One
should never judge a book by its cover. But the
latest addition to the Panasonic compact digital
camera range is so well presented that you may
find it difficult to reserve judgment.
It's lucky then that this beauty captures images
that are as beautiful as its design. In the two
years since Panasonic released the LX2, a design
team of 10 artists and engineers, led by
Nakamura Makoto has been hard at work on the new
and improved Lumix LX3. "The LX3 is a product we
are immensely proud of," says Nakamura.
And it's easy to see why. The finished product
is reminiscent of a Leica II from the 1930s,
with its restrained lines and an imposing Leica
lens. It's a design that, in the words of the
Panasonic design team, "pays tribute to the
classic 35mm camera form".
The attention to detail in design is phenomenal
– all carefully balanced with a digital camera
user's needs for
a truly functional work of art.
A faux leather strip on the front of the camera
drew comment from journalists at the Hong Kong
press launch earlier this year. Some thought the
strip was the perfect finishing touch, while
others felt it was an unnecessary detail that
ruined
the aesthetic. In fact, the faux leather was
placed exactly there to allow better grip for
one-handed operation.
Other carefully thought-out elements include a
pop-up flash and a host of accessories, which
Panasonic included in order "to help users
expand their creative horizons". The most
noticeable accessory is the detachable optical
viewfinder, heavily influenced by 35mm Leica
viewfinders, which are collected by photo
enthusiasts around the world.
Additional accessories include a lens adapter
for additional filters (including an MC filter
to protect the lens, PL filter for beautiful
skies and reducing reflections and an ND filter
for slower shutter speeds during the day) and
the wide-angle conversion lens for 18mm
photography.
Rounding off the LX3's chic image is a
retro-design leather camera case that also
serves to protect the camera from scratches.
From the front, the LX3 has such vintage appeal
that it's almost surprising to turn the camera
around and find the imposing 3.0-inch LCD
screen. The screen itself is one of the major
improvements to the LX series.
With 460,000-dot resolution and self-adjusting
Intelligent LCD function, users can view their
images under almost any lighting conditions. And
the screen is only the first of many
technological improvements that make the Lumix
LX3 so much more than a pretty case.
Photography for dummies
"We think LX3 is the solution for those who are
keen to take high-quality images without too
much technical complexity," says Nakamura. "As
for those who want to develop their technical
skills in photography, there is also a manual
option available." If you're not up to the task
of operating the LX3 in full manual mode,
Intelligent Auto (iA) Mode allows trigger-happy
amateur photographers to achieve fantastic
results too.
One of the most impressive aspects of camera's
technical capabilities, iA Mode takes care of
all sorts of photography problems. Take the
issue of focusing for example: iA Mode has
several solutions to your blurry problem.
For starters, you could switch on Mega Optical
Image Stabilizer (OIS), which compensates for
your trembling hands should you ever be
nervously capturing a portrait of yourself and,
say, a very important celebrity.The "Face
Detection" function in iA detects faces in a
picture by mapping and recognising the pattern
formed by a mouth, eyes and nose. Within a
matter of nano-seconds, the camera recognises
and locks onto faces, bringing them into sharp
focus.
Intelligent Scene Selector, Intelligent ISO
Control and Intelligent Exposure take all the
guess work out
of lighting and focusing, meaning your simply
point-and-shoot snap comes out clear and
brilliant.
One of the most innovative functions, AF
Tracking, allows you to lock onto a moving
object – a dhow navigating the Creek perhaps –
and capture it without losing focus. If you've
ever tried to get a shot of your loved one
zooming across the dunes on a quad bike, you can
imagine what
a handy feature that is to have! If not, may we
be the first to recommend both Big Red (aka Al-Hamar
dunes) and the Lumix LX3.
Multiple modes
Choose from different shooting modes for a
unique result – gone are the days of picking
between colour, black and white and sepia. The
LX3 lets you choose between Standard, Dynamic,
Natural, Smooth, Vibrant, Nostalgic and more.
