Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 Review
Review Date: December 6th 2005
Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using
the 8M Fine mode, which gives an average image size of around
3Mb - 4Mb.
Noise
There are 4 ISO settings available on the Panasonic Lumix
DMC-LX1 which you can select at any time if the camera is
in any of the manual exposure modes. Here are some 100% crops
which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:
There is virtually no discernible noise at the slowest settings
of ISO 80 and 100, but there's already quite a lot of noise
at ISO 200 and the image quality has deterioated a lot at
ISO 400.
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality
50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening
applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are quite
soft at the default sharpening setting of Standard and benefit
from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop.
Alternatively you can increase the in-camera sharpening by
choosing the Hard option.
File Quality
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 has 2 different image quality
and 3 different image size settings available, with 8M Fine
being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops
which show the quality of the various options, with the file
size shown in brackets.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 handled chromatic aberrations
extremely well during the review, with only limited purple
fringing present around the edges of objects in very high-contrast
situations.
Macro
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 offers a Macro setting that allows
you to focus on a subject that is 5cms away from the camera.
The first image shows how close you can get to the subject
(in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a
100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 are Auto,
Red-eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro.
and Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro. These shots of a magnolia
coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.
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Auto Flash - Telephoto (112mm) |
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And here are some shots of yours truly. As you can see, both
the Flash On setting and the Red-Eye Reduction option caused
a tiny amount of red-eye (or to be more accurate, purple-eye).
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Flash On (100% Crop) |
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Flash - Red-Eye Reduction (100%
Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds
in the Manual exposure mode, which is great news if you're
seriously interested in night photography. The shot below
was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds, aperture of
f/8 at ISO 80. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show
what the quality is like. Unfortunately, as you can see, the
results even at the slowest ISO 80 are very noisy with a lot
of detail lost.
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100% Crop |
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Anti Shake
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 has an anti-shake mechanism,
which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds
than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld
shots of the same subject with the lens set to a focal length
of 112mm, aperture of f/8 and the ISO speed set to 80. The
first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second
with it turned on. Here is a 100% crop of the image to show
the results.
As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are
much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature
really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing
a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.
Aspect Ratios
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 offers 3 different aspect ratios;
the following images give you an idea of exactly what is captured
at each setting.
Overall Image Quality
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 produced images of average quality
during the review period. The 8 megapixel images were quite
soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting
of Standard and either require some further sharpening in
an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you should set the
in-camera sharpening to Hard. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1's
dealt very well with chromatic aberrations, with limited purple
fringing effects appearing only in very high contrast situations.
Macro performance is average, allowing you to focus as close
as 5 cms away from the subject. The built-in flash worked
OK indoors, with little red-eye and good exposure. The night
photograph was poor, with the maximum shutter speed of 60
seconds allowing you to capture plenty of light, but images
that didn't have much detail due to lots of noise. Anti-shake
is a feature that sets this camera apart from its competitors
and one that works very well when hand-holding the camera
in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of
the zoom range. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1's main drawback
in terms of image quality, however, is noise. The 8 megapixel
sensor used in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 may result in larger
images, but it comes at the cost of noisy images even at the
slower ISO settings. ISO 80 and ISO 100 look fine, but there's
already a lot of noise at ISO 200, which isn't exactly a quick
speed, and ISO 400 is virtually unusable.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1
have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
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