Panasonic Lumix LX100 Review - The Lumix LX100 arrives in a highly competitive premium compact market and promises to challenge the current reigning champions with an impressive specification and stylish looks

Product Overview

Overall rating:

93%

Panasonic Lumix LX100

Features:95%
Design:95%
Performance:95%
Value:90%
Image Quality:90%

Pros:

  • Built-in EVF is a real plus; Impressive image quality from larger sensor; Fast maximum aperture useful

Cons:

  • Lacking both a variangle and touchscreen LCD; Zoom range is a touch lacking; EVF colour rendition not perfect

Product:

Panasonic Lumix LX100 Review

Manufacturer:

Price as reviewed:

£699.00
The Panasonic Lumix LX100 arrives in a highly competitive premium compact market and promises to challenge the current reigning champions with an impressive specification and stylish looks.

While Sony’s RX100 series might have been all the rage in recent times when it comes to enthusiast compact cameras, it was in fact Panasonic that first ignited new life in to the sector with its LX series some years ago.

In fact, it could be said that the LX3 reinvented the premium compact market back in 2008 thanks to its premium optics and compact body combination.

Speed forward to 2014 and Panasonic is once again drawing attention to its LX range with the all-new LX100. The model features an impressive Four Thirds sensor and a 24-75mm zoom complete with a f/1.7-2.8 maximum aperture range, as well as a host of other advanced compact features.

The question is, is the LX100 a return to enthusiast compact form for Panasonic?

Panasonic Lumix LX100 Review - front angled

Panasonic Lumix LX100

Panasonic Lumix LX100 Review – Features

There’s no doubting the most impressive and keystone feature on the LX100, and that’s the camera’s sensor.

The sensor in question boasts a 16.84MP resolution and is a Four Thirds chip, as utilised in a wide range of Panasonic Lumix compact system cameras. This sensor measures in at 17.3 x 13mm – physical dimensions which should ensure some excellent image quality especially in low light and high ISO situations.

The sensor is so big in fact that it’s larger than that found in almost any other camera with a built-in zoom lens.

It’s worth pointing out some operational quirks with the sensor – the LX100 never fully utilises the entire surface area, instead working with a range of different crop ratios. The main one of these is 4:3, at which the effective resolution is 12.8MP.

Panasonic Lumix LX100 Review - hand held

Panasonic Lumix LX100 extended lens

Optical capabilities

Paired with this sensor is a zoom lens which covers a 24-75mm focal range in traditional 35mm equivalent terms. While that focal range is somewhat pedestrian in terms of zoom lenses, the maximum aperture range is not. In fact, with a maximum aperture of f/1.7 at the wide angle of the lens – shortening to f/2.8 at the tele end – you could indeed describe it as remarkable.

The lens’s impressive features are further boosted by the presence of optical image stabilisation which really does the job and, with the support of a 200 – 25,600 ISO range, should deliver sharp images in a wide range of shooting conditions.

The impressive specification continues with some rapid continuous shooting speeds provided by the Venus Engine processor. If you’re happy to have both your focus and exposure fixed the LX100 is capable of an impressive headline shooting speed of 11fps, dropping down to a solid 6.5fps with continuous AF enabled.

The burst depth is also respectable at around 24 files when shooting both Raw and JPEG files simultaneously, although if you’re happy to shoot just JPEG files you can shoot indefinitely at 6.5fps without any form of slowdown.

Panasonic Lumix LX100 Review - rear view

Panasonic Lumix LX100 stills capture

4K performance

Videographers are also in for a treat as the LX100 utilises Panasonic’s long video heritage to deliver 4K video capture. Although the model is lacking in an external microphone socket, thus potentially limiting its appeal to serious movie makers, it still stands along in its high resolution video capture.

With regards to other photographic features, the LX100 also offers a new ‘4K Photo’ mode that facilitates 8MP stills grabs from 4K video capture.

The camera also offers time-lapse shooting, stop-motion animation, simple panoramic shooting functionality and a high dynamic range shooting mode.

Finally, although the camera doesn’t feature a built-in flash it does boast a small flash unit in the box which slides simply on to the camera’s hotshoe.

  1. 1. Panasonic Lumix LX100 Review - Features
  2. 2. Panasonic Lumix LX100 Review - Design
  3. 3. Panasonic Lumix LX100 Review - Performance
  4. 4. Panasonic Lumix LX100 Review - Image Quality
  5. 5. Panasonic Lumix LX100 Review - Verdict
  6. 6. Panasonic Lumix LX100 Review - Specification
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