D-Day: the Lumix LX3

After a very long period of research, I finally got it: my Panasonic Lumix LX3 compact camera. Coming to this point has been a long process of reading reviews and looking at movies and pictures of a wide variety of sources. My shortlist was: the Canon 500D, Canon HV30, Canon HF200, the GH1 (in my dreams!),the Lumix TZ7 and the Lumix LX3.

I wanted a good still image camera, but at the same time a good HD camcorder. The criteria were: matching my budget (€500), good optical zoom, low light capabilities, background blur and easy editing of movies. I must admit that it drove me crazy: each camera shortlisted would excel in one or more of the criteria, but none would excel in all. (There was one, the Panasonic GH1, which matched all the criteria, but at $1500, this camera was far above my budget.)
To cut a long story short, I chose the LX3, because I 'd rather have the best compact camera than an entry-level DSLR.

So here is the very first movie I put on vimeo, and I'm pretty sure many will follow!

LX3 low light test from Ivan on Vimeo.

This is my first published movie shot with my brand new Lumix LX3. I wanted to test the low light capabilities of this wonderful camera, and I must say I like the result a lot. I hope to find a way to avoid the exposure shift, which is obvious towards the end of this clip. (You cannot lock exposure). I hope that another way of metering (there are three), will do better. This movie was shot with 'spot metering'. EDIT: after further testing, I seem to get better results using 'weighted metering' instead: the auto-exposure seems less obtrusive than in this movie. Watch my next posts to see the difference.