Panasonic Tell us about your Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5

[BBW]

Inquiring minds want to know. And I know at least one member here has this Panasonic LX5 at home. How do you like it? If you had one of the older versions, how does this one compare?

P.S. I hope people will add a photo or two here, however we also have the https://www.photographerslounge.org/f9/panasonic-lx-leica-d-lux-image-thread-263/ which I hope will be added to by those with the LX5.

 

[Karen Cole]

OK...so far I'm loving the LX5. It's extremely easy to use and since I'm already familiar with and have the GF1..it makes using the click wheel a piece of cake. I know this is one of the points of contention among LX3 and lower users. Since it just arrived yesterday, I haven't had much time to do anything special with it. I've taken some sample shots in a variety of conditions and so far I like the sharpness of the lens and the color saturation, I think, is better than the GF1's.

Of the shots I've taken, little if any work is necessary in LR. Perhaps a crop and/or addition of fill light/brightness. The lens focuses fast! The camera is small..fits easily in hand and feels solid..well built. I like how the controls are set-up and everything is easy to access either by click wheel or QM..once set up.

In some of my handheld shots I found signs of movement and switched my anti-shake (Stabilizer) from Auto to Mode#2..that seems to have helped. One of the most unforgiving things is the blur caused by hand motion. In auto stabilization mode it's very apparent. I thought I had a pretty steady hand...NOT!

Here's a couple of images: Pic 1 Light touch up in LR3 Brightness/Fill light Image 2 Same as 1 Image 3 out of camera untouched Image 4 brightness adjusted in LR

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[Karen Cole]

Just posted sample pic's at ISO 800 and 1600 on the Lumix X and Leica Image Thread Appreciate views on noise and quality of pics.

 

[Streetshooter]

Running over to see them right now....
Gotta catch my breath Karen....
Whoosh.....

 

[Alaska69]

I received this camera on Sept 1st, just a few hours before leaving on vacation to Hawaii. So far I am very impressed with nearly everything about it. Plan to shoot some comparison shots against my Pentax K10 with the 77mm LE lens, just for fun. I do have a couple of issues that I hope someone can help with.
First, I cannot import the movies into my netbook. I've tried finding them on the card with Windows Explorer, no luck.
Tried Lightroom 3.2, nothing. Can't get the included software to install on the netbook because of a resolution issue.
Can't use the wide angle conversion lens or polarizing filter because the conversion tube is 45mm on one end and 46mm on the other.
Any help with any of these issues would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Prototype]

Thanks for posting these shots, Karen. It certainly helps those (including myself) who are considering this camera.

Alaska - That's strange that you can't find the files. Perhaps it's a file that Windows doesn't recognize and shows up without a thumbnail. Try browsing the memory card again and look for large files without thumbnails.

As for the conversion tube: What size are the threads on the wide angle converter and polarizer? You could use step-up or step-down rings if they are not the same size.

 

[Flash61]

An Instant Classic

I am an absolute amateur and have really enjoyed my Panny FZ 35. A week ago I got the LX5 largely because it is easy to carry around and I believe that the best camera is the camera that you have with you.

I have already bonded with this beast. It handles colour well and the ready availability of a range of aspect ratios is a pleasure. It's always ready for action, quick to start up and I hope to use it in the moment to chronicle everyday moments.

 

[BBW]

I received this camera on Sept 1st, just a few hours before leaving on vacation to Hawaii. So far I am very impressed with nearly everything about it. Plan to shoot some comparison shots against my Pentax K10 with the 77mm LE lens, just for fun. I do have a couple of issues that I hope someone can help with.
First, I cannot import the movies into my netbook. I've tried finding them on the card with Windows Explorer, no luck.
Tried Lightroom 3.2, nothing. Can't get the included software to install on the netbook because of a resolution issue.
Can't use the wide angle conversion lens or polarizing filter because the conversion tube is 45mm on one end and 46mm on the other.
Any help with any of these issues would be greatly appreciated.

Alaska, I wish I could offer you some help here but I'm too new to LR. I'd suggest you repost the resolution issue/netbook question where more people will see it - in the Image Processing forum.

 

[BBW]

I am an absolute amateur and have really enjoyed my Panny FZ 35. A week ago I got the LX5 largely because it is easy to carry around and I believe that the best camera is the camera that you have with you.

I have already bonded with this beast. It handles colour well and the ready availability of a range of aspect ratios is a pleasure. It's always ready for action, quick to start up and I hope to use it in the moment to chronicle everyday moments.

Flash, thanks for giving your impressions on this camera. I think they're going to be selling quite a few of them. I hope you'll post some of your own photographs here soon. We've got an image thread devoted to the variations of this camera here https://www.photographerslounge.org/f9/panasonic-lx-leica-d-lux-image-thread-263/ or you can add them to one of the other photographic threads. Glad to have you here!

 

[Zabba]

And now over to the minor issues…

Everybody is praising this camera and I have to say I'm starting to really like it too.
It's a very versatile camera. The 24-90 mm range suits me perfectly and I love the 720p movie capability, although I don't shoot moving images that frequently. BUT, there are some issues with it as with other cameras. I don't know if somebody else is having the same problems:

When switched to "Film Grain" mode, I've noticed that almost every image have some small white dots, randomly sprinkled in the darker or black areas of the image. And in some images there are some bandings. This applies only to the "Film Grain" mode. I haven't seen it other modes. Not yet. Hopefully never.

The other issue is that when the images are transfered to the computer they appear about 1/2 - 1 stops darker. This has been tested on more than one monitor to confirm it. And yes all the monitors were properly calibrated.

Curious to see if someone else is having the same issues (click for larger view)

 

[Nosh]

Some other minor issues...

Hi,

I bought this camera to have with me when I am without my DSLRs and for times when DSLRs are just not appropriate.

