UPDATED 1/30/2013
Still unfreakin' believable. I love my LX5. I was considering upgrading to the LX7 but why? Really why? This little LX5, after 15000+ images is still awesome. Last week while traveling I came across a semi-frozen lake that had some amazing ice fractals and sculptures in the freezing shoreline. I took a bunch of macro images and submitted 76 of them to my stock agency. Out of the 76, 53 were accepted -- and the rest were not the cameras fault, but mine. I don't think much has been written about the incredible macro mode in the camera enough! It is amazing. Absolutely amazing. If you aren't careful the front of the lens will touch the subject! That's how close I can get. Many times I leave my 3, D700, or D800 plus the lenses at home and just travel with the LX5; that's how confident I am in it's ability to nail the shot for personal use, and nail the image for potential sales.
UPDATED 3/15/2012
I'm not well over 9000 images with this camera and am still thrilled. In November, I took a four day trip to San Juan on vacation and as a scouting trip for an upcoming wedding i will be shooting there this summer. I ONLY took my Lumix. Man, what an absolute JOY to use. It performed flawlessly! and I mean flawlessly. the images I came back with of the beach, trees, and old San Juan just blow me away! I have them on my website at www dot viewfromthetopfloor dot com
Check them out. When I return in July for the wedding shoot, I have to take all my dSLR equipment but I'm also taking my Lumix. Once I'm done with the two day wedding shoot, I'm leaving the dSLR in the safe, and exploring with the Lumix. Last November's trip was the second trip, the first was Quebec, I've ever taken where I didn't pack a dSLR and didnt' worry about the image quality. Even my stock agents, and my online micro sites have accepted my images shot on that trip with the Lumix.
Not much else to say except if you want a walk-about camera, that shoots raw, jpeg, movies, and can handle up to iso 800 (even though it goes higher) with great quality get this camera!
UPDATED 10/11/2011
Just returned from two days of shooting images up in Quebec. I only took my Lumix. No dSLR, no lenses. Just the LX5, my filters (of which I only used one) , battery, and memory cards. What a joy. So much fun just creating images, not worrying about lenses, etc. It was very, very crowded on some of the more popular streets in old Quebec City so I was glad I didn't have the big dSLR and a bag to contend with. The camera performed flawlessly from dawn through dusk. I returned with over 1200 images (jpeg + raw) -- yet to be reviewed, but from what I've seen so far, many marketable images. My only complaint, and a minor one at that is that the way I hold my camera at the ready in my right hand for some reason my finger presses the self-timer button and activates it. I wish there were a way to "lock" the menu button. My highest ISO was at 400. I DID NOT use auto ISO feature. I shot primarily in "Aperture" mode, ISO 80. I used the "sunset" scene mode, well, at sunset to get saturation in the brickwork, and I used the "IA" mode on a couple of occasions.
Battery life was great: I got 497 jpeg+raw files the first day and the battery was down to one bar. I probably could have gone another 100 shots if I had to. I don't do much chimping though when I'm out shooting. Rarely, unless the lighting is so strange I need to check exposure, do I review out in the field. Nor do I delete images out in the field. All that work is done at home, in the compute.
I'm so thrilled with the LX5 and it's performance. Today, I ordered the viewfinder as I did have some minor difficulties using the LCD in the sun. It wasn't so much that I couldn't see the image, but what I had a difficult time determining was the polarizing levels as I rotated the filter while looking through the LCD. I knew that was going to be an issue. In December I will be in Puerto Rico, where I hope the sun is really shining so I want to make sure I can see what I'm shooting, and get it right. I will report back on that as soon as I give it a good workout.
UPDATED 9/26/2011
This amazing camera just doesn't stop impressing me. Photography is fun again! This past weekend I went on a short-notice shopping trip. Took the LX5 instead of my dSLR equipment. I found a farmers market where I shot many photos of the fresh vegetables, and pumpkins. I also visited an older barn that was a treasure trove of images just waiting to be had. Did I regret not having my dSLR? No Way! Once I arrived home around ten'ish I ingested the jpegs and Raws into LR3. From that point, I selected a total of nine images to submit to one of the stock agencies (to test the Lumix capabilities) and by midnight I was done. This morning I was notified they accepted three of the nine images. The GREAT news is that the six rejections were not due to lack of sharpness, or oversharpening (keep in mind I submitted, as a test, the jpeg out of the camera), or any noise issues, they just did not care for my subject matter!
