Customer Reviews

Panasonic DMC-LX2S 10.2MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver)

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was definitely NOT disappointed with the camera, after reading so much about it and passing on the LX1 a year ago due to the reports of excessive noise in the images.

The camera design of the LX-2 is absolutely superb, with a quality metal body and extremely well thought out feature set. Panasonic has done their homework and solved so many of the design challenges facing point-and-shoot digital cameras. Some will miss a tilting screen or an optical viewfinder, but I don't miss them. Either feature would compromise the current design and the very likeable large 16:9 viewfinder. They've done everything they can to compensate, including an extra-bright mode for the screen and even a high-angle mode that lets you shoot over the heads of a crowd, which accounts for the majority of "tilted" shots I've taken with my previous camera, a Nikon with a screen that tilts.

I've been waiting for a decent digicam with a true wide angle lens, real 16:9 wide-screen aspect ratio, and widescreen video. It may very well be that this camera is the design future of the industry---hard to believe people wouldn't like this camera over its competitors. Once you start shooting wide-screen, you realize what a natural and creative format it really is.

That being said, there are image quality compromises with this camera... in order to solve the noticeable noise in the LX-1, Panasonic opted for strong noise reduction with their Venus III engine, and I can confirm the early reviews: they've reduced noise at a slight loss of very fine image detail and a bit of a watercolor effect at higher ISOs if you examine images at 100% magnification.

But on the other hand many consumers are not really going to notice this, the images are really outstanding in the majority of situations, and there are so many megapizels to play with that for many it will simply never be an issue, the way the images are viewed full-size on a monitor or at print sizes up to about 8x10. Most of us aren't as critical as the pros who are doing the reviews. And there isn't a point and shoot out there that has perfect images in every respect, others have flaws like corner softness and purple fringing that the Panasonic doesn't have.

Fortunately this camera will shoot in RAW format and allow you to recover nearly all of the original detail, albeit with some work, to really show the superb quality of the Leica lens. But this time around they've bundled halfway decent RAW image processing software, so you actually have the tools to do this without shelling out more money.

To be honest, those looking for perfect image quality arguably are the type to be purchasing DSLRs and not high-end point-and-shoots. I think Panasonic may have hit the sweet spot in their target market with this camera.

Beware---this camera will only work with 4 GB SD cards that are the newer SD-HC type. Unlike many of its peers, it will NOT work with standard SD 4 GB cards that are formatted FAT32. Panasonic may be deliberately protecting sales of the new 4 GB format. So either go with a standard 2 GB card or the SD-HC 4 GB cards. I learned the hard way.

At least for now it is :-) . During the course of the past 10-12 months I have owned 7, that's SEVEN, digital cameras: Canon S230; Kodak V530; 5 different models of Casio's: Z60, Z600, Z850, P700; and most recently presented my wife with a red S770 for Valentine's Day. I also had a pretty good chance to evaluate Canon SD450 (my brother-in-law owns one - it was actually a gift from my wife and I to him for his 21st birthday), Casio EX-S600 (a good friend of mine owns one), and Panasonic DMC-TZ1 (once again, a gift from my wife and I to my father-in-law for his last birthday). If you read any of my digital camera reviews (and I've written a few by now), then you know that I'm not particularly fond of Canon's lately - I think they are overrated and overpriced for what they have to offer. As I also mentioned before, I've tried several different Kodak models (and I used to work for the company too!), but all of them turned out to be a waste of my time, to say the least. I became a big fan of Casio's, although not all of my experiences with them were great. But being a huge gadget "freak" that I am, and constantly wanting new "toys", I have always craved for more. Over time, my tastes in digital cameras have changed from having a simple point and shoot type of camera to wishing for more power and manual control. So one by one, I returned/sold all of my cameras, and after extensive (and I really do mean extensive) research, I got myself an LX2. I must say though that I probably wouldn't have without getting to know my father-in-law's TZ1 first. I was actually quite impressed with it. Powerful zoom, sharp lens, decent picture quality. I also played with some other Panasonic models in various stores just to get a better feel for them, as well as spent a few hours on the phone, and exchanged numerous e-mails with a friend of mine who owns an FZ30, and who swears by it. Unfortunately, LX2 was not available anywhere locally, but I felt that I got a pretty good understanding of what Panasonic's cameras are all about, and after some more thought and consideration, I went ahead and bought it from Amazon (nice thing about buying from Amazon is that you can always return whatever it is you bought, including digital cameras, within 30 days for a full refund, no questions asked). I did know about the "Noise" issue at high ISO's, but it wasn't a decisive factor for me, and I'm glad I didn't pay much attention to it and got the camera anyway. It turned out to be one of the best purchases I've made in a long while. Here is why:

PROS:
- Superb design. This camera is wonderfully crafted. And I absolutely love Black! It gives the camera a nice, clean, professional look. I don't think I'll be buying another silver camera soon after having this one;

- Intuitive controls, and menus. I charged the battery, put it into the camera, and started using it and taking pictures right away, without even going through the manual once;

- A load of features, including a large, bright, widescreen LCD; wide angle, super sharp Leica lens with a 4x zoom; Mega OIS - optical image stabilization control (optical means it's done mechanically, which is a TRUE way of doing stabilizing, comparing to other cameras where it's done by "tricking" the camera into using higher ISO's); and many more. In addition, it has a joystick for an easy access to different menus, has a number of manual controls, as well as provides ability to shoot in RAW format (more on that later);

- It comes with SilkyPix Developer Studio software for working with camera RAW files. For someone who is not familiar with RAW - it's a "pure", camera specific picture format. It varies upon a manufacturer, meaning that Canon RAW is different from Nikon or Panasonic RAW, for example. And it's "pure" in a sense that it's of a much better quality than a standard JPEG (JPG), and doesn't suffer from loss of information, such as white balance, or brightness. There is a lot more to RAW than that, and I'm not going to go into details right now. What I want to say, however, is that having previously owned a camera which supported RAW format (Casio EX-P700), I must have tried about a dozen of different RAW editing software packages, including products from Adobe, Ulead, ArcSoft, PhotoFiltre, Picture Window Pro, ACDSee, LightZone, Image Broadway, and more. SilkyPix delivered by far the best results of all. The only one that I would probably put next to it is Bibble;

- Noise - What Noise?! I really hate it when I hear people complaining about noise in this camera (after having it tried myself), or any other compact digital camera for that matter. Are you really that naïve that you think that you will get absolutely no noise in your images using a compact digital camera? Think again. You might have noticed that I've used the word "Compact" several times here. I've done it on purpose - it is inevitable for a compact digital camera to produce some noise. Some cameras are better than others, but no matter how hard you try, you will see some. This camera is no better or worse than any other one that I've had/tried. At higher ISO's (above 400), it's slightly more visible, but who in the right state of mind is using anything over ISO 200 on a compact digital camera, such as this one, anyway? I always have mine set to a 100. If I feel that it doesn't get the job done, I shoot in RAW;

- Picture Quality is Very Good. Yes, it does take some time getting used to, but once you familiarize yourself with everything this camera is capable of, you can achieve spectacular results, especially if you don't mind doing some post processing.

As much as I like everything this camera has to offer, there are, however, some things that kind of irritate me. Here is a short list of bad things about this camera, otherwise known as

CONS:
- First of all, this camera has actually been somewhat misrepresented. It's been advertised as a 10.2 megapixel camera, which is not entirely true. 10.2 MP resolution is available ONLY in 16:9 (wide) aspect ratio. Two more ratios are available - 3:2, and a more conventional 4:3, but those offer 8.5, and 7.5 MP resolutions respectively. So if you compare this camera to others that don't have a widescreen format, or if you prefer to shoot only in a regular 4:3 mode, then this camera should only be referred to as a 7 MP digital camera (because not all the pixels are actually effective). Obviously, Panasonic is aware of it, and marketed it having higher pixel count on purpose, to boost consumer's interest;

- I expected to see a compact digital camera. What I got instead was actually a smaller compact camera than I expected. I was really surprised to see how small, yet convenient to hold and operate, the camera body was. What I didn't like, however, was the lens. Not the lens itself, it's actually quite superb, but the fact that it sticks out. I like cameras with lenses that retract all the way back to the camera body. I realize that it would probably loose some features, like the wide angle, and perhaps zoom, but I still wish it did that. It would be so much more... umm... compact?! The way it actually is makes it quite difficult to find the right case for it. Almost impossible, I should say. I've tried a few, but they are either too small or too big. I just can't find one that would fit right. I put an order for an SLX1B case for it, which is specifically designed to fit LX1, and LX2 models, but I hear they are not that good. We shall see;

- I'm not a big fan of a pop-up Flash. I always keep forgetting to open it when I need to use it. And it also seems a bit flimsy. I'm treating it as carefully as I can, but I just can't stop thinking that it might break soon;

- I hate the Lens Cap!!! There, I said it. It's probably just one of those small annoyances that keep frustrating you until you get used to it, but for now I'm not really happy with it.

