Panasonic LX100 Review

Overview

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The Panasonic LX100 is easily one of the most impressive compact cameras we've seen come through our labs, which is why we gave it top billing in our best compact camera for $1,000 article. Check out the article to see your other options for compact cameras under $1,000.

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In the first half of 2012, two cameras launched that were the start of an entirely new market segment. The Canon G1X and Sony RX100 were both incredibly exciting, pairing fixed zoom lenses with much larger sensors than in previous enthusiast compact cameras.

Each also had its shortcomings, however. It's these that Panasonic aims to address with the Panasonic LX100, its first entry in what has become a radically more competitive category almost overnight. (The same day that the LX100 launched, the competing Canon G7X also debuted.)

Sony's RX100-series cameras are pocket-friendly, but they opt for a much smaller sensor than that of the LX100, and either rely on a somewhat delicate-looking popup viewfinder, an external accessory finder, or forego one altogether. All but one model also skip basics like a flash hot shoe.

Canon's G1X-series cameras, though, go to the other extreme: They have a sensor that's almost as tall as the APS-C chips in most consumer and enthusiast DSLRs, and many mirrorless cameras. They also offer hot shoes, and one model even has a built-in viewfinder. The problem is that they're not even close to being pocket-friendly in anything other than a coat.

The Panasonic LX100 strikes a middle ground between the two approaches. It's a fair bit bigger than an RX100-series camera or Canon's simultaneously-launched G7X, but it's also a fair bit less tall and thick than a G1X-series camera, and much lighter. On balance, it's probably more comparable to the pocket cameras in proportion, even if its a bit too deep to be considered pants-pocket-friendly itself.

And compared to its rivals that will fit in a pants pocket, the Panasonic LX100 sports a much bigger sensor. Where its rivals are all based around 1"-type chips, Panasonic has opted for the same 4/3"-type sensors it uses in its mirrorless cameras, and that offers almost double the surface area of a 1"-type chip. (Note, though, that the LX100 doesn't use all the available area for any single aspect ratio.)

The difference in sensor real-estate shows itself in sensitivity: Panasonic allows the LX100 to roam to ISO 25,600 max., when all of its rivals are limited to ISO 12,800 or below.

But it's not just the larger sensor at play here. Panasonic's Venus Engine performance is also impressive, and the company's clever Depth from Defocus technology -- first seen in the Panasonic GH4 mirrorless camera -- also helps a lot. The net result is a swift manufacturer rating of 11 frames per second with focus and exposure locked. Even with autofocus and exposure adjustment between frames, you'll still see a manufacturer-rated 6.5 fps.

If you're willing to accept the compromises still inherent in an electronic shutter -- and a greatly reduced three-megapixel resolution -- you can boost this all the way up to a truly staggering 40 frames per second!

In this respect, the Panasonic LX100 leads the large-sensor, fixed-zoom camera category. For better performance at full resolution, you need to look to a mirrorless camera or DSLR, and you'll lose the size advantage of the LX100. The autofocus system is sophisticated in other respects, too, and very point-dense with a 49-point array.

Panasonic also seems to have done a great job at aiming its body directly at enthusiasts, rather than feeling the need to handhold beginners as some cameras do. There's no mode dial here, nor any consumer-friendly fluff like user-selectable scene modes. The sole concession to beginners is Panasonic's Intelligent Auto mode, favored with its own dedicated button. Instead of these ease-of-use aids, physical shutter and aperture dials with Auto positions grace this camera, plus a physical exposure compensation dial.

And that extends beyond the body design, too: You get a 1/4,000-second top shutter speed as in Canon's G1X-series cameras, not the 1/2,000-second limit of the RX100-series and G7X. Enable the electronic shutter, and the Panasonic LX100 will take you all the way to 1/16,000 second. Nor is there any internal flash strobe, a feature many enthusiasts treat with a measure of disdain. Instead, the LX100 has a hot shoe, something that among its rivals only the RX100 II and G1X series also offer. (A compact flash strobe is included in the standard camera kit.)

And there's also a built-in electronic viewfinder, a feature shared only by the RX100 III. (Although admittedly, the RX100 II and G1X-series can accept optional viewfinder accessories.) Nor is that all: The Panasonic LX100's viewfinder is a very high-resolution unit, based around a high-definition, field-sequential panel as used previously in the Panasonic GX7.

Admittedly, though, the LCD monitor is rather more basic, a standard three-inch VGA panel with no touch screen or articulation. Other noteworthy features include Wi-Fi wireless networking with NFC for easy pairing, and a 24/30p 4K movie capture function which also allows you to extract high-res 4K stills.

Let's take a closer look at Panasonic's first entry in the large-sensor, fixed-zoom camera market!

Panasonic LX100 Walkaround

by Mike Tomkins

Measuring 4.5 x 2.6 x 2.2 inches (114.8 x 66.2 x 55mm), the Panasonic LX100 is noticeably larger than its rivals, the Sony RX100-series and Canon G7X, but not unreasonably so given that it also boasts double the sensor surface area. The difference in mass is more noticeable: At a weight of 13.9 ounces (393g) loaded and ready to shoot, it's about a third heavier.

The difference in size and weight is such that -- unlike those cameras -- you won't be keeping it in your pants pocket, but it'd easily slip into a jacket pocket or modestly-sized purse.

Comparing in the other direction, the size and weight difference as compared to the larger-sensored Canon G1X and G1X Mark II are much more stark. While width differs only slightly, Canon's cameras are a third to two-thirds of an inch taller, and almost half an inch deeper. And again, those cameras weigh around a third more than the LX100.

Looking at the front of the Panasonic LX100, things are clean and straightforward. There's a small but worthwhile handgrip to give your fingertips some purchase, and above right of the lens (as seen from the rear) is an LED that serves as autofocus assist lamp and self-timer indication.

The lens itself, a bright f/1.7-2.8, 3.1x optical zoom beauty, not surprisingly takes center stage.

Seen from above, it's clear that this is a camera aimed at experienced photographers. There's no Mode dial on the Panasonic LX100; instead, Auto positions on both Aperture ring and Shutter Speed dial give you an intuitive way to switch between manual, priority and automatic shooting.

A second lens ring is also provided, and a switch atop the lens barrel selects between various aspect ratios. This might seem unusual, but makes sense once you learn that -- