Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 – High-End Wide Angle Compact Camera

The new Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 high end, wide angle compact camera looks promising. It features a 24-60mm f/2.0–2.8 LEICA DC lens, which should improve shooting in low light situations, plus it processes in RAW. Instead of increasing the megapixels (currently 10), they instead increased the sensor size which should help decrease noise and improve dynamic range. The DMC-LX3 comes out in August at a price of $499 and is available for pre-order through Amazon.

The LX3’s F2.0 24mm ultra-wide-angle LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMICRON lens also represents a major step up from the LX2. The F2.0 lens is about twice as bright as the previous F2.8 lens, itself generally considered a bright lens. With the new F2.0 lens, the LX3 can shoot at higher shutter speeds and capture stunningly clear, sharp, blur-free images even in lower lighting conditions. This advanced lens also makes it easy to produce beautiful photos with pleasing soft-focused background. Also, the 24mm ultra-wide-angle lens – rare on a compact camera – gives photographers a wider range of composition possibilities. The super-high-quality LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMICRON lens minimizes distortion even at the wide end, so users can get stunning, true-to-life images with outstanding resolution and detail.

I’ll be curious to see how this stacks up against my trusty Ricoh GR Digital II which is an amazing little camera.