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General discussion

Pansonic LX1 vs. Canon A620

by auroraborealis Feb 14, 2006 11:13AM PST

Hi

I'm completly torn about what camera to buy, I've done the research and have narrowed it down to two options, the Pansonic LX1 or Canon A620.

I'm looking for something relatively small, since I'm more likely to carry it in a purse than my pocket it doesn't have to be that small, but still light. I'm trading in my old film SLR which I have never learned to use well enough to get full use, however, I don't want to give up the manual options for when i feel like doing a little more with the camera. So I'm still looking for something full featured.

I've been leaning towards the Panasonic LX1, but I'm a bit concerned by the reports of noise, and also there is no lens thread. However the quality of the lens seems way above others, and it has the 16:9 aspect ratio which is very cool, and it is both smaller and lighter.

Alternatively I'm considering the Cacon A620 because I can buy an additional tele lens. but again, it is slightly larger...

However I've never used an extra lens on a compat camera, how well does it really work, how much difference does it make, and is it really need with a 7 or 8 Megapixel camera?

Thanks!

Discussion is locked

3 Posts
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Panasonic LX1 - Canon A620
by snapshot2 Forum moderator Feb 14, 2006 11:32AM PST

Here is a look at the specification, side-by-side:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_a620%2Cpanasonic_dmclx1&show=all

I can see why it is difficult to decide.

At this point I would suggest that you go to a camera store and get your hands on both cameras. This will often help you decide.

Additional lenses have nothing to do with the amount of megapixels.

One conversion lens will entend the maximum optical zoom by about 60 percent.
One conversion lens will change the focal length to wide angle (you can get more people in the picture).

Good quality conversion lenses cost a little over $100 each.

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Panasonic LX1 - Canon A620
by auroraborealis Feb 14, 2006 11:42AM PST

The problem is i can't find a store in all of San Francisco that carries the LX1 - it seems to be an online only kind of thing. And buying it from the cheapest online site may not lead to an easy return if I get it and don't like it.

Hmm... the tele conversion lens adds 60%? what would that make the maximum zoom, about 6.5x?

I've looked the dpreview site, actually I've probably been through every camera in this class, at least I've narrowed it down to 2! I'm probably worrying about it too much!

oh, and by 'do I really need the conversion lens with a megapixel of 7 or 8' I just meant you can probably zoom in on a section of a photo quite a lot before loosing detail.

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Digital cameras
by snapshot2 Forum moderator Feb 15, 2006 12:04AM PST

60 % increase:
for 4X = 6.4X
for 5X = 8X

If you are shooting at 7 megapixels, you can crop a photo and still maintain a good image.

If you are using a slide show program that has the Ken Burns effect (zoom and pan), with 7 or 8 megapixels you can zoom into the image quite a ways without losing detail.

If you are thinking of a conversion lens, you should wait until you have used the camera for several months before making that decision. You may find that you don't need it.

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