Have used a variety of Canon compacts in the past with the latest being the G11 which I had with me for 2 weeks. There has been enough debate about sizes etc. but that aside, I find the LX5 auto white balance in tungsten light tends to have a very pronounced pink/magenta cast. Even after adjusting this in the white balance bracketing, a dark blue shirt I have appears are purplish. Not sure if this is a firmware fix or if anyone else is having this issue, but it is a bit annoying.

Zabba, I havent tried the flim grain mode, so cannot comment. Also havent had the issue of the image appearing darker on a monitor. Not sure if the following is your issue - I have the LCD mode setings turned 'Off'. Could be you have it set to '*' which brightens up the LCD making it look extra bright on camera.

 

[Ghosthunter]

When switched to "Film Grain" mode, I've noticed that almost every image have some small white dots, randomly sprinkled in the darker or black areas of the image. And in some images there are some bandings. This applies only to the "Film Grain" mode. I haven't seen it other modes. Not yet. Hopefully never.

The other issue is that when the images are transfered to the computer they appear about 1/2 - 1 stops darker. This has been tested on more than one monitor to confirm it. And yes all the monitors were properly calibrated.

Curious to see if someone else is having the same issues (click for larger view)

View attachment 824View attachment 825

If this is just in the film grain setting then it sounds like they have put the dots in there to make it look authentic???? I usually do all my black & white in either Lightroom or Silver efex pro (stunning bit of kit!)

 

[BBW]

Zorba, a belated hello and welcome! I'm sorry I missed your post here until just now. Although I can't answer your questions, not having the camera, I do hope some of our other members will be able to give you some feedback in case there is something wrong with your LX5.

I know there are others who were on the pre-order waiting list for this camera and hope they'll add their experiences here, as well - and soon.

 

[BBW]

If any of you LX5 folks wouldn't mind, it would be great to see how the camera performs at both ends of its zoom. I'm interested in learning more about the nature of this camera...and the possible Leica version that's coming down the pike, soon.

 

[vincechu]

I'm really enjoying my LX5, great build quality - you know it's a winner when you pick it up. It renders details very well and I like the out of camera colours (I used to have a G1 and the images always seemed washed out, but not with the LX5). The only thing is I've noticed banding when you point the camera into bright light with a wide aperture and it appears in videos - and it's very very very noticeable, happened on my 1st LX5 so i returned it, the 2nd ones the same, so I'm going to contact panasonic tomorrow, I'll keep everyone updated here: https://www.photographerslounge.org/f9/lx5-banding-strips-problem-normal-426/ It's a real shame because otherwise the camera would be perfect.

BB, if you have a suggestion of how I can show how the camera performs I'll gladly upload some photos later (after it's finished it's 1st charge), I'll try to post a few snapshots too I'd say Leica would be too pricey, have different looks and normally have slightly different in camera jpeg processing.

 

[BBW]

Well for still photos, this forum works the same way as mu-43, and as for videos...well, I suppose you'd have to upload on to something like Vimeo or some other video hosting site and make a link here. I'm sorry I'm not too handy on this. I guess a screen shot of the video probably wouldn't work.

It would be interesting to know more about the banding, as I posted on your other thread.

Let's hope some other owners will add their impressions as well. Do you feel this problem is enough of an issue to make you return it for your money back, Vince?

Alaska66, Nosh, Zabba and Karen - what about your experiences, thus far. Alaska, did you find your files? Zabba, do you continue to feel the files are uploading much darker? And Nosh, a belated welcome and hoping you've gotten the white balance sorted out, too.

 

[vincechu]

Hi everyone I've found links to other videos on youtube showing exactly what I'm getting, see my thread here: https://www.photographerslounge.org/f9/lx5-banding-strips-problem-normal-426/

BB I'm going to try and get my money back but as it seems its a "characteristic" of CCD sensors I don't know if i'll be able to get my money back as they may argue the products not defective, I'll also ring Panasonic tomorrow about it, it just doesn't seem right that they'd sell you something which in my opinion is flawed, kind of reminds me of the new iphone and it's antennae reception problems. I had the G1, 20mm and 14-140mm and loved them all, but this time I honestly feel Panasonic's let us down.

 

[Zabba]

Alaska66, Nosh, Zabba and Karen - what about your experiences, thus far. Alaska, did you find your files? Zabba, do you continue to feel the files are uploading much darker? And Nosh, a belated welcome and hoping you've gotten the white balance sorted out, too.

Yes, it's still there. The images appear about 1/2 - 1 stops darker depending on the lighting conditions. (Nosh: yes, the LCD mode is set to "off"). It's not a issue if you shoot raw, which can easily be fixed without damaging the image file too much but when it comes to jpeg, it's a real bummer. I like to shoot jpeg because it's more challenging and it saves me some time. I'm wondering if this can be addressed by a firmware upgrade or if this is a hardware issue? Same with the banding. I agree with Ghosthunter, b&w images are so much better when shot in raw and then converted. But I find the "Film Grain" mode very useful. I really like the camera so I hope Pana can solve this minor issues.

 

[BBW]

Zabba, many thanks for reporting back. I do hope that you'll post a few of your photos here when you can. I know I'm not alone in wanting to see more from this camera and I think it's really great to see how different people use their cameras to see and to photograph.

I also happen to have a real personal interest in this little camera...and perhaps its close relative that is probably about to have a birth announcement.

 

[Ghosthunter]

...and perhaps its close relative that is probably about to have a birth announcement.

Would his name be D-Lux 5 per chance?

If it is I'll be really interested to see it as I am selling the S90 and replacing it with either a D-Lux 5 or Lumix LX5. Sadly the X1 is going to be well out my reach as I have had to buy a new couch as ours has a big hole in it The D-Lux 5 may be the next best thing!