SUMMARY:
Despite very few minor negatives, I think LX2 is probably one of the best, most innovative cameras on the market today, and I sure am glad to have one. It offers more than any other camera in the same price range, and can even compete with some DSLR's when it comes to picture quality. If you are someone like me, who wants to have more control and/or learn more about digital photography, or a DSLR user who just needs a solid backup to carry everywhere, then this camera is not be overlooked! Highly recommended!

I bought this camera primarily for its ability to take raw images and for its sort-of-manual exposure settings. I'm into taking HDR images (google HDR) and they require several images over a wide exposure (6 - 8+ EV). This camera works fine in both areas, plus it takes w i d e 28mm photos in w i d e aspect ratio so it is what I was looking for. HDR images sum the noise from several photos so they are by nature noisy. I use NEAT IMAGE to clean them up. This is a very nice $500-ish camera. There are better point-and-shoot cameras at that price point but I could find none other that met my own needs.
If I were rich I would buy the Leica version; it's supposed to have a different noise curve, but I feel like I got a lot of camera for the money. On the down side, only Photoshop seems to support the panasonic/leica "raw" format. I use PS CS2 so I didn't load the not-very-well-reviewed software in the box with the camera. The exposure adjustment requires a lot of button pushing, vice turning a wheel like on SLRs, but it works o.k. for me. If you buy this camera, order the Panasonic case designed for it (I think it's the same as for LX1), it's semi-hard and fits like a glove -- actually providing protection for it.
Small, light camera - you'll carry it with you.

I was a bit hesitant to buy this camera after reading reviews about how it has terrible digital noise. After spending many hours reading, researching, and analyzing online pictures of the LX2 with other comparable digital cameras of the same class, I decided to just get it anyway. My decision was based on several reason:
1. I didn't really want to spend more for the similar Leica d-lux 3(usually not in stock at any retail or online stores as of 12/2006), which, according to reviewers have less noise than the LX2 but has softer image quality.
2. I wanted a portable camera capable of taking pictures in RAW format, and at the same time gives me full manual control.
3. I like the design--classically elegant. Aesthetics are subjective, and I agree that there are sleeker, cooler looking camaeras out there but none has the ability to shoot in RAW.
4. I like the 16:9 aspect ratio--great for scenary/nature shots.

Here's my take on the camera after having played with it:
1. Taking pictures at ISO of 100 and 200 show some noise when zoomed in at 100%, but noise not apparent when viewed at smaller sizes. The noise at ISO 100 and 200 is actually no worse than any other cameras of the same class.
2. Great flash. Provides almost perfect lighting while colors stay saturated.
3. Amazingly, when images (RAW format) are viewed using their included sofware, the image quality was far inferior to when they were imported and viewed from Photoshop.
4. Excellent print quality.
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I wouldn't get this camera if you:
1. do a lot of LARGE image printing.
2. digitally zooming in and cropping images (LX2's details aren't that great)
3. don't mind carrying larger and clunkier cameras like dSLRs
4. don't need to shoot in RAW
5. feel 16:9 aspect ratio doesn't matter

Got this camera in late September just as it was released. Initially thought I may have made the wrong choice after reading some complaints about excessive noise but I have not found noise to be much of a problem...PROVIDED that the ISO is kept at 100. Because the camera is so small it is easy to hold steady at slow shutter speeds and I also keep the image stabilization set on #2 (activates only as the shutter button is pressed) to ensure a sharp image. So really there has not been much of a reason for me to use the camera at higher ISOs, but I am thinking it actually might be fun to do this to get some "grain" intentionally, particularly on the black & white setting.

PLUSES: The 16:9 format is extremely fun to use and makes for some very creative picture taking. You can also quickly move to 3:2 or 4:3 formats with a quick flip of a switch on the lens barrel.

The controls are well designed and placed and are simple to use if you have owned previous digital cameras. Manual settings are easily controled via a small joystick. Build quality (mostly metal body) also seems excellent.

