Camera compact Panasonic Lumix LX7: reviews of the owners

The LX series from Panasonic has long been at the forefront of the expert sector of compact cameras. Today, this market is fiercely fighting between many leading brands of cameras. Their cameras are of excellent design and with intuitive controls, regularly release Canon, Fujifilm and Sony. The flagship compact camera of the year 2012 of Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 appeared 2 years after its predecessor LX5, and during this time a lot has changed.

The power of light

The main change seems to be the use of a better image sensor. The large matrix provides, among other things, greater ability to collect light, higher performance in low light, and greater control over the depth of field, which facilitates blurring of the background. Surprisingly, the image sensor Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 is actually smaller than its predecessor and some of its direct competitors, such as the Olympus XZ-1. The difference in the size of the matrix for these models is negligible: the LX7 uses a sensor measuring 7.6 × 5.7 mm, compared to 8.1 × 6 mm in XZ-1. Nevertheless, there are compact cameras that have much larger image sensors, including Fujifilm X10, Canon PowerShot G1 X and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100.

So why is a smaller sensor used? The main reason is that Panasonic strives to rely on the strengths of the LX series - high-speed optics in a compact package, rather than pushing the next model into new areas. At LX5, the aperture was f / 2, and now the LX7 has a leading in its class optics - f / 1.4 24-90 mm 2.3 Leica. To work with such wide apertures, the model has a built-in 3-stop ND filter, thanks to which f / 1.4 can be used in bright sunlight. Needless to say, the lens is a distinctive outstanding feature of this model, but still it is interesting how this was used in the camera, and how this affects the fight against competitors.

Panasonic Lumix LX7: a description of the camera

The camera is the fifth in a series of compact LX cameras and features remarkable design solutions. Each model of the line had a sturdy construction, ideal focal lengths for everyday use and a wide aperture for shooting in low light. Outwardly, little has changed in this model, and to some extent the same can be said about the specification, although this is by no means bad. Nevertheless, there are some key improvements that put the model at the forefront.

As in its predecessor LX5, the LX7 contains a multidimensional sensor, which means that it is designed to maximize the number of involved pixels used in different frame formats. At an area of 7.6 × 5.7 mm there are 12.7 million pixels, of which up to 10.1 million are involved. To simplify the use of formats with a 3: 2 aspect ratio, 4 to 3, 1 to 1 and 16 to 9 (of which the largest number of pixels are used in 4: 3 format), there is a separate switch on the camera lens that makes it easy to change them. New here is that the sensor type is not a CCD, but a high-sensitivity MOS block. This matrix, as a rule, consumes less energy, which is useful, given the higher resolution of the energy-consuming LCD display. Changing the sensor size, as well as the wider maximum aperture value, means that the lens has also been changed.

Continuous shooting in the LX7, compared with previous models, took a big step forward. It is possible to capture 12 frames at the maximum resolution with a speed of 11 fps with a fixed focus and exposure (compared to 2.5 fps in LX5). Serial shooting at 5 fps allows continuous tracking autofocus, and speeds up to 60 fps are achieved with an image size of 2.5 million pixels.

Other shooting modes include a creative menu with 16 powerful graphic effects, such as impressionism, and a scene mode menu with 16 options, including HDR and 3D. The iAuto's intelligent camera function uses various presets to set the automatic exposure. In addition, the possibility of frame-by-frame shooting was added, for which you can set the start date and time, and also set the interval between pictures (up to 30 minutes), the total number of which can reach 60 frames.

The Panasonic Lumix LX7 camera has a strong set of functions adopted from its predecessor, but other manufacturers have made more progress in the past few years. There are some features that could help the model to stand out against the general background, such as GPS, Wi-Fi, rotary or at least touch screen. In addition, some find a relatively low resolution of 10.1 million pixels, which allows you to make prints with a clarity of 300 dpi in size 32 x 23 cm, which is too modest for printing. Nevertheless, many users consider this sufficient for cameras of this type that make it possible to make prints of A3 format.

Comparison of Panasonic LF1 and Lumix LX7 makes it possible to distinguish the following advantages of the latter:

• Much larger viewing angle - 24 mm against 28 mm;
• The possibility of high-speed video recording;
• Greater dynamic range;
• A wider aperture - f / 1.4 versus f / 2;
• Longer battery life - 330 shots vs. 250;
• External flash support.

At the same time, LF1 is 50% smaller and 40% lighter, has a digital viewfinder and has a 20% higher resolution (12 Mp versus 10 Mp).

Optics

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 lens is a key enhancement of the device. Crop factor of the sensor, equal to 4.55x, means that the focal length should now be equal to 4.7-17.7 mm to reach an effective 24-90 mm. It is identical to LX5 and is ideal for many situations.

The Panasonic Lumix LX7 lens consists of 11 elements, including five aspherical, two ED-elements and one with a nano-coated surface to reduce glare and halos. The focal length of 24 mm gives the maximum aperture equal to f / 1.4, and is reduced to f / 1.9 by 50 mm and f / 2,3 by 90 mm.

