If you've ever wanted to shoot some artsy photos when you are out at night but didn't want the hassle of lugging your SLR around to the pub, I have the solution.
It's the Panasonic Lumix LX3. No, it's not the new hybrid Lexus sports coupe, it's a camera and it'd the latest acquisition to my camera arsenal. Let me tell you, this thing is freakin' sweet.
Point and shoot diggies can never really perform like your big rig camera and give you the wide angles and the depth of field like your digital SLR can. Well this stealthy 10.1 megapixel digital wonder can do it and it does it with style.
The CAMERA:
Without getting into greek techno-jargon, let me just say that this thing packs the possibilities of a $1500 dSLR into a sleek, compact $500 Point and Shoot body. It resembles the Leica M3 rangefinders used by some of the best documentary shooters in history, like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Diane Arbus, Robert Capa, Sebastiao Salgado and many others.
Leicas were so popular with these shooters because they could be a fly on the wall with their quiet and small Leica Rangefinders, so as not to disturb the history that they were documenting. Sometimes it's hard to go unnoticed with a huge Canon Eos IDs Mark II and a 16-35mm on it.
It has 24 custom settings including: Fireworks, Beach, Snow, Party, Food, Night Scenery, and others, the coolest one I think is the Pinhole Camera, that gives you an artsy vignette in the corners and adds an effect that you can only get by photoshopping later. It also has 3 B&W settings: standard B&W, which is self explanatory; smooth B&W gives you mellow blacks and whites and dynamic B&W which renders a sexy contrast you could only get in the darkroom with the right paper and filters. It makes storm clouds look ultra mean.
The camera shoots in three aspect ratios, 4:3, 3:2, and 16:9, basically adjusting the format of the photos you will get, and of course it shoots video and writes it all to an SD memory card.
The LENS:
It has a f2.0 24mm wide angle LEICA DC Vario-Summicron Lens.
Not sure what Vario-Summicron is...sounds like the foreign exchange student we had my senior year in high school, but Leica, my friends, is the BMW of lenses. When it comes to glass on your camera, Leicas are basically the lenses to which all other cameras are compared. You'll pay with your limbs for the quality, but this glass is top notch. With 2.0 at 24mm, this little beast is awesome in low light and yields great images with minimal grain. Oops, I mean noise. This camera is so classy I was thinking film again.
It has a lot of possible add-ons: a viewfinder, wide angle conversion lens attachment and flash (to go on the built in hot shoe...a bonus that not many point and shoots have).
At only half a pound, this featherweight is worth its weight in gold. It goes for a somewhat hefty $499.95 from Panasonic.com, or $459.95 from B&H Photo in New York at BHPhotoVideo.com.
Sure its a lot to be dropping on a camera when gas is $4 a gallon, but just think of all the great photos you will shoot while you are walking to work instead of driving, and just think how much happier you have made Mother Nature.
The DOWNERS:
It doesn't have a viewfinder, so on really bright days, it's sometimes hard to see what you're shooting with sun glare on the 3-inch LCD screen.
For more info go to www.panasonic.com
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