I have seen several complaints about the picture quality of this camera, but to me the quality seems comparable to my last digital, a Canon Powershot S-80. I suspect many of the complaints arise from users who do not keep the ISO set to 100.

Macro setting works extremely well. This is quickly controlled by a swtich on the side of the lens barrel.

Took some candid shots at a party and the flash performed quite well. In shutter priority mode, I set the shutter speed to 125, forced the flash on and boosted it a bit. Play around with it a bit and you will find settings that work for you. Skin tones were rich and not washed out.

Various focus options are very helpful. I shoot alot of landscapes so I don't always want the primary focus on the center of the photo. I usually leave the camera set on the nine-point focus setting, which picks up multiple points in the frame and takes an average. By pressing the shutter button halfway, you can preview which of the nine fields the camera will use to gauge the focus and switch to another setting if necessary.

This is the only digital camera I have ever seen that offers fine tuning of the white balance. It is like having a set of filters built right in to the camera! Super!

Images can be cropped right in the camera! This is the first camera I have seen that offers this option.

MINUSES: As at least one other reviewer has mentioned, you are only getting the full 28mm view when you use the 16:9 format.

There is no viewfinder and the LCD screen can be EXTREMELY hard to see in bright sunlight. The camera offers a "Power LCD" setting which lightens the screen and helps in certain conditions, but often I find myself trying to compose a shot while looking at a reflection of myself on the screen.

That's about it. I haven't really put this puppy through all it's paces or used all it's features yet, but I've used it enough to be able to say that I am very pleased with my purchase. The camera is on the expensive side and its advanced features will probably be best appreciated by advanced amateurs or even pros who want something small they can always have with them.

While I am nowhere close to being a pro, I am not a stranger to photography or to digitals. Recently I wanted something better than what I had for an upcoming trip to Italy and I bought the Lumix DMC-LX2 on Amazon after reading reviews, etc.

It is no SLR, but it is far more than a "back-up" camera. It is small enough to be handy without being a burden. (A friend we were travelling with had a digital SLR with a 135mm zoom. She had it in her bag most of the time because it was so big and heavy.)

The lens quality is very good. The absence of a traditional view finder is very nice. The TV screen on the back works in all lighting conditions (its adjustable). You can have as little or a lot of the technical data on the screen as you want. It even has a couple of nice composition templates that I found useful at times.

I bought one of the after market batteries and couple of 2 gig cards and I had far more capacity than I needed for a 2 week trip, but the second card is necessary if you shoot at max pixels as I did the whole time. At max jpg a 2 gig card holds about 350 shots. One battery was all I needed so long as I watched the charger carefully at night. Sometimes the current converter one has to use in Italy would shut down mid-charge. So my advice is to have a second battery and switch them out.

This camera is very versatile. It will do a lot if one takes the time to study the manual. (The manual is not the best, however) The SLR's do beat out its zoom, but that is not much of a problem for casual shooting because one can crop the tar out of the 10.1mg shots and still have a great photo.

The flash works fine. And one can fill flash with it. I bought a small slave unit that works great but I never needed it.

I found a handy, cheap, case at REI. They have a padded cell phone case that hooks up to a belt or a back pack. This camera fits the REI case perfectly. It even has side mesh pockets for batteries and chips. I forget the price but I think it was less than 20 bucks.

I now own this camera for about one month, and have tried to take all kinds of different photos, Macro, Flash and mostly 16 : 9 format. The camera is of superb disign and Quality, It is very easy to use, but it helps to adjust it properly for the kind of picture one wants to take.

The Macro pictures are of very high resolution and depth of field, it is easy to take exellent pictures of Butterflies, even when they are moving a lot.

I never had any problems with the noise even in low light. It seems that people just get on a bandwagon and shout without having a real experience of the facts themself.

It helps a lot to adjust the camera for the task, for example, adjust the whitebalance even on a sunny day, might make a lot of difference.

I am selling my DSLR camera, because this one is a lot easier to use, and it does not produce any camera shake, like that high speed mirror does in the SLR.