However, the sensor with the 4.55x crop factor does not provide proper control over the depth of field. The aperture f / 1.4 is equivalent to f / 6.3 on a full frame camera of size 35 x 114 mm, and 90 mm f / 2,3 are equivalent to f / 11. Thus, although the blur level achieved due to the wide aperture is sufficient, the true advantage is the increased light flux passing through the lens, which increases the quality of the pictures in low light, allowing low ISO settings.

According to user feedback, the camera demonstrates a great ability to transmit image details due to increased sharpness in the center of the frame. The details with the edge also retain good clarity. The features of objects located close to the camera look clear and clean. Distortions are more noticeable when there are buildings and straight lines in the frame. On Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 wide-focus photo there are usual cylindrical distortions, and also small distortions on 50 mm, but for 90 mm the camera shoots without visible distortions.

Construction and management

At a close acquaintance Panasonic Lumix LX7 possesses the same sizes and the same high quality of assembly, as LX5. But if you dive a little deeper, you can find some key changes.

Designers tried to meet photographers by adding an aperture ring to the lens, covering the entire range of f / 1.4 - f / 8 apertures at 1/3 EV step. This is great for those who often shoot in aperture priority mode or with manual exposure setting. The ring is adjusted manually, although it can be done electronically. For example, the parameter f / 1.4 is not accessible by 90 mm, so it changes to a maximum value of f / 2.3. In this case, to start the closing of the diaphragm from f / 2,3, it takes four clicks of the aperture ring.

Like the LX5, the lens ring on the LX7 also includes the frame format and focus mode. With this advantageous position on the camera, users note that they began to switch between different proportions more often than before, and now they rarely cut the frame to the desired size after the picture was taken.

To protect the lens, a separate cover is included. If it remains on the optics when the camera is started, a message appears reminding you to remove it before shooting, although the playback of images and navigation through the menus are still available. The message is necessary, because in the shooting mode the lens goes beyond the cover. Owners say that even after many days of using the camera, the need to constantly do this procedure is annoying, since many other compact cameras have a built-in cover that is removed when turned on.

The lag of the shutter is insignificant, but the LX7 is not the fastest camera to start shooting right after launch. From the moment of inclusion to photographing, it takes just over 5 seconds. In Fujifilm X10, for example, where a manual zoom lens is used, this time does not exceed two seconds.

Another innovation in the LX7 is the ND focus control button, which is pressed or set to a neutral density filter in shooting mode. Given that the maximum shutter speed of the camera is 1/4000 sec, in bright sunlight the aperture f / 1.4 is too much, so the neutral density filter is vital. The same applies to the minimum of the F / 8 aperture, which provides too much aperture for long exposures in daylight. Switching left or right controls manual focus, and activates the focus magnification. In playback mode, this switch duplicates the control dial to switch between images.

Like its predecessor, the Panasonic Lumix LX7 camera has a "hot shoe", which connects to the electronic viewfinder of DMW-LVF2 (EVF) or an external flash. Next to the mentioned connector is a stereo microphone - a novelty for this line of cameras. The retractable flash is fixed to a reliable spring mechanism and is sufficiently far from the lens in the raised position. It is possible to manually control the flash, which includes the possibility of adjusting ± 2EV, synchronization with the front and rear shutter curtains, as well as auto and red-eye reduction.

Despite the fact that the battery capacity has not changed and is 1250 mAh, the battery life of the LX7 is 330 shots compared to 400 in the LX5. This is most likely due to the high resolution of the camera screen. In general, work with controls and menus (including the quick access menu) is intuitive.

White balance and color

Camera Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 has six color modes, and users who tried them, were satisfied with the results of the standard, in which the tone is very vigorous and realistic. On a bright sunny day, the blue of the sky and the greenery of the fields are good without additional processing. Nevertheless, when using creative or scene modes, the saturation becomes too large to be plausible. Of course, in each case you can change the contrast, saturation, sharpness and noise reduction level to your taste, creating individual settings. Owners who tested the camera and recorded a color chart over the entire ISO range under the same lighting conditions were impressed with the color processing, which kept the tones alive, despite the presence of noise at higher settings.

One of the direct controls on the rear panel is the white balance button, which allows you to choose between automatic adjustment (AWB), five presets and two custom settings. Installing AWB works, as one would expect from cameras of this level, is not always accurate, and often leads to a reduction in color tones, forming a neutral result. To save the heat of the sunset or the greenery of the forest, users recommend using the appropriate preset.

Auto focus

Like the LX5, the Panasonic Lumix LX7 uses a multi-segment measuring system consisting of 23 points. Whether bright daylight or low-contrast light, the camera quickly focuses on the subject. When the illumination is really low, an AF assist lamp is used to facilitate focusing, which will be useful for subjects at close range.

For more control over autofocus, point-focusing can be used, the size of which can be adjusted to any of the four settings. The largest fills the frame, and the smallest covers about 3%, which provides fine tuning. In the case of the smallest size, you can select any of 713 sections using the navigation keys. According to users, the touch screen would be more suitable here, as it is done in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30, as the touch auto focus accelerates the choice of the necessary point.

