December 4, 2015 – Clearly I have a thing for the Lumix series of cameras…. apparently I am brand loyal, though I’m usually not.
On the right is the newest family member, the DMC-LX7, though it was a challenge to find given that it was discontinued a couple of years ago.
I bought the LX3 in 2010, during the Olympics. I love my Nikon D300, but a good point and shoot is something that I like to have living in whatever bag I am carrying.
I have never fallen in love with any point and shoot camera, they are all lacking in my opinion. At least I hadn’t, until I went into Leo’s Cameras and handled the Lumix LX3. It has a superb Leica lens and the sensor went for quality of pixels rather than quantity. The pictures that came out of that little camera rivalled what I could get out of my big camera sometimes. And the thing was capable of manual focus, and completely intuitive to use.
A couple of years later Panasonic came out with a successor and I gave the LX3 to Kirk and bought the LX5. The LX5 became my go-to camera for daily photography and went everywhere with me. I had no interest in an upgrade until a hiccup a couple of weeks ago.
The SD card got stuck inside.
A couple of YouTube videos later and Kirk and I were trying a trick to get the card out. Eventually I did get it out, but in the process something was slightly damaged and now the card doesn’t always seat on reinsertion, it was frustrating.
So I went online to look to see what had succeeded the LX-5. Turned out I’d had the LX5 long enough that there were two successors. The current model is the LX-100….and it’s $1100.00 CDN!!!
There is no way in the world I’d pay $1100.00 for a point and shoot camera, no matter how good the quality of the images! I’m hankering for the Nikon D7200 and that camera body was on sale on Black Friday for $1149.99, and it will probably be on sale for that again over Christmas. I’d definitely drop that for an SLR body, but not a pocket camera.
So I started digging around to see if I could find an LX7 anywhere. When they brought out the LX-100 they discontinued the LX7, but there had to be some stock somewhere. When the camera was in production it sold for around $600 CDN, and I found a new one at Newegg.com, in Canada, for $349.00 CDN, delivery included.
Sold!
And wouldn’t you know it…the thing arrived at the doorstep an hour after I left to catch a plane to Portland.
So I took the LX5 and struggled with it, and took most of the photos I took down there on my iPhone as a result.
But now I have a new little LX in the family, with a few new features – like HDR, an integrated neutral density filter, full 1080p video, stereo microphone (not that I’m really into video), and the same fantastically fast 1.4 lens in front of the sensor. It has a manual aperture ring, and the little thing can operate in a fully manual mode, which really was what sold me on the LX3, although this new iteration is much more sophisticated. The lens is tack sharp, and it has excellent image stabilization. And a bonus feature is the fact that Panasonic did not change the battery from the LX5, so I did not have to buy a second battery since I already have two for the LX5.
Fantastic cameras, all of them, and I think the LX7 and I will be together for awhile.
(Review)
14 comments
I have two Lumix cameras, agree they are awesome point and shoot cameras, love mine!
I have a fourth Lumix, but it’s a little waterproof, shockproof thing. It’s tough, but the quality of photos is limited by the tiny lens (not a Leica lens). Not nearly as good and pretty lousy in low light. But half decent in daylight and fun to use out on the river.
Casey has a little one like that for when he goes surfing, not Lumix, same issue with low quality pictures but super fun to have something durable out in the water!