Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic DMC-LX2K 10.2MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)

I was definitely NOT disappointed with the camera, after reading so much about it and passing on the LX1 a year ago due to the reports of excessive noise in the images.

The camera design of the LX-2 is absolutely superb, with a quality metal body and extremely well thought out feature set. Panasonic has done their homework and solved so many of the design challenges facing point-and-shoot digital cameras. Some will miss a tilting screen or an optical viewfinder, but I don't miss them. Either feature would compromise the current design and the very likeable large 16:9 viewfinder. They've done everything they can to compensate, including an extra-bright mode for the screen and even a high-angle mode that lets you shoot over the heads of a crowd, which accounts for the majority of "tilted" shots I've taken with my previous camera, a Nikon with a screen that tilts.

I've been waiting for a decent digicam with a true wide angle lens, real 16:9 wide-screen aspect ratio, and widescreen video. It may very well be that this camera is the design future of the industry---hard to believe people wouldn't like this camera over its competitors. Once you start shooting wide-screen, you realize what a natural and creative format it really is.

That being said, there are image quality compromises with this camera... in order to solve the noticeable noise in the LX-1, Panasonic opted for strong noise reduction with their Venus III engine, and I can confirm the early reviews: they've reduced noise at a slight loss of very fine image detail and a bit of a watercolor effect at higher ISOs if you examine images at 100% magnification.

But on the other hand many consumers are not really going to notice this, the images are really outstanding in the majority of situations, and there are so many megapizels to play with that for many it will simply never be an issue, the way the images are viewed full-size on a monitor or at print sizes up to about 8x10. Most of us aren't as critical as the pros who are doing the reviews. And there isn't a point and shoot out there that has perfect images in every respect, others have flaws like corner softness and purple fringing that the Panasonic doesn't have.

Fortunately this camera will shoot in RAW format and allow you to recover nearly all of the original detail, albeit with some work, to really show the superb quality of the Leica lens. But this time around they've bundled halfway decent RAW image processing software, so you actually have the tools to do this without shelling out more money.

To be honest, those looking for perfect image quality arguably are the type to be purchasing DSLRs and not high-end point-and-shoots. I think Panasonic may have hit the sweet spot in their target market with this camera.

Beware---this camera will only work with 4 GB SD cards that are the newer SD-HC type. Unlike many of its peers, it will NOT work with standard SD 4 GB cards that are formatted FAT32. Panasonic may be deliberately protecting sales of the new 4 GB format. So either go with a standard 2 GB card or the SD-HC 4 GB cards. I learned the hard way.

At least for now it is :-) . During the course of the past 10-12 months I have owned 7, that's SEVEN, digital cameras: Canon S230; Kodak V530; 5 different models of Casio's: Z60, Z600, Z850, P700; and most recently presented my wife with a red S770 for Valentine's Day. I also had a pretty good chance to evaluate Canon SD450 (my brother-in-law owns one - it was actually a gift from my wife and I to him for his 21st birthday), Casio EX-S600 (a good friend of mine owns one), and Panasonic DMC-TZ1 (once again, a gift from my wife and I to my father-in-law for his last birthday). If you read any of my digital camera reviews (and I've written a few by now), then you know that I'm not particularly fond of Canon's lately - I think they are overrated and overpriced for what they have to offer. As I also mentioned before, I've tried several different Kodak models (and I used to work for the company too!), but all of them turned out to be a waste of my time, to say the least. I became a big fan of Casio's, although not all of my experiences with them were great. But being a huge gadget "freak" that I am, and constantly wanting new "toys", I have always craved for more. Over time, my tastes in digital cameras have changed from having a simple point and shoot type of camera to wishing for more power and manual control. So one by one, I returned/sold all of my cameras, and after extensive (and I really do mean extensive) research, I got myself an LX2. I must say though that I probably wouldn't have without getting to know my father-in-law's TZ1 first. I was actually quite impressed with it. Powerful zoom, sharp lens, decent picture quality. I also played with some other Panasonic models in various stores just to get a better feel for them, as well as spent a few hours on the phone, and exchanged numerous e-mails with a friend of mine who owns an FZ30, and who swears by it. Unfortunately, LX2 was not available anywhere locally, but I felt that I got a pretty good understanding of what Panasonic's cameras are all about, and after some more thought and consideration, I went ahead and bought it from Amazon (nice thing about buying from Amazon is that you can always return whatever it is you bought, including digital cameras, within 30 days for a full refund, no questions asked). I did know about the "Noise" issue at high ISO's, but it wasn't a decisive factor for me, and I'm glad I didn't pay much attention to it and got the camera anyway. It turned out to be one of the best purchases I've made in a long while. Here is why:

PROS:
- Superb design. This camera is wonderfully crafted. And I absolutely love Black! It gives the camera a nice, clean, professional look. I don't think I'll be buying another silver camera soon after having this one;