How amazing is that? That, quite frankly was my biggest concern: That I would come upon a photo (and stock) rich shooting situation, and only have my Lumix with me and I would blow the opportunity to build up my stock library. That seems to NOT be the case! And, as I stated below in my original review, I'm still going on my trip, and I'm now more positive than ever about NOT taking my Nikons. Did I miss the nikons? No. Not at all. Also, keep in mind that some folks may have a problem with someone shooting with a "professional camera". With just the LX5, I looked like another dumb tourist snapping shots.. LOL I hope that helps you make a more informed decision.
I got this little gem and now am well over 2000 images. I shoot about 85% in "A" aperture mode as I shoot a jpeg and a raw file, and when I just want a snapshot, or don't want to fiddle with any settings I crank it over to the iA (intelligent auto) mode (jpeg only). In either mode, this camera just produces some gorgeous images in various formats -- from the 1:1 square to 4:3, 3:2, and 16:9 for wide-screen TV's. I just returned from a three day jaunt in Maine where i used my dSLR (D700 and the holy trinity of Nikon lenses), plus this little beauty for those times when I wanted to go incognito -- say inside a restaurant, or where I didn't want to be noticed. The images came out incredibly detailed, colorful, sharp and low noise, and just plain perfect. I am a person that despises noise in images and this little camera produces clean, beautiful images at ISO 80, 100, and 200 in the right light. Around 400 to 800 it has some noise, but I can deal with that in LR3. I do have Auto ISO set in the iA mode to a max of 800 though. I'd rather take my chances shooting at a lower shutter speed with the image stabilization on, rather than a higher ISO and noise.
I had been searching for a small p+s with dSLR features and I do believe this is it. My choices were to go with the Canon g12 or the Canon S95. But I didn't go with the Canon S95 because of the lack of raw, or the G12 because of it's massive, unpocketable size. Now, I will say that even though over the last 2000 shots or so I've shot about 85% with the the raw+jpeg combo, for my needs I've only needed the raw file a few times. This camera just produces beautiful images. Not sure how else to say it. You can read about all the reviews here, and specs but seriously until you try it, you'll never know what we LX5 users are talking about. In past years, I've used the G10, G11 from Canon but they were just waaaay to bulky to carry. Even though this camera has the slightly protruding lens I can still fit it in my pants pockets where the others did not fit.
Battery life: I went 476 shots, shooting jpeg+raw about 85-90%, and the rest in the iA mode, PLUS about 25 short videos (under 1 minute each in length) before the camera died. That's awesome as far as I'm concerned. I did us the LCD for playback of images ONLY, not the video, and I used the flash TWICE as I'm not big on flash even with my dSLR.
I also purchased the automatic lenscap as I didn't want to deal with the lumix lenscap even though I had it tied with the little string to the left side camera strap eyelet. This little lens adapter just opens like a flower when you turn the camera on and closes when the lens retracts. No fuss, no mess.
As an additional accessory I also purchased the filter adapter. Not the panasonic, but an off brand for like 10$. I then attached a 52 to 77mm step up ring so I can use my 77mm Singh-Ray filters on the Lumix. Yes, I do get weird looks, but I must say I love using my filters and the camera handles them flawlessly.
I am planning a four-day trip to San Juan in December and I am NOT taking ANY dSLR equipment. I'm taking this Lumix LX5, and my filters, plus the battery charger and memory cards. That's it. That is how confident I am this camera will do the job. Even though the trip is more of a vacation, I do shoot stock for several companies and I do expect to be able to present great images taken with this little gem of a camera.
I couldn't be happier with my Lumix. I had been looking for something to have with me at all times as I didn't want to carry around a dSLR and I found it. It's such a liberating feeling that I can get great images, anywhere, without the weight, bulk, and attention of the dSLR and a camera bag full of equipment!! And, I'm not even talking about it's ability to shoot HD videos!! It also does that, but that's not the primary reason I purchased it. However, I have taken quite a few short videos of my new grandson just because I have it. Who wants to travel with a still camera, and a video camera (which I own the Canon Z40)
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This Item  Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 10.1 MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD - Black (OLD MODEL) | Recommendations  |  |  |  | |
| Price | — | $499.99 | $789.95 | $1,797.99 | $999.00 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Jul 1 | Get it as soon as Saturday, Jun 28 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Jul 1 | — |
| Customer Ratings | |||||
| Sold By | — | Amazon.com | AVC Photo Store & Studio | Amazon.com | Model Electronics |
| display type | LCD | LCD | LCD | LCD | LCD |
| display size | 3 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches |
| lens type | Zoom | Macro | Standard | Wide Angle | Wide Angle |
| zoom type | Optical Zoom | Optical Zoom | Optical Zoom | Optical Zoom | Optical Zoom |
| shooting modes | Automatic | Movie, Auto, Manual | Sports, Movie, Portrait | Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Custom, Automatic | M, Av, Tv, P, Live View Control, Hybrid Auto, Auto, Creative, Sports, Portrait, Smile, Wink and Face Self-Timer, Handheld Night Scene, Low Light, Fish-eye Effect, Miniature, Toy Camera, Soft Focus, B&W, Super Vivid, Poster, Fireworks, Movie modes |
| connectivity tech | HDMI, USB | Wi-Fi, Micro HDMI, Micro USB, Bluetooth | USB | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | HDMI, USB |
| video resolution | HD 720p | 2160p | 2160p | 6K | HD 720p |
| optical zoom | 3.8 multiplier x | 4 multiplier x | 2.9 multiplier x | 3 multiplier x | 40 multiplier x |
| real angle of view | 55.2 degrees | 52.3 degrees | 84 degrees | 67.37 degrees | 1.3 degrees |
| wireless tech | ✓ | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | BuiltIn; 802.11b/g/n with NFC |
| model name | Panasonic Lumix LX5 | Tough TG-7 | DCZV1/B | DC-S9NK | Canon PowerShot SX720 HS |
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Looked better on paper
I purchased this camera to replace a Canon SD1000 that I purchased nearly 5 years ago. Nearly 50% of my photos are taken inside my house of my dogs, wife, etc. With the Canon I had issues with the white balance and the sensitivity. Many of my pictures would come out orangeish and grainy. I upgraded to the DMC-LX5 to alleviate this, the large sensor (bigger than the S100 which I was also looking at) as well as the f 2.0 lens made this look to be the perfect camera for these shots. Now, just to break from that line of thought, when I was looking for the right camera for this job I saw so many posts on camera forums with people asking for the miracle point and shoot. Something that is good for children / animals and fast movement in low light. Responses invariably involved suggestions of a DSLR. The point being that this type of shooting is difficult for the average point and shoot camera. Well, when I want into this my Canon could shoot in my house with only some extra grain and white balance issues. With the upgrade I wasn't looking for perfection, only something better. So, back to my experience. When the DMC-LX5 arrived it was mid-day on a Saturday. Photo's inside the house were great, the video was smooth. I really liked what I was getting into. Then as the shadows became longer I continued taking shots, mostly in the Intelligent Auto mode which worked well. But around dusk, I was ending up with more blurry images. Spoiled by my last point and shoot things like aperture speed and ISO have fallen from my mind so I had to read the manual, the manual on the CD, and start looking up information online. Over the remainder of the night Saturday and the night on Sunday I took quite a few pictures. Adjusting everything that the camera offered. Using different scene modes, ISO settings, shutter speeds, taking photos in RAW, tweaking them on the computer end... And after all of this, I still ended up with blurry photos. I thought that I was being hard on the LX5, expecting too much. So I turned on my treadmill and set it to the lowest speed, 0.5 mph and threw a sneaker on the treadmill. Then I started the side by side test, using an ISO of 800 which is fairly clear I took photos of this shoe moving past with the LX5 and with the 1000SD. In nearly every case the LX5 either gave a unusable dark image or a blurry mess. Meanwhile the 1000SD consistently gave very noisy images but they were still not that bad, you could see the sneaker and it was reasonably bright. I posted one of these photos in the shared area. Still, I don't know why this occurred. I contacted Panasonic and they put me through the usual steps but it was repetitive to what I had already been doing, I only called because I was worried that I had a defective camera. I don't know if the image processing is just a little more geared toward those types of shots in the SD1000 or what but I just couldn't live with using the LX5 for the type of shooting that I do. Still, at comparable ISO and shutter settings it always gave a brighter image than the SD1000 it's just the issue with movement of the subject. So, back to the drawing board for me. It just looked so good by the numbers... Think I'm going to get a Sony NEX and get it over with. I did love the camera body, and the customization was awesome. I think that this is a great camera but it's not good for what I needed it for.
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- Harald GlassReviewed in Canada on March 13, 2013
So good I got a second LX5
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