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Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX5 Review

By Alvin Soon - 29 Aug 2010
Launch SRP: S$799

Conclusion

Conclusion

The Panasonic Lumix LX5 is a camera with lots to love. While Panasonic seems to have opted for an evolutionary upgrade to the LX3 rather than a revolutionary overhaul, that's not a bad thing when the LX3 was a great camera to start with. In fact, we'd say that the improvements to the handling - a better grip, the clickable control wheel and dedicated video button - are already worth the price to upgrade.

The things we already liked about the LX3 have carried over; its quick F2 lens which gives you faster shutter speeds in lower light and background blurriness for more artistic shots, its good-looking design and a longer zoom lens. The one thing we wish would have changed was the lens cover that you had to remove manually. It sounds like a small thing but when you're shooting in the field you might find it enough of a hassle for it to be a deal-breaker.

Image noise, a problem that bugged the LX3, has been greatly reduced in the LX5, whereas you would probably stop at ISO800 with the LX3 to keep the noise down, you can go up to ISO1600 for manageable image noise. How Panasonic has done it, by toning down the sharpening, might not sit well with the pixel peeping crowd, but for the average user, we wager they'll like how much clearer their photos look overall.

Priced at S$799, the LX5 isn't the cheapest digital compact camera around, but it's a competitive price amongst other prosumer cameras of its class. And for that price, you get one of the most impressive compact cameras you can find today.

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9.5
  • Performance 9
  • Design 8.5
  • Features 9
  • User-Friendliness 9.5
  • Value 8.5
The Good
Vibrant photographs
Low image noise
Easy to use handling
The Bad
Slight loss of resolution
Manual lens cap
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