Lumix LX-5

[riwiho]

I seem to remember Pistonhead members saying the Lumix LX-3 was a great pocket camera for the days when their DLSR was not manageable.

After the recent death of my P&S I have today started the hunt for a new pocket camera. I searched for ‘LX3’ as I figured this was a good starting place for my research. Under the search results came the news that Panasonic has released the Lumix LX-5. (DPreview press release - http://www.dpreview.com/news/1007/10072110panasoni...

The camera looks great, I like the addition of the hand grip and control dial and the new lens appears fantastic on paper.

I would very much like to have a look at one of these up close and personal but I have not been able to find any news about a release date, can anyone help me out?

Finally would current LX-3 owners recommend this or should I be considering something else?

[the-photographer]

riwiho said:

I seem to remember Pistonhead members saying the Lumix LX-3 was a great pocket camera for the days when their DLSR was not manageable.

After the recent death of my P&S I have today started the hunt for a new pocket camera. I searched for ‘LX3’ as I figured this was a good starting place for my research. Under the search results came the news that Panasonic has released the Lumix LX-5. (DPreview press release - http://www.dpreview.com/news/1007/10072110panasoni...

The camera looks great, I like the addition of the hand grip and control dial and the new lens appears fantastic on paper.

I would very much like to have a look at one of these up close and personal but I have not been able to find any news about a release date, can anyone help me
out?

Finally would current LX-3 owners recommend this or should I be considering something else?

I'd definately recommend the LX3, it does an excellent job in all conditions my LX3 gallery

Panasonic claim its being released in August (let's see), until then here are some more pics of the camera;

http://www.pocket-lint.com/.../review/4888/panason...
http://www.photographyblog.com/news/panasonic_lumi...

[Nick M]

I've had my LX-3 for about 7 months now, and initially I treated it as just a P&S camera.

But it's a lot more than that, and I've recently taken to using it to do short film clips at events like Le Mans and the Le Mans Classic. At night. It does a grand job of that.

One thing I admit I struggle with is the limitation of the maximum focal length, so the LX-5 would be a very interesting alternative for that reason alone.

Basically, the LX-3 is a great little camera, and the LX-5 seems to address some of its limitations.

Release date ? Who knows, especially as it was still a pre-production model which they reviewed. I'd guess, at the earliest, tail end of 2010 with stock being readily available by early 2011. Price wise I'd guess (again...) it to be up around the £400 mark, so about £100 more than you can currently get an LX-3 for.

[riwiho]

Some more images of the camera here: http://www.engadget.com/photos/hands-on-with-panso...

[...Mole...]

Might get myself one of these when they come out, i do quite a bit of Urbex and its not always practical too have a DSLR with you.

[riwiho]

...Mole... said:

Might get myself one of these when they come out, i do quite a bit of Urbex and its not always practical too have a DSLR with you.

Got any shots from recent Urbex trips?

[...Mole...]

riwiho said:

...Mole... said:

Might get myself one of these when they come out, i do quite a bit of Urbex and its not always practical too have a DSLR with you.

Got any shots from recent Urbex trips?

indeed i do.

Edited by ...Mole... on Wednesday 21st July 21:38

[riwiho]

Fantastic, I've heard about this before but don't really know much about it. Rather inspired by some of those shots.

I live in Cheshire and recently purchased a book on the history of WWII airfields in cheshire, may have to start exploring.

[...Mole...]

riwiho said:

Fantastic, I've heard about this before but don't really know much about it. Rather inspired by some of those shots.

I live in Cheshire and recently purchased a book on the history of WWII airfields in cheshire, may have to start exploring.

It gets quite addictive, ive only been doing it since May but have visited quite a lot of sites whithin that time. I keep meaning to check out the WWII stuff around here there seems to be an abundance of old airfields in Aberdeenshire.


Regarding the camera does anyone know how much the optional optical viewfinder is likely to cost, would feel wrong composing pictures on a screen, although i suppose i could get used to it.

[Nick M]

...Mole... said:

Regarding the camera does anyone know how much the optional optical viewfinder is likely to cost, would feel wrong composing pictures on a screen, although i suppose i could get used to it.

According to the Panasonic website, the optical view finder seems to be around £200 !!! Although apparently old range-finder ones could be used, albeit with slightly different framing lines. You can find them on ebay for example.

The electronic view-finder for the GF1 is a similar price, and a friend of mine swears by his one. Not sure if the LX-5 is going to have the option to use the electronic view finder (not looked too closely to be quite honest) but that could be a really useful addition.