Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

It’s not always practical to lug an SLR around, and even if you do it may have the wrong lens attached at the crucial moment. So keen photographers need a pocket-sized alternative – like Panasonic’s premium compact camera, the Lumix DMC-LX7. Its ¹/_1.7in sensor is only slightly larger than the ¹/_2.3in sensors used in most compact cameras – and much smaller than any SLR sensor – but features such as a wide-aperture lens, fast performance and lots of physical controls distinguish it from cheaper point-and-shoot snappers.

In the last couple of years, such cameras, with their fixed lenses, have struggled to compete with compact system cameras (CSCs), which offer the advantages of an SLR’s large sensor and interchangeable lenses at just about pocketable size. If the LX7 is anything to go by, however, the demise of the premium compact camera is a long way off.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

The LX7 has comprehensive, efficient controls. There’s a switch on its lens for auto/macro/manual focus, and another for aspect ratio. In most digital cameras, this would mean simply cropping the image, but the LX7’s sensor is designed for multiple aspect ratios, so 16:9 photos are both shorter and wider than 4:3 ones. It also has a 3:2 option for those who like their photos to resemble an SLR’s output, and so too is 1:1 for Instagram fans.

With aperture controlled on the lens and shutter speed on the rear dial, manual exposure control is extremely fluid. There’s another control for manual focus adjustment, but this rocker lever isn’t as quick to use as a dial or lens ring. Still, a momentary 5x digital magnification lets you adjust the focus with confidence.

Meanwhile, pushing the focus lever enables a three-stop neutral density (ND) filter, which reduces incoming light by a factor of eight. This is perfect for slow shutter effects such as turning flowing water into wispy, ethereal fibres.

AE/AF lock, ISO speed, white balance and drive mode all have dedicated buttons. There’s a customisable Fn button that controls autofocus area by default, and pushing the command dial accesses exposure compensation. Meanwhile, a Q.Menu button gives quick access to other key settings.

There’s no shortage of creative effects and advanced shooting modes, including automatic panorama stitching, 3D capture and a high dynamic range (HDR) scene preset.

THE LX7 IS fast, too, taking just 1.2 seconds to power up and shoot and 0.7 seconds between subsequent shots, even in Raw mode

The LX7 is fast, too, taking just 1.2 seconds to power up and shoot and 0.7 seconds between subsequent shots, even in Raw mode. Full-power flash shots were 3.8 seconds apart. There are several continuous shooting modes, as well as the ability to shoot at 5fps with continuous autofocus.

Panasonic has cut no corners with the video mode: 1920 x 1080 capture is at a choice of 50p, 50i or 25p frame rates, and there’s a 100fps 720p mode that plays back at 25fps for quarter-speed slow motion. It’s great to have slow-motion footage at such a usable resolution. The video setting on the mode dial offers priority and manual exposure control, with the ability to adjust the aperture and shutter speed while recording. The autofocus point can’t be moved, though. Video quality was outstanding, with rich colours, crisp details, a clear stereo soundtrack and a smooth, virtually silent zooming action.

The LX7 was just as impressive in our still image quality tests. The f/1.4 lens is the star of the show, capturing twice as much light as rival cameras’ f/2 lenses, and almost seven times as much as CSCs’ f/3.5 zoom lenses. While some rival cameras aren’t so impressive at the long end of their zooms, the LX7 manages a wide f/2.3 aperture here, too. This means it can afford to use much slower ISO speeds in low light. We compared it with the Sony NEX-F3 and Panasonic’s own GF5 – two CSCs with 3x zoom kit lenses, comparable to the LX78’s 3.8x – and set them all to a ¹/₂₀₀second shutter speed. Despite its smaller sensor, the LX7 came top for detail clarity.

When very low light demanded faster ISOs, the LX7 still produced acceptable results up to ISO1600, and processing Raw files in Lightroom extended the usable range to ISO3200. Noise, Panasonic’s bête noir, was never completely absent, though, with a slight turbulence in areas of dark, smooth colour even at ISO80. Still, we appreciated the gentle approach to noise reduction, letting a little through to preserve detail.

In fact, detail was often startlingly sharp. The downside was occasionally in-sufficient antialiasing: high-contrast diagonal lines had a pixellated appearance, and there was moiré interference on repeating patterns. They were rarely serious, though, and were easily fixed by processing Raw files in Adobe Lightroom.

We can’t remember the last time a compact camera was so consistently impressive. Our only real criticisms concern the features Panasonic has left out. An articulated screen would have increased its size, but we’d be willing to accept that for the benefits it would bring to video and macro shooting. We’d also like a touchscreen to set the autofocus point, and GPS, wifi and a mic input would be nice, too…

There’s an optional electronic viewfinder, but it’s expensive, at around $300 inc VAT. If you want a viewfinder, you might be better served by the Fujifilm X10, which has one built in.

The X10 is just as impressive as the LX7 in low light, with its superior sensor offsetting theLX7’s brighter lens. It’s also bulkier, though, and its continuous shooting and video capabilities aren’t a patch on the LX7’s. The X10 is still highly recommended, but the LX7 is an even better compact camera, and surpasses any CSC we’ve seen at this price.

Details
Info:	Panasonic.com
Price:	$673
Ratings:	4/5