So I finally succumbed and stumped up for the Lumix LX-3. First impressions are that it's absolutely amazing. This shot (click to see it bigger) is as it came out of the camera, not Photoshop whatsoever.
It's really nice that Panasonic look like they've actually asked photographers what they want from a high end compact camera when they were upgrading from the LX-2. I always really liked the LX-2, but let's face it was shit at the long end of the zoom and even shitter in low light situations.
The LX-3 is a different story, they've stuck with the 10.1MP format, which is nice, who needs 14/15MP in a compact camera? It's always seemed completely and utterly pointless to me and looking at the results from the Canon G10, the noise reduction required to service that level of MP renders a lot of the images unusable.
The zoom range is interesting too, Panasonic have limited the zoom to something like 24-60mm which makes me think that this is designed for serious photographers who already have their DSLR and range of lenses and are looking for a decent walkabout compact for everyday use. That's certainly what I was looking for, something small enough to comforatbaly pocket but still with the quality to post to a blog or another website.
The results so far are nothing short of staggering.
Plus it opens up a whole new world of camera geekery
http://www.lx3-photography.com/search/label/LX3%20ACCESSORIES not of course, that I needed another one. I'm going to enjoy this though.
