Since Santa wasn’t going to bring me that 11.6″ MacBook Air I wished for, I went ahead and got myself a present. I’d been coveting the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 for a while now, even considering the Japanese domestic model when versions with English menus were sold out everywhere. So, when its successor—the LX5—was announced, it seemed only a matter of time until I got one. When I dropped my Canon S90 (yet again!), resulting in the zoom lever functioning sporadically, that made it a certainty.
Coming from shooting Canons as my previous four cameras, the first thing I noticed is that the LX5′s got a lot of menus. It’s going to take me a while to figure things out. So, no in-depth review by me any time soon.
However, two common gripes about the LX series concern its size and the lens cap. True, it won’t squeeze into your front jeans pocket, but will fit just fine in most jacket pockets. The length and height are comparable to other compacts; it’s the front-to-back depth that makes it just a little bit on the large side. Regarding the lens cap issue, the camera dimensions would need to be even deeper to accommodate a lens that retracts into the camera body and a powered automatic cover.
As an aside, maybe pocketabilty isn’t necessarily a good thing for me? Of the multiple times I’ve dropped the S90, it’s slipped unstrapped out my grip once or twice, suffering barely a scratch. All other times, it’s fallen out of my pocket either as I moved around or as I was pulling something else out.
I already deal with a lens cap all the time when using my SLR. Yes, I need to be mindful that I don’t power up the LX5 with the cap on, causing a jam as the lens extends. But, although I haven’t played around with the camera much yet, but I don’t expect it to a big deal. And, for those times when I know I’ll be constantly using powering on and off, I’ve got one of those “exploding” lens caps.