There are six colour types and three monochrome
modes to choose from in all. We have a hunch
that Pin Hole and Film Grain modes will prove
popular among users who want to capture images
with a uniquely creative feel.
Yet another excellent programming feature allows
you to take and store the same picture in
different modes. So you would snap one picture
of the Burj Al Arab, but your camera would take
three shots, according to your preference:
Vibrant, Sepia and Dynamic, for example.
If taking three pictures with one click isn't
enough for you, try Burst Shooting mode (which
captures two and a half frames per second in
high resolution, or six frames per second at a
lower resolution) and you'll capture that
special moment many times over – great for
action shots.
With all the more reason to snap away, you can
imagine the need for a pretty feisty battery.
And Panasonic has delivered. Battery life of the
LX3 is officially listed as 380 pictures. That's
an impressive number by any standard, which is
why we were impressed when the LX3 we tested for
two days lasted even longer than that!
The technical stuff
The really big news about the LX3 is not the
design or the special features. The Panasonic
press release trumpeted the arrival of the LX3,
"featuring a F2.0 24mm LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMICRON
lens, 10.1 megapixels and an ultra-sensitive
1/1.63-inch CCD developed specifically for this
model".
Of course, that doesn't mean much when all you
want to do is take a few nice pictures of Dubai
to send home to your mum. Except that it does
mean a lot once you break it down.
Let's start with the 24mm lens: what that means
for the average user is the use of an ultra-wide
angle lens (almost unheard of on a compact
digital camera) that allows you to cram more
stuff into one frame. So instead of taking two
pictures of Business Bay Bridge and then
stitching them together, you can take one
picture and get most of it in the shot. There's
also 18x zoom which means you can get pretty
close to your subject without being too close.
You may not be able to pull off paparazzi-style
exposes with that zoom, but it's nothing to
sniff at in a compact digital.
Then there's the F2.0 LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMICRON
lens – quite
a mouthful! In a nutshell, that means you get a
camera with a lens made by industry leaders in
lens development (Leica) and you get to capture
sharper, brighter images as a result. As
Panasonic puts it: "The LX3 can shoot at higher
shutter speeds and capture stunningly clear,
sharp, blur-free images even in lower lighting
conditions." That's thanks, largely, to the
lens.
By now, most of us understand megapixels and the
role they have to play in picture size and
quality. What you might not have heard is that
more pixels aren't always better. This is where
the "ultra-sensitive 1/1.63-inch CCD" comes in.
You'll need to pay attention here: a CCD (charge
coupled device) is the image sensor that
converts light to electrons in a digital camera.
If you need that put into old school terms,
think of the CCD as the equivalent of the film
in your old camera.
Let's go back to pixel count now: we used to
think that more pixels meant better picture
quality. In reality, more pixels often mean more
"noise". By noise, we're not referring to the
racket made by your neighbour's kids on
a Friday morning; noise is the term used for
unwanted grain, pixilation or colour speckles on
your digital images. These are caused by hiccups
in the process of converting light to electrons.
The LX3 CCD promises fewer hiccups, which means
you won't need as many pixels to produce clear,
brilliant images. That's why the LX3 stops at a
fairly respectable 10.1 megapixels – fewer
pixels equals vastly superior image quality.
A great buy
Technical mumbo jumbo aside, the lure of the LX3
is simple: it looks great and it takes great
pictures. It's small enough to be a convenient
digital camera, but impressive-looking enough to
let others know that you know what you're doing
when it comes to photography. And even if you
don't, the camera will do all the work for you.
Would Nakamura advise UAE residents to buy the
LX3? "Yes, I would," he says. "As consumers in
the Middle East are becoming more
technically-savvy, there is an increasing demand
for cameras that are capable of producing
excellent pictures and are easy to use." And the
Lumix LX3 sure fits that bill.
The Lumix LX3 will be available at Sharaf DG,
Jumbo Electronics, Plug-ins and Panasonic
showrooms across the UAE. The camera retails for
Dh2,099.
