Panasonic fictional extraordinarily a spatter outlive year with photographers (and reviewers) when substantive released the LX1, a rangefinder-style shooter with a boatload of individualism that Imaging Resource's own Mike Pasini called "an graceful paltry camera, and clearly one of the best bargains on the market." Mike also said, in his review, that there was "nothing quite like" the LX1 at the time. That still holds true with the new Panasonic LX2.

Like its predecessor, the Panasonic LX2 is markedly hep by the surging worship of widescreen (16:9) televisions. Employing a specific yes of "triple-wide" features, the LX2 combines a 28mm wide-angle Leica lens, a 16:9 unobstructed CCD, again a 16:9 unburdened LCD. (Did I adduce that this camera likes substantial wide?) If going wide isn't your thing, the camera has a very easily adjusted aspect ratio switch on the lens barrel that toggles between 16:9, 3:2, and 4:3 settings. If you're the type who likes to count pixels, the Panasonic LX2 has a 10 megapixel CCD that uses the full resolution of the sensor when shooting at 16:9. (The LX1 had a maximum 8.4 megapixel sensor at 16:9.) When you flip the switch on the Panasonic LX2 to 3:2, resolution drops to 8.5 megapixels, while in 4:3 it goes to 7.5 megapixels. This isn't because you're getting any less information in your pictures at these ratios; it's simply that the widest sections of the 16:9 sensors are cropped out in those shots.

But why would you appetite to age irksome not young 4:3 or 3:2 credit a camera that constraint conclude postcard-like wide shots at 16:9? Better yet, the Panasonic LX2 for has a 2.8-inch LCD that lets you speculate the entire wide-angle shot on the screen without letterboxing. (The LX1 had a 2.5-inch display which letterboxed 16:9 shots.) Other improvements include Panasonic's new LSI Venus Engine III image processor which is designed to lower noise at higher ISOs, and a new Intelligent ISO Control (I.I.C.) system which detects subject movement and automatically adjusts ISO and shutter speed to suit the lighting conditions. Light sensitivity has also been increased to ISO 3200 on the Panasonic LX2, but only in a special High Sensitivity scene mode. Even without these changes, there's much to talk about with the Panasonic LX2, including many impressive manual options, and Panasonic's tried-and-true MEGA O.I.S.

Basic Points

• 10-megapixel (effective) 16:9 CCD captures images as high as 4,224 x 2,376 pixels
• 2.8-inch color TFT widescreen (16:9) LCD with 210,000 pixels of resolution
• 4x zoom lens (equivalent to a 28-112mm lens on a 35mm camera)
• Maximum 4x digital zoom, plus "Extended Optical Zoom" to 6.2x depending on aspect ratio
• Automatic, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual main exposure modes
• Shutter speeds from 1/2,000 to 60 seconds, with available Noise Reduction.
• Maximum aperture from f/2.8 to f/4.9, depending on lens zoom position
• Built-in flash with six modes and an intensity adjustment
• SD/MMC memory card slot for storage (16MB of built-in memory)
• Power supplied by one proprietary, rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Panasonic Lumix software package includes Lumix viewers, Arcsoft suite.
 
Special Points

• Selectable 4:3, 3:2, and 16:9 aspect ratios
• RAW and JPEG file formats
• Optical image stabilization
• Scene mode with 18 presets
• 16:9 Movie mode with sound at up to 30 frames/second
• "High Definition" movie setting at 15fps
• Adjustable ISO settings of 100, 200, 400, 800, 1,600, and 3,200.
• Intelligent ISO Control (I.I.C.) mode which automatically selects shutter speed.
• 1, 3, or 9-point autofocus area with AF assist lamp and Continuous AF mode.
• Autofocus Macro (close-up) setting allows focusing up to 5 centimeters
• Three Continuous Shooting modes, plus Auto Exposure Bracketing
• Two- or 10-second Self-Timer for delayed shutter release
• Audio Dub option for recording captions
• White balance (color) adjustment with seven modes, including a manual setting
• White Balance Adjust function allows fine-tuning of preset or custom white balance
• Color Effects including Cool, Warm, Black and White, and Sepia
• Adjustable image sharpening and saturation
• DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) and PictBridge compatibility
• USB cable for connection to a computer (driver software included)
• A/V cable for connection to a television set
 
Inside Items

The retail package contains the following items:

• Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 digital camera
• Lens cap with strap
• Panasonic CGA-S005A rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack and charger
• USB cable
• AV cable
• Wrist strap
• Software CD
• Basic operating manual and registration card