10 ways Panasonic can improve the LX3

The Panasonic Lumix LX3 is an incredible compact camera. Having used it for about two months, I think I have roughly understood this high-end P&S. I brought it with me on my China holiday in beautiful Yun Nan this month, and the LX3 performed well beyond my expectations. In fact, because of its size and ease of use, I find myself shooting more with the LX3 than my 400D in China.

Despite how good it is, there is always room for improvement. Here are my top 10 improvements I would like to see in the next version of this series.

1) Longer zoom (more than 3X)
The current 2.5 times zoom is fine for landscape, but for things like portraits a longer focal length is greatly appreciated.

2) Built-in lens cap
The current SLR-like lens cap is annoying to take on and off when shooting, and increases the size of the already huge lens. Without attaching the cap to the camera body, it can be lost easily. But when attached with the provided string, it dangles about dangerously and may hit against the body. A built-in cap is more convenient and practical.

3) Wrist strap
This is a minor problem. The LX3 does not come with a wrist strap; it only has an SLR-like neck strap, which is long and cumbersome. To solve this, use a wrist strap from your old compact cam.

4) Better high ISO performance
As it is, the LX3 is one of the better low light compact cams I've seen. However, it is still incomparable to high ISO performance even on the entry-level dSLRs, such as the Canon 1000D. On the LX3, anything above ISO 800 is unusable because the noise reduction obliterates any details. If you're printing large prints, ISO 400 is about the limit for retaining image quality. Nonetheless, I must say that at ISO 80/100, image quality is astoundingly good, producing noiseless photographs.

5) Better WB performance
In daylight conditions the white balance is generally fine. However, in tricky or low light situations, white balance tends to go horrendously off without flash, as with compact cams generally. Shooting in RAW definitely helps to counter this problem.

6) Stiffer mode dial
This is really me being anal-retentive... but I would like the mode dial to be stiffer so I don't accidentally turn it.

7) Scratch-proof screen
I passed the LX3 to my sis for 2 days and it came back with many surface scratches on the large 3 inch screen. Would really appreciate a scratch-resistant screen (like the iPod touch).

8) Better video recording format
Video on the LX3 is recorded in the old Quicktime motion JPEG format (.mov), which produces very huge files (though quality is good). Would appreciate a more compatible file extension such as .mpeg4 and smaller file sizes.

9) More powerful flash
I noticed that the flash could be more powerful, especially when taking wide angle group shots in low light. However, for fill flash in backlit conditions, the flash suffices.

10) Sturdier battery/SD card door
This is another small issue that only anal people like me bother about. The rectangular door housing the battery and SD card is a bit flimsy. I would appreciate a stiffer and sturdier door.

Having listed my 10 ten improvements, I hope the next revision of the LX series will get better and these complaints (some very minor) will be addressed. Do bear in mind that this list does not in any way suggest that the LX3 is inferior, for indeed this is one heck of a camera that really impresses.

ACR / DNG converter update

HOORAY!! The folks over at Adobe has finally updated Camera Raw to version 5.2, supporting 7 new camera models, including the Panasonic Lumix LX3!

Finally, I will be able to shoot RAW on my LX3 and process the files in my preferred raw converter! ACR 5.2 is a free update available immediately at Adobe's website.

This plug-in for Photoshop adds RAW support to these following camera models too: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon PowerShot G10, Panasonic DMC-G1, Panasonic DMC-FX150, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, Panasonic DMC-LX3 and Leica D-LUX 4.

Update (29 Nov 08): ACR 5.2 will ONLY work with Photoshop CS4 and NOT older versions of CS. The latest version of ACR is 4.6 for CS3.

Why LX3 over G10

The Panasonic LX3 and the Canon G10 are both superb cameras in their own way. These are high-end point-and-shoot cameras aimed at photographers who need a pocket camera to complement their dSLR. But I got a LX3 over the G10. It's my first Lumix, and I'm extremely pleased with my purchase.

Here's why I chose the LX3 over the G10:

1) The G10 shoots at 15 megapixels, while the LX3 shoots at only 10. I do not need that extra resolution, as I will never be printing images from a pocket camera to such as huge size. Those extra pixels will only serve to slow down my post-processing with the larger file size. Besides that, 15MP crammed onto such a tiny sensor is going to have its consequences. The pixel pitch is much smaller than the LX3's, and therefore, noise performance is slightly worst than the LX3's. But with both these cameras, anything above ISO 800 is only for emergency.

2) The LX3 is smaller in size than the G10. If I'm going to buy a compact camera, it better be small enough to carry around, thus my choice with the LX3. The G10 is heavier and heftier, but the advantage is it offers better grip (obviously).

3) The LX3 is cheaper than the G10, by about $100.

4) The LX3 has a wider and faster lens than the G10. On 35mm equivalent, the LX3 has a 24-60mm f2.0-2.8 lens, while the G10 has a 28-140mm f2.8-4.7 lens. An f2 lens, coupled with image stabiliser, will mean I can get faster shutter speeds on the LX3 than on the G10, and this is just what I need in low-light situations. Furthermore, the 24mm wide angle is an advantage when taking group shots, and is nice to have in landscape photography too. The compromise is that the LX3 only has a 2.5X optical zoom, and doesn't have as far a reach compared to the Canon. But that's fine for me: most of the time I'm doing wide-angle stuff. Your decision will vary according to your shooting needs.

5) LX3 does incredibly good HD video (1280x720 @ 30fps). The G10 on the other hand only does mediocre 640x480 video. The downside is that video on the LX3 is stored as Quicktime motion JPG, which is an aging format, and file sizes tend to be huge. But still, the quality is stunning!

6) LX3 has a switch dedicated to changing aspect ratios - 4:3, 3:2 or 16:9. The cool thing is that in any aspect ratio, the same angle of view is maintained. As a result, you make the most of the sensor's area, getting similar pixel counts in all modes.

7) The LX3 has some really cool scene modes, notably the film grain mode, which simulates B&W film images, and also the pinhole mode, which simulates pinhole images with strong vignetting.

8) The LX3 shoots up to ISO 3200; the G10 only goes up to a max of ISO 1600. Sadly, ISO 3200 on the LX3 is anything but usable. Still, it's an advantage over the Canon.