After taking almost 600 pictures, I like it and would buy this camera again. I wish it had a way to connect an external flash, but that is not a great problem, I am using one that has a sensor, and fires when the built in flash does. this works great, because it gives much better pictures than just using a built in flash by itself. It is also very handy, that the flash stayes locked up when taking pictures in Museums etc.
I have compared the pictures with other cameras of the same class, of the more popular brands, and I think I get better pictures than most.
It does a more than the Specs tell, for example, it will optically zoom to 1:6.2, even it is rated for 1:4, with the sacrifice of pixels, but you can photograph a bird at some distance, and it will be a sharp picture!

I have always been an SLR photographer and have held off on purchasing a digital camera up until now because I have not been convinced of the resolution capabilities of digital. I travel alot and sometimes due to space and sometimes due to the desire to be inconspicuous I have needed something smaller than my full size SLRs. After a lot of research, looking at every model I could find, I settled on this Panasonic Lumix LX2 because I don't have to give up the control over every aspect of the photo. This camera lets you be a control freak, or you can leave it in one of several automatic modes. It can store pictures in RAW mode, which is important to me (the Canon G7 lost out because it didnt have this) but the JPEG mode is great. I have blown up some prints from this camera and I am completely satisfied with the quality, and I was skeptical before, expecting to be underwhelmed.

I originally bought this as a backup to my SLRs but I already see this will be my primary camera unless I am a situation that calls for a special lens, flash power, or super high resolution (like 25 or 60 ASA)

My only suggestion to Panasonic would be to allow you to charge the battery while in the camera, like with a car charger, and make some sort of accomodation for external flash. The flash on this camera is the weak spot - it's really not that bad for the size but if it could sync with an external flash that would be good.

I had high hopes for this little camera when I bought it, but after scrutinizing the quality of its output, I have decided to return it. I spent days reading the professional and user reviews before ordering. Despite consistent complaints about high ISO noise, I proceeded to order it anyway because most of my shots are taken at a safe ISO 100 (so I thought). I should also say that I own a Canon Powershot S80 and a Nikon D80 dSLR, so the bar was already raised pretty high when I got the LX2.

I love almost everything about this camera. The small size is perfect, the controls are handy, and the ergonomics are great. I also found that the quality of the JPG images are very good at ISO 100. It seems to me that the onboard noise reduction algorithm does a great job.

Now for the problem. I bought the camera mainly for its RAW support. The nice Leica 28mm lens and the 10MP resolution were also important factors. I had planned to take RAW exclusively (as I do with the D80). In that light, the LX2 looked like a potential dream for amateurs like me who love control and quality combined with portability.

But in test shot after test shot, the noise in the RAW images was terrible. Even on nice sunny days, the sky was blotchy in the RAW photos. Even with post-processing using Neat Image (which does a superb job at reducing noise), I could never match the quality of the JPG photos. Neat Image was able to reduce the noise but the cost was a corresponding loss of detail and clarity. I could never get around this devastating compromise.

My bottom-line conclusion is that there is no advantage to taking RAW photos with this camera, since the result is generally less desirable than the JPG images processed on the LX2. This is an unusual conclusion perhaps, but it means that onboard noise processing does a good job on the JPG images. Unfortunately, the other conclusion is that the high noise left in the RAW images is hard to remove, leading to compromised images most serious amateurs find unacceptable.

If you intend to shoot in JPG only and at low ISO settings, the camera has many plusses and I'd recommend serious consideration because everything else about this camera is well done. But if you intend to shoot RAW, be sure to closely study the consequences of heavy post-processing on the images. In my case, the compromise was unacceptable because the loss of clarity is visited in large prints.

Beautifully designed and a real joy to use, with all the right features--including an outstanding image stabilization system, full manual control, aperture priority, shutter priority, and a true wide angle (28mm equivalent) in 16:9 format.

Unlike most compact digital cameras, there's no need to search through menus to make adjustments -- frequently-used controls are readily accessible.

Autofocus is quick and accurate, LCD is bright and clear, with the option of either hiding or displaying all the relevant information (including shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and histogram).

Shutter lag is minimal, except when shooting in Raw mode. Raw files are huge, and it takes several seconds to write to the SD card. It's a pity that Panasonic didn't provide a memory buffer to reduce this rather frustrating delay.

Image quality is good at ISO 100, but noise is apparent at ISO 200 and above, and the in-camera noise reduction only makes things worse in my opinion, sacrificing too much detail in order to eliminate the noise. Definitely inferior to Canon's noise reduction. Fortunately, noise isn't too much of a problem in raw images at ISO 100.