I can't even really explain what the issue is...

-Ray
 
Almost sounds like "Great camera, too bad about the pictures".
I know it's a preproduction unit, but if it's lacking behind the competition in image quality then it doesn't really matter that it handles great, at least not to me.
 
I seriously doubt the LX100 is gonna suffer in the IQ department among compact cameras. Panasonic has a history of doing these LX cameras REALLY well, at whatever technology level. The LX100 will have a lot of softness in the photos, but I'd guess most of it will be due to the narrow DOF lens/sensor size combination and that the sharp parts will be somewhere between razor sharp and adequately sharp. It's a zoom lens and a pretty fast one in a small package so you'd expect some compromises, but I seriously doubt they're serious ones. And to the extent they are, they'll be limited, like the G1X mkII is a little soft at macro distances wide open, the G7X appears (also from very early samples) to have some ghosting wide open at the long end, etc. Every camera/lens has it's strengths and weaknesses and I don't think this one will be any different, but I very seriously doubt this camera will be "lagging behind the competition in image quality" in any major way. Some cameras do, but it's usually a matter of just using an outdated sensor (like the G1X mkII or some of the budget Pany m43 bodies still using the 12mp sensor when Olympus had moved past that and so had Pany in their higher end bodies). But we can be pretty sure that the sensor in the LX100 will measure up and the lens will probably be excellent, if not perfect in all conditions...

-Ray
 
Almost sounds like "Great camera, too bad about the pictures".
I know it's a preproduction unit, but if it's lacking behind the competition in image quality then it doesn't really matter that it handles great, at least not to me.

Andy took pains to indicate that he was looking at the images on the cameras rear screen, a poor show to start condeming a cameras image quality on that, bad enough to do it on a downsized web image. Lets be fair and reserve judgement until we can see the print quality, or don't prints count anymore in this digital age!

Barrie
 
I'm wary of the LX100 too given that I didn't like the images of the LX7 - colors were off and although stills were sharp, the 1080 video was soft. The Panasonic FZ1000, on the other hand, delivers fantastically sharp stills and 4K video and the colors wonderfully accurate. So that gives me some hope that the LX100 might have those great characteristics too - but my optimism is understandably guarded at this point until I see samples.
 
It could just be that when you zoom all the way in during image review you aren't looking at the full resolution image. The older Panasonic Micro 4/3 cameras did this, although it would be strange if a 2014 model camera did the same.
 
It could just be that when you zoom all the way in during image review you aren't looking at the full resolution image. The older Panasonic Micro 4/3 cameras did this, although it would be strange if a 2014 model camera did the same.

I suspect this to be the case! The only way we will know for sure is to look on screen with a proper production model.
 
Gallery of images taken with the LX100s twin...the DLux. To the best of my knowledge these cameras are identical with the exception of some relatively minor cosmetics....grip vs no grip....textured finish vs smooth metal, font and square buttons vs round.

Judging by these shots I don't think anyone but the most extreme pixel-peepr should have a single worry about sharpness from this lens/sensor combo. This set and the other going around a few days ago from Flickr show lovely looking smooth bokeh, at 75mm and f2.8 it'll be more than capable of doing a handy portrait.

http://us.leica-camera.com/Photography/Compact-Cameras/Leica-D-Lux-Typ-109/Image
 
I'm wondering if you were able to listen to the mechanical operating sounds of the camera without all the annoying beeps turned on. Any idea how noisy/quiet the lens extension, focusing and shutter sound are?
 
Interesting...I'm trying to decide between the LX100 and RX100 III.

Had a chance to play with the Panasonic LX100 at work today. What a nice camera!!

Good bits:
Fast Focus
Feels nice in the hand
Feels very well made
Excellent view finder
Good rear screen
Good colour rendition, natural skin tones
Plenty of Fn buttons
Dials and buttons feel good quality
Aperture ring is wonderful
Not too heavy
Smooth Bokeh

Bad points:
No flip screen
At f1.7, backgrounds were not as defocussed as I thought they would have been
Not as sharp as I was hoping.

All in all a great replacement for the LX7 but not as pocketable.

8/10

Please be aware that it was a PRE PRODUCTION camera that we were using and we were looking at images from the back of the screen, not on a PC. Also I have high expectations for this camera. I did not say it wasn't sharp but I was expecting it to be a bit better than it was. It's still very good.

I thank you :)
 
Which RX100 do you have? The III?

The one thing I like better on the LX100 though is the size, at least some kind of grip. What do you have on your RX100?


So far I haven't seen a single LX100 image that could not have been bettered by my RX100.
The treatment of foliage by the Panasonic seems particularly bad.
 
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