- Intuitive controls, and menus. I charged the battery, put it into the camera, and started using it and taking pictures right away, without even going through the manual once;

- A load of features, including a large, bright, widescreen LCD; wide angle, super sharp Leica lens with a 4x zoom; Mega OIS - optical image stabilization control (optical means it's done mechanically, which is a TRUE way of doing stabilizing, comparing to other cameras where it's done by "tricking" the camera into using higher ISO's); and many more. In addition, it has a joystick for an easy access to different menus, has a number of manual controls, as well as provides ability to shoot in RAW format (more on that later);

- It comes with SilkyPix Developer Studio software for working with camera RAW files. For someone who is not familiar with RAW - it's a "pure", camera specific picture format. It varies upon a manufacturer, meaning that Canon RAW is different from Nikon or Panasonic RAW, for example. And it's "pure" in a sense that it's of a much better quality than a standard JPEG (JPG), and doesn't suffer from loss of information, such as white balance, or brightness. There is a lot more to RAW than that, and I'm not going to go into details right now. What I want to say, however, is that having previously owned a camera which supported RAW format (Casio EX-P700), I must have tried about a dozen of different RAW editing software packages, including products from Adobe, Ulead, ArcSoft, PhotoFiltre, Picture Window Pro, ACDSee, LightZone, Image Broadway, and more. SilkyPix delivered by far the best results of all. The only one that I would probably put next to it is Bibble;

- Noise - What Noise?! I really hate it when I hear people complaining about noise in this camera (after having it tried myself), or any other compact digital camera for that matter. Are you really that naïve that you think that you will get absolutely no noise in your images using a compact digital camera? Think again. You might have noticed that I've used the word "Compact" several times here. I've done it on purpose - it is inevitable for a compact digital camera to produce some noise. Some cameras are better than others, but no matter how hard you try, you will see some. This camera is no better or worse than any other one that I've had/tried. At higher ISO's (above 400), it's slightly more visible, but who in the right state of mind is using anything over ISO 200 on a compact digital camera, such as this one, anyway? I always have mine set to a 100. If I feel that it doesn't get the job done, I shoot in RAW;

- Picture Quality is Very Good. Yes, it does take some time getting used to, but once you familiarize yourself with everything this camera is capable of, you can achieve spectacular results, especially if you don't mind doing some post processing.

As much as I like everything this camera has to offer, there are, however, some things that kind of irritate me. Here is a short list of bad things about this camera, otherwise known as

CONS:
- First of all, this camera has actually been somewhat misrepresented. It's been advertised as a 10.2 megapixel camera, which is not entirely true. 10.2 MP resolution is available ONLY in 16:9 (wide) aspect ratio. Two more ratios are available - 3:2, and a more conventional 4:3, but those offer 8.5, and 7.5 MP resolutions respectively. So if you compare this camera to others that don't have a widescreen format, or if you prefer to shoot only in a regular 4:3 mode, then this camera should only be referred to as a 7 MP digital camera (because not all the pixels are actually effective). Obviously, Panasonic is aware of it, and marketed it having higher pixel count on purpose, to boost consumer's interest;

- I expected to see a compact digital camera. What I got instead was actually a smaller compact camera than I expected. I was really surprised to see how small, yet convenient to hold and operate, the camera body was. What I didn't like, however, was the lens. Not the lens itself, it's actually quite superb, but the fact that it sticks out. I like cameras with lenses that retract all the way back to the camera body. I realize that it would probably loose some features, like the wide angle, and perhaps zoom, but I still wish it did that. It would be so much more... umm... compact?! The way it actually is makes it quite difficult to find the right case for it. Almost impossible, I should say. I've tried a few, but they are either too small or too big. I just can't find one that would fit right. I put an order for an SLX1B case for it, which is specifically designed to fit LX1, and LX2 models, but I hear they are not that good. We shall see;

- I'm not a big fan of a pop-up Flash. I always keep forgetting to open it when I need to use it. And it also seems a bit flimsy. I'm treating it as carefully as I can, but I just can't stop thinking that it might break soon;

- I hate the Lens Cap!!! There, I said it. It's probably just one of those small annoyances that keep frustrating you until you get used to it, but for now I'm not really happy with it.

SUMMARY:
Despite very few minor negatives, I think LX2 is probably one of the best, most innovative cameras on the market today, and I sure am glad to have one. It offers more than any other camera in the same price range, and can even compete with some DSLR's when it comes to picture quality. If you are someone like me, who wants to have more control and/or learn more about digital photography, or a DSLR user who just needs a solid backup to carry everywhere, then this camera is not be overlooked! Highly recommended!

