Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 Review
Review Date: December 6th 2005
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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:
ISO 80 (100% crop) |
ISO 100 (100% crop) |
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ISO 200 (100% crop) |
ISO 400 (100% crop) |
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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.
Original
100% Crop |
Sharpened 100% Crop |
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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.
| 8M
Fine (3,938Kb) |
8M
Normal (1,980Kb) |
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| 5.5M
Fine (2,659Kb) |
8M
Normal (1,265Kb) |
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| 2M
Fine (1,081Kb) |
2M
Normal (525Kb) |
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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.
| Example
1 |
Example
2 |
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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.
| Macro Shot (click to view full-sized image) |
100% Crop |
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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.
| Flash Off - Wide Angle (28mm) |
Auto Flash - Wide Angle (28mm) |
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| Flash Off - Telephoto (112mm) |
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).
| Flash On |
Flash On (100% Crop) |
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| Flash - Red-Eye Reduction |
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.
| Night Shot (click to view full-sized image) |
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.
| Shutter Speed | Anti Shake Off |
Anti Shake On |
| 1/40th |  |
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| 1/15th |  |
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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.
| 16:9 (8 megapixel) |
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| 3:2 (7 megapixel) |
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| 4:3 (6 megapixel) |
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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.
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