Friday, September 29, 2006 - Here's what I receive
in the box:
Panasonic LX2 (Black body)
No memory card
Wrist Strap
Rechargeable Li-ion Battery, Battery Charger,
Battery Carrying Case
Lens Cap and Retaining String
Interface Cables: A/V, USB
English and French Instruction Manuals: Operating
Instructions
Software CDs: Digital Camera 2.4 (ArcSoft
PhotoImpression 5, ArcSoft Panorama Maker 3,
ArcSoft PhotoBase 4.5, Lumix Simple Viewer 1.1E,
Panasonic PHOTOfunSTUDIO -viewer- 1.1E, USB
Driver 1.0)
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 is targeted
to serious photographers desiring a full-featured
compact digital camera. It is compact and light
enough to carry anywhere in a coat pocket.
The Panasonic LX2 is, for all practical purposes,
a FZ50 in a compact body and with a 4x optical
zoom lens (instead of a 12x optical zoom lens)
attached to it. Its feature set is almost identical
and in actual use comes close to what you would
wish your ideal compact digital camera to be.
Its feature set approximates that of the FZ50
and I would encourage you to read the Panasonic
FZ50 review if you haven't done so yet. Of
course, it does not have the manual zoom and focus
rings, and it has a Joystick instead of a FUNCTION
button.
It's not so much the features on paper as how
they are implemented and how the photographer
can use them in practice that provide the photographer
real photographic control.
The 16:9 image sensor and 28mm lens provides
a wide-angle coverage that is perfect for landscapes
and group shots. The 112mm tele coverage is perfect
for portrait shots.
As for the FZ50, I really enjoyed using the Panasonic
LX2. Its rich feature set, fast performance and
excellent image quality at ISO 100 qualify it
for an Editor's Choice. However, the same caveat
prevails as for the FZ50: noise is a problem with
Panasonic's image sensor at higher ISOs.
If you are a snapshooter who use your camera
set to AUTO most of the time, you may not be happy
with the images taken at high ISOs. It is therefpre
not recommended for the snapshooter. Since most
advanced photographers are cognizant of the noise
issue on compact digital cameras and endeavor
to stay at the lowest possible ISO anyway, the
Panasonic LX2 may be the full-featured compact
digital camera that they have been waiting for.
To summarize, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2
is, in my opinion, among the best of the compact
models. It has many nice features that are well
implemented and practically useful. The camera
is responsive with robust performance and a very
effective optical image stabilization. It supports
RAW file format and has full manual exposure,
so the advanced photographer should be able to
make the most of this little gem.