One of the advantages of a small matrix Panasonic Lumix LX7 reviews called the presence of centimeter macro mode, when the camera is set to the widest focal length - 24 mm. Its switch can be found on the lens. To focus manually, the new ND / FOCUS lever on the back of the camera is useful. Moving it to the left or right will provide an easy view of the focus point.

The work of the auto-focus camera of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 is considered satisfactory for everyday photography, but it is unacceptable for shooting fast or erratic movements of most sports. Fortunately, AF tracking is available for high-speed continuous shooting at 5 fps, and also continuously when recording video.

In case of difficulties with setting up the Panasonic Lumix LX7, the "Instruction for improving the characteristics" attached to the camera will help to find a way out of the situation.

Exposure Metering

Whether spot, center, or estimated mode, the exposure metering system is associated with active AF points. Evaluative metering is both reliable and predictable. This means that when photographing for one thing, you have to think less. When shooting in iAuto (Intelligent auto) mode, the exposure is controlled by the camera depending on the scene it determines. Owners who use cameras in automatic mode find iAuto reliable for most scenes.

At the same resolution of 10.1 million pixels, like its predecessor, the camera's performance is impressive. According to user feedback, sharpness in the center has increased, and the camera demonstrates the greatest clarity in RAW format when set to ISO 100 and the optimum setting of the aperture Panasonic Lumix DMC LX7. Examples of JPEG photos show a marked decrease in sharpness at ISO 400, where the brightness of the noise becomes apparent and noise cancellation begins to work.

For two years of existence LX5 the market of expert compact cameras, from the point of view of resolving ability, has considerably improved. For example, Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 camera has an image sensor that is twice the LX7 (116 mm ² vs. 49 mm ² ) and has twice as many pixels, providing a much higher level of detail and allowing you to do twice as large Prints.

According to user feedback, the LX7's resolution and noise level control largely depends on the selected aperture and ISO setting. For clear details, the best installation for a new Leica lens is f / 2.8-f / 4.

Similarly, to avoid fuzzy image detail due to low brightness and color noise, users recommend using the ISO 800 setting. The highest ISO 6400 level (1 step better than LX5) does not give very much detail: in shaded areas and areas of the image In the middle tones, stripes and spots appear.

LCD, viewfinder and video

In all cases, in addition to bright, direct sunlight, the Panasonic Lumix LX7's 3-inch TFT LCD display offers a clear and easy-to-view image. The screen resolution was increased to 920000 points, but it remains fixed without the possibility of changing its position. Almost unexpected (and, of course, disappointing) is the lack of sensor functionality, especially given that this technology has already been used in compact Panasonic cameras.

Given the size of the camera, there is no room for a built-in viewfinder. Nevertheless, thanks to the presence of a shoe for accessories, it is possible to use EVF. LX7 is compatible with the external electronic viewfinder of the same manufacturer DMW-LVF2 EVF, which has a clear display and a resolution of 1.44 million pixels.

For a camera of this level, the progressive capture of AVCHD-video with a resolution of 1080p at a speed of 50 fps is impressive. In addition, stereo sound is available, although the two microphones on the top panel are too close.

Dynamic Range

Judging by the pictures of the landscape in sunny and overcast conditions, the Panasonic Lumix LX7 camera is able to record a wide range of tones. The details of clouds and sky are reproduced with the utmost certainty. Similarly, you can increase the detail of the shadow areas by increasing the exposure by 1-2 EV before the noise of the shadow becomes a problem. Thanks to this, the LX5 defended its position in the fight against competitors for two years and the LX7 does the same today.

For scenes where the range of tones is beyond the camera's recording capabilities, the model offers HDR in the scene mode menu that uses three consecutive frames and combines them to create a wider dynamic range. In addition, automatic exposure bracketing is available at ± 3EV. Of all scene modes, users find the HDR most useful, as it improves the level of detail and allows you to save images relatively "real".

Competitors

Two years before the advent of the LX7, having appeared in a saturated market, the Panasonic Lumix LX5 proved that it is the best in all respects. Now the competition has become even stronger. EX2F from Samsung is an obvious competitor, as both cameras are equipped with a lens with the same aperture and a range of focal lengths. The LX7 is slightly smaller, although the EX2F has Wi-Fi and a hinged LCD screen.

One of the best pocket cameras, Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-RX100, has twice the size of a sensor, whose resolution is also twice that of the LX7, and its size is smaller. Both cameras are comfortable and have aperture rings. Another compact camera with excellent handling is the stylish Fujifilm X10, which offers a more intuitive manual zoom lens and optical viewfinder.

Verdict

The compact camera Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 Black does not have such high indicators as the best analogues of competitors Fujifilm and Sony, but nevertheless is an excellent camera: an aperture ring and a new lens will impress the "right" photographers. In addition, video modes have improved significantly and have become the best in their class.

But users note that in this model Panasonic missed its chance. Two years after the appearance of the LX5, the competitors have advanced significantly, and the progress of the LX7 has been insignificant. If with a small sensor size and a relatively low resolution camera of this level can still be tolerated, users would like to see in the camera some of the technologies applied by the manufacturer in the Lumix G series, especially the touch screen with touch autofocus and descent. For those who are going to take a compact every day, the LX7 will be an excellent choice, but there are other models that you should pay attention to first.