By using a pop-up flash rather than an inset design, Panasonic keeps the lens from casting a shadow in flash shots.
In addition to a standard brightness setting, the LX2 has a boosted-brightness mode as well as a mode that boosts brightness and adjusts the gamma so that you can see it well when it's above your head.
The joystick control smoothly handles shooting adjustments, such as aperture and shutter-speed settings. And though it's nice to have the AE/AF lock capabilities--a rarity in a compact camera--it's difficult to grip the camera and hold the button at the same time.
With a complete set of exposure modes and optical image stabilization, the DMC-LX2 makes a nice second camera for enthusiasts.
Although the LX2 lets you quickly switch between 4:3, 3:2, and 16:9 aspect ratios, the only reason to ever leave 16:9 is to shoot movies; in 16:9, the movie frame rate drops to 15fps.
The LX2 can focus as close as 2 inches in macro mode when zoomed out completely.
The LX2 uses an excellent Leica lens. There's no distortion in the middle of the zoom range (top), and though there's understandable barrel distortion at the 28mm-equivalent wide end, it's symmetrical and relatively modest. Nor does the lens's focus on the sides drop off severely, so there's no significant chromatic aberration (fringing).
Though the photos look a bit soft and noisy at ISO 100, they appear very good and quite sharp when printed at 240dpi (10x17.5).
Ironically, there's less visible noise in shots taken at ISO 400, such as this one, than those taken at ISO 100. The trade-off is a bit of softness.
The LX2 seems to be weakest at low ISO sensitivities with optical stabilization and maximum zoom. The shots of distant subjects are quite soft and noisy.
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