Panasonic LX3 (pics)

[Raist3d]

I got one, and here are some shots. I find this camera does great B&W out of the camera. The JPEG color I wasn't satisfied and was disappointed at first until a bunch of guys + me at dpreview started exploring all settings/theories/combinations and found something finally that I think I can live with. RAW never has been a problem pretty much though you lose the Panasonic engine chromatic aberration removal.

Still the Silky Pix 3.0 included works very well and if you are into RAW, you can get great stuff from it. I am a JPEG shooter though. The amazing thing about RAW shooting on this camera though is that it's the first compact I have seen with a generous buffer and decent write speed to the memory card in RAW.

Comments/critique, welcome.







This one is a 100% crop:



You can move even *quite* closer than that, but my cat wouldn't be too happy with that!

- Raist

[ba-b4]

saw your pics on dpreview.. great stuff! I guess no LX3 fan's in here. I just got mine.. love it!

[Raist3d]

Originally Posted by ba-b4

saw your pics on dpreview.. great stuff! I guess no LX3 fan's in here. I just got mine.. love it!

Thanks for the comments. I have to say I like the LX3 as a camera but I am having some mixed feelings on how much I really "needed it." So I am doing a little experiment and see if I keep or not.

- Raist

[ba-b4]

^^ Well yeah a lot of us don't really need stuff but some things are just nice to have for the sake of having it heheh. For myself I think the LX3 just fit's my needs perfectly. 1. I don't have a wide angle lens for my 50D. I don't take much wide angle stuff other than indoor shots and the occasional landscape while on vacation anyway. Now there's no need to shell out big bucks for a low use wide angle for my 50d. 2. The times when I find I do need wide angle are the times when I usually don't want to be lugging around lots of gear. 3. I don't have a hd video cam either so for me the LX3 video is great! I only take short clips anyway.

I know there's the big thing about the colors on this cam but to me even the standard colors come out fine. I like my colors punchier anyway. I did some tests on the reds too and they seemed close enough to this beginner's eye. Maybe when I develop a more discerning eye I'll be upset with the results but for now I'm happy enough... heheh

[Raist3d]

We kinda sorted it out for the most part in several dpreview discussions. The tweaks that work for me are:

STANDARD mode + others in general - + 1 contrast, -1 saturation

Vibrant - -1 saturation

Then the white balance:

Sunny, cloudy, shade, custom -> make sure the quadrant for white balance tweaks is at +1 towards magenta (denoted int he interface as -M with a magenta letter).

- Raist

[ba-b4]

I kind of tuned out all the color conversations over there. There's just too many posts. The last settings I kept up with are the

Nostalgic film mode
contrast +2
sharpness 0
saturation +1
noise reduction -2

so I just set those as the MY film 1 settings.

Are you recommending all film modes to have + 1 contrast, -1 saturation except for Vibrant which should be set at - 1 saturation?

About the white balance I just have mine set to awb all the time. Any tweaks for that?

[Raist3d]

Originally Posted by ba-b4

I kind of tuned out all the color conversations over there. There's just too many posts. The last settings I kept up with are the

Nostalgic film mode
contrast +2
sharpness 0
saturation +1
noise reduction -2

so I just set those as the MY film 1 settings.

Are you recommending all film modes to have + 1 contrast, -1 saturation except for Vibrant which should be set at - 1 saturation?

About the white balance I just have mine set to awb all the time. Any tweaks for that?

I would say yeah, most film modes. I wouldn't use autowhite balance, but you can tweak it with the +1 towards magenta. However, it will probably be more hit/miss.

Here's another shot I took recently. Only a small contrast/shadow tweak, pretty much almost out of the camera JPEG, Dynamic B&W mode:



- Raist

[Raist3d]

Here's an ISO 3200 in Dynamic B&W mode. Black and White is far more tolerant of noise. What I like is the zero banding and in white or dark areas, it's white or dark. Grey has more noise.



That's not a full size shot so for those interested in looking at it full size, here's a link:

http://raist3d.typepad.com/secretfil...s/P1010852.JPG

- Raist

[ba-b4]

I usually do b&w's in PP with the Channel Mixer function. Gives me more control but the pics from the b&w setting straight out of the camera are pretty damn nice! Even so I'm reluctant to use it just in case I wanted a shot in color later. That iso 3200 bw shot is pretty good. I'd never consider using it in color mode though. In b&w you don't get all the color speckle noise so it just looks like nice grain effect..cool!

[catrike]

Originally Posted by ba-b4

...Gives me more control but the pics from the b&w setting straight out of the camera are pretty damn nice! Even so I'm reluctant to use it just in case I wanted a shot in color later. ...

Why not just shoot in RAW plus JPEG (in B&W)? You will always have the color shot if you want it.

[ba-b4]

Originally Posted by catrike

Why not just shoot in RAW plus JPEG (in B&W)? You will always have the color shot if you want it.

Is there a setting for color raw but jpeg in bw? If so I didn't pay attention to it.

[catrike]

Originally Posted by ba-b4

Is there a setting for color raw but jpeg in bw? If so I didn't pay attention to it.

RAW is always in color. If you choose a B&W jpeg mode such as Dynamic B&W you will get both. Of course, you have to process the RAW color file with Silkypix.

Updated: Adobe Camera Raw now supports the LX3. Silky has better noise suppression tools than Adobe though so it is still the pick for ISO's above say 400. Here is a color shot in RAW at ISO 80.

[jaharris1001]

you know,, I just never thought of Panasonic as a good camera manufacturer, I'm in the market for a P&S and am considering the Canon G10 because basically I'm a Canon guy, but Ive been seeing ALOT of talk about this Panasonic. I'll probably still get the G10 because of my familiarity with Canons, but this camera is something to think about!!

[Raist3d]

@ the raw converters- I tend to shoot jpegs. I am fine with the dynamic B&W look. The raw converters ironically may not get it though of course if you like the look you get with them, by all means.

@ jaharris1001 - yes the LX3 is a pretty good camera. Fast lens, nice wide, nice.. predictability at high ISO 3200 in B&W and image stabilization. Can really fit in a pocket., etc. and full photographic controls.

Panasonic got it right. It also breaks their curse of noisy P&S's....

- Raist