I’ll kick things off by reiterating how I introduced the LX3 a few days ago on my site.

A few weeks ago Panasonic followed up with their successful (but flawed) LX-2 with the newly announced LX3. I’ve always been a fan of Panasonic features, build quality, etc in their compacts in the past but haven’t loved their sensor choices. From the outset though, Panasonic looked like they might be trying to address previous weaknesses and included in the large number of improvements were four things that really caught my eye:

• A fast lens… f/2.0 at the wide end to f/2.8 at the long end. This is the fastest lens to my knowledge on a compact since the very early days (e.g. Olympus C-5050)
• NO increase in megapixels and a minor increase in sensor size.We’ve already hit a (ridiculous) 14MP in compacts and this was a rare case of a manufacturer reigning in the megapixel craze and doing the right thing which in itself I’m extremely happy to see
• A shorter and wider lens. Just 24mm to 60mm. Again, quality over quantity being the basic premise
• The first real attempt (again from my recollection) by a compact camera manufacturer to directly the address the issue of noise and image quality rather than just features and numbers in their marketing / product announcement

Other features include:

• Multiple aspect ratios (4:3, 3:2, 16:9)
• OIS image stabilisation
• Video recording – up to HD (up to 1280×720 pixels 24fps in 16:9 mode)
• 3.0″, 3:2 Polycrystalline TFT LCD Display
  
• An updated Venus IV processing engine and RAW support
  
• ISO up to 3200 (ahem)
• An impressive continuous shooting speed of 2.5 frames/sec (Max. 8 images Standard), (Max 4 images Fine), (Max 3 images RAW)
• Hot shoe for external flash
  
• A host of new accessories including a wide angle adapter
  

There were a number of other features but these are the ones I consider to be the most significant – all squeezed into the size of a camera no bigger than the previous model, the LX2. On paper, its the most exciting compact camera development so far this year (leaving Micro 4/3rds aside for the time being). In recent months, while the DSLR market has surged ahead in technological advancement, the compact camera manufacturers have only crawled forwards, releasing the same old stuff time and again with minor megapixel increases or meaningless evolutions to their face detection features. So the LX3′s announcement was a breath of fresh air and the first compact camera announcement in a while that has made me want to rush out and buy it. Panasonic set a reasonably expectation with their marketing material – the question I wanted to answer this week was whether that translated into real world usage and images.

Design

The LX3 looks great. I’ve always been a fan of Panasonic’s designs for its compacts and the LX3 continues to impress, not changing much externally from the winning formula that existed with the LX2. I have the black colour version and prefer this significantly to the silver option.

From a size point of view, its certainly very portable. It feels smaller and easier to carry than the Canon G9 for example, without being too light. Having said that, it’s certainly not ultrathin – mostly due to the fact that the lens protrudes just enough to make it awkward enough to slip into a small / medium sized pocket. Overall I consider the size to be “just right”. Flat enough to fit into almost any bag, and heavy / sturdy enough to have some substance so to not introduce camera shake with ever shutter press. I’m getting used to seeing huge LCD screens on the back of the cameras these days (with 3″ being standard most of the time now) so instead of the most noticeable things about the camera is the nice sized lens on the front. What I found immediately noticed was the decent sized piece of glass attached to the front. Bigger doesn’t always mean better when it comes to lenses, but it is always encouraging to see something substantial on the front element (although relatively speaking of course).

The other thing that is significant is the control system. The back panel contains both the usual up / down / left / right combination of arrow buttons but also a joystick. After using the Canon G9 for several months with its superb analog controls, I was concerned about having to go back and spend significant time with a select -> press menu system and the joystick was my hope that handling would be good.

The other notable thing about the design is what anyone with the LX2 already knows – the removable lens cap. It seems this generates a fair number of opinions. Personally, I’d prefer a built in lens cap which closed when the lens retracted but I’m not wed to the idea. To Panasonic’s credit, they design it well, not allowing the camera’s lens to extend when it is on and also ensuring the lens cap is unable to touch the glass (issues which exist / have existed on other cameras e.g. Olympus SP-550 for example).

Build quality wise, I’d rate the camera as excellent. The only weaker area is the battery / SD compartment but this is normal. I actually accidentally performed a “stress test” on my camera on day #2 by dropping it from a height of 1 meter onto a concrete flaw. The camera clattered to the ground, striking the floor on one of the camera’s corners but the damage amounted to little than a couple of small scratches and now a slightly stiffer battery compartment. This is not a test I recommend repeating, but it survived its first (and hopefully last) brush with death relatively unscathed.