Lumix LX3 review :: PYKtures Reviews

So I was about to write a super long and detailed review about the LX3, a camera that I shot more than 12 000 pictures with it already. But I’d rather talk about how perfect this camera is in the hand of photographers and how it replaced my dSLR for most of my photography.




Perfect lens, edge-to-edge sharp wide open with not a single hint of distortion or image defect correction. Super bright aperture and highly effective image stabilization makes you shoot handheld low light shots at 1/5 of a second using very low ISO values. You won’t find that in any other brands (and yes I’ve tried them all).



Surprisingly flexible RAW files, they become even better when you expose for the mids rather than highlights for Nikon cameras or shadows for Canon cameras.



The build quality of the camera is crazy. I dropped it so many times but it manages to work at its best. It even survived a lot of time in the rain.



I can mount a standard Nikon or Canon flash on its hotshoe and set it to manual for indoor photography.

It has replaced my dSLR in almost everything except for portraits or situations of high dynamic range.

So there you have it, if you are a photographer, you owe it to yourself to get the LX3 or the LX5, instead of listening to the highly marketed Canon (S95, G12), Samsung (EX1) or Nikon (P7000) “power” raw shooting compacts. They are a just bunch of incomplete consumer (good for consumer use, but photographer are better served with the LX3) toys that make you “believe” in something you can achieve with the LX3.


Recommendations

I recommend you buy a wrist strap (the Leica D-Lux 4 one on ebay sells for very cheap) instead of using the neckstrap.

For maximum hotness, my daily image quality settings are

PROGRAM MODE (for daylight or every situations)

DYNAMIC
Contrast : -2
Sharpness: 0
Saturation: +1
Noise Reduction: 0

AUTO WHITE BALANCE
+ 1 Green
+ 1 Blue

Intelligent ISO: On (MAX 800)

In lowlight I’m using.

SHUTTER PRIOTITY MODE
If I shoot at wideangle, I set the speed to 1/6. Else, it’s at 1/10 for telephoto. The Panasonic OIS is the best in the world.

Buy the camera, enjoy it.