Why You Can Trust CNET Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7
Though some people may be disappointed by the camera's still relatively small sensor, the fast lens is arguably a more important advantage.
Panasonic is one of the veteran players in the enthusiast compact camera segment, and its LX series has quite a few fans. But it's been almost two years since the company released the DMC-LX5, and given all the activity we've seen -- Olympus, Samsung, and Sony entering the market and Canon introducing both smaller (S95) and larger (G1 X) variations on the theme -- that two years has seemed a lifetime. But the wait is over, and the LX5's replacement, the LX7, sounds pretty nice, as long as Panasonic keeps the price at LX5 level. (As usual, Panasonic isn't announcing pricing or availability yet.) Like the LX5 it will be available in black or white.
You could almost hear the disappointed sighs on the Web when word leaked that the LX7 incorporated a small 1/1.7-inch sensor; the faithful were hoping that the replacement would get a slightly less small 1-inch sensor a la the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100. But Panasonic opted to put what sounds like a significantly better lens on the LX7 than the RX100 has and I think it's the right tradeoff to make. In my opinion, good optics plus a middling sensor trump mediocre optics and a good sensor. And Panasonic did update the sensor from a CCD to an MOS, which delivers new capabilities to the series and should yield some improvements.
Shop for Panasonic Lumix LX7 (black)
See all pricesThe lens is the big news. It covers the same focal range as the LX5 but is two stops one stop faster and stays relatively fast throughout the entire zoom range; that's where both the Canon S100 and Sony RX100 are weak. It's got a Nano Surface Coating lens element and an extralow dispersion element plus a built-in neutral-density filter, which promise to add up to a good lens, plus it's got a manual aperture ring on the lens for the experiential shooters.
Panasonic has also incorporated its Light Speed autofocus system into the LX7. The LX5 was fast for its class but faster upstarts have come along, and the LS AF system has proven to be quite fast in Panasonic's other cameras. The move to MOS from CCD brings capabilities like multishot in-camera HDR, up-to-date 1080p video capture, and a motion panorama mode (like Sony's Sweep Panorama). And the company claims the new sensor has a better signal-to-noise ratio, which promises better photo quality.
Here's the current roster of enthusiast compacts:
| Canon PowerShot S100 | Olympus XZ-1 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 | Samsung EX2F | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 | |
| Sensor (effective resolution) | 12mp CMOS | 10mp CCD | 10mp CCD | 10.1mp MOS | 12.4mp BSI CMOS | 20.2mp Exmor CMOS |
| 1/1.7-inch (7.6 x 5.7mm) | 1/1.63-inch (8.07 x 5.56 mm) | 1/1.63-inch (8.07 x 5.56 mm) | 1/1.7-inch n/a | 1/1.7-inch n/a | 1-inch (13.2 x 8.8mm) | |
| Sensitivity range | ISO 80 - 6,400 | ISO 100 - ISO 6,400 | ISO 80 - ISO 3,200 | ISO 80 - ISO 6,400 | ISO 80 - ISO 3,200/ 12,800 (expanded) | ISO 100 - ISO 25,600 |
| Lens | 24-120mm f2-5.9 5x | 28-112mm f1.8-2.5 4x | 24-90mm f2-3.3 3.8x | 24-90mm f1.4-2.3 3.8x | 24-80mm f1.4-2.7 3.3x | 28-100mm f1.8-4.9 3.6x |
| Closest focus (inches) | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.9 |
| Continuous shooting | 2.3fps n/a | 2fps 23 JPEG/8 raw | 2.5 fps n/a | 5 fps 12 JPEG/ n/a raw (11fps without tracking AF) | n/a | 2.5fps (10fps with fixed exposure) n/a |
| Viewfinder | None | Optional EVF | Optional OVF or EVF | Optional EVF | None | None |
| Autofocus | n/a Contrast AF | 11-area Contrast AF | 23-area Contrast AF | 23-area Contrast AF | n/a Contrast AF | 25-area Contrast AF |
| Metering | n/a | 324-area | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Shutter | n/a | 60-1/2,000 sec; bulb to 16 min | 60-1/4,000 sec | 60-1/4,000 sec | 30-1/2,000 sec | 30-1/2,000 sec; bulb |
| Flash | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hot shoe | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| LCD | 3-inch fixed 461,000 dots | 3-inch fixed OLED 610,000 dots | 3-inch fixed 460,000 dots | 3-inch fixed 920,000 dots | 3-inch articulated AMOLED 614,000 dots | 3-inch fixed 921,600 dots |
| Image stabilization | Optical | Sensor shift | Optical | Optical | Optical | Optical |
| Video (best quality) | 1080/24p H.264 QuickTime MOV Stereo | 720/30p Motion JPEG AVI Mono | 720/30p AVCHD Lite Mono | 1080/60p AVCHD @ 28Mbps; 1080/60p QuickTime MOV @ 28Mbps Stereo | 1080/30p H.264 MP4 Stereo | 1080/60p/ 50p AVCHD Stereo |
| Manual iris and shutter in video | Yes | No | Yes | n/a | n/a | Yes |
| Optical zoom while recording | Yes | Yes | n/a | n/a | Yes | n/a |
| External mic support | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Battery life (CIPA rating) | 200 shots | 320 shots | 400 shots | 330 shots | n/a | 330 shots |
| Dimensions (WHD, inches) | 3.9 x 2.3 x 1.1 | 4.4 x 2.6 x 1.7 | 4.3 x 2.6 x 1.7 | 4.4 x 2.6 x 1.8 | 4.4 x 2.4 x 1.1 | 4.0 x 2.4 x 1.4 |
| Weight (ounces) | 7 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 10.6 (est) | 11.4 (est) | 8.5 (est) |
| Mfr. price | $429.99 | $499.99 | $449.99 | $499.99 | $649.99 | |
| Availability | November 2011 | January 2011 | August 2010 | August 2012 | July 2012 |
I'm not a rezaholic, but I can't help wishing that the LX7 were at least 12 megapixels. With a good lens it should be able to resolve detail well, and 10 megapixels doesn't give you much leeway for cropping or if you like to print 11x16. That, plus the wish that it had a GF5-type flash (which you can tilt back to bounce) are the only two potential issues I see with this camera. Otherwise, it looks credibly competitive to the current crop of models -- provided Panasonic chooses not to price it over $499 -- and I'm looking forward to shooting with it.