I bought this camera primarily for its ability to take raw images and for its sort-of-manual exposure settings. I'm into taking HDR images (google HDR) and they require several images over a wide exposure (6 - 8+ EV). This camera works fine in both areas, plus it takes w i d e 28mm photos in w i d e aspect ratio so it is what I was looking for. HDR images sum the noise from several photos so they are by nature noisy. I use NEAT IMAGE to clean them up. This is a very nice $500-ish camera. There are better point-and-shoot cameras at that price point but I could find none other that met my own needs.
If I were rich I would buy the Leica version; it's supposed to have a different noise curve, but I feel like I got a lot of camera for the money. On the down side, only Photoshop seems to support the panasonic/leica "raw" format. I use PS CS2 so I didn't load the not-very-well-reviewed software in the box with the camera. The exposure adjustment requires a lot of button pushing, vice turning a wheel like on SLRs, but it works o.k. for me. If you buy this camera, order the Panasonic case designed for it (I think it's the same as for LX1), it's semi-hard and fits like a glove -- actually providing protection for it.
Small, light camera - you'll carry it with you.

I was a bit hesitant to buy this camera after reading reviews about how it has terrible digital noise. After spending many hours reading, researching, and analyzing online pictures of the LX2 with other comparable digital cameras of the same class, I decided to just get it anyway. My decision was based on several reason:
1. I didn't really want to spend more for the similar Leica d-lux 3(usually not in stock at any retail or online stores as of 12/2006), which, according to reviewers have less noise than the LX2 but has softer image quality.
2. I wanted a portable camera capable of taking pictures in RAW format, and at the same time gives me full manual control.
3. I like the design--classically elegant. Aesthetics are subjective, and I agree that there are sleeker, cooler looking camaeras out there but none has the ability to shoot in RAW.
4. I like the 16:9 aspect ratio--great for scenary/nature shots.

Here's my take on the camera after having played with it:
1. Taking pictures at ISO of 100 and 200 show some noise when zoomed in at 100%, but noise not apparent when viewed at smaller sizes. The noise at ISO 100 and 200 is actually no worse than any other cameras of the same class.
2. Great flash. Provides almost perfect lighting while colors stay saturated.
3. Amazingly, when images (RAW format) are viewed using their included sofware, the image quality was far inferior to when they were imported and viewed from Photoshop.
4. Excellent print quality.
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I wouldn't get this camera if you:
1. do a lot of LARGE image printing.
2. digitally zooming in and cropping images (LX2's details aren't that great)
3. don't mind carrying larger and clunkier cameras like dSLRs
4. don't need to shoot in RAW
5. feel 16:9 aspect ratio doesn't matter

Got this camera in late September just as it was released. Initially thought I may have made the wrong choice after reading some complaints about excessive noise but I have not found noise to be much of a problem...PROVIDED that the ISO is kept at 100. Because the camera is so small it is easy to hold steady at slow shutter speeds and I also keep the image stabilization set on #2 (activates only as the shutter button is pressed) to ensure a sharp image. So really there has not been much of a reason for me to use the camera at higher ISOs, but I am thinking it actually might be fun to do this to get some "grain" intentionally, particularly on the black & white setting.

PLUSES: The 16:9 format is extremely fun to use and makes for some very creative picture taking. You can also quickly move to 3:2 or 4:3 formats with a quick flip of a switch on the lens barrel.

The controls are well designed and placed and are simple to use if you have owned previous digital cameras. Manual settings are easily controled via a small joystick. Build quality (mostly metal body) also seems excellent.

I have seen several complaints about the picture quality of this camera, but to me the quality seems comparable to my last digital, a Canon Powershot S-80. I suspect many of the complaints arise from users who do not keep the ISO set to 100.

Macro setting works extremely well. This is quickly controlled by a swtich on the side of the lens barrel.

Took some candid shots at a party and the flash performed quite well. In shutter priority mode, I set the shutter speed to 125, forced the flash on and boosted it a bit. Play around with it a bit and you will find settings that work for you. Skin tones were rich and not washed out.

Various focus options are very helpful. I shoot alot of landscapes so I don't always want the primary focus on the center of the photo. I usually leave the camera set on the nine-point focus setting, which picks up multiple points in the frame and takes an average. By pressing the shutter button halfway, you can preview which of the nine fields the camera will use to gauge the focus and switch to another setting if necessary.

This is the only digital camera I have ever seen that offers fine tuning of the white balance. It is like having a set of filters built right in to the camera! Super!

Images can be cropped right in the camera! This is the first camera I have seen that offers this option.

MINUSES: As at least one other reviewer has mentioned, you are only getting the full 28mm view when you use the 16:9 format.

There is no viewfinder and the LCD screen can be EXTREMELY hard to see in bright sunlight. The camera offers a "Power LCD" setting which lightens the screen and helps in certain conditions, but often I find myself trying to compose a shot while looking at a reflection of myself on the screen.

That's about it. I haven't really put this puppy through all it's paces or used all it's features yet, but I've used it enough to be able to say that I am very pleased with my purchase. The camera is on the expensive side and its advanced features will probably be best appreciated by advanced amateurs or even pros who want something small they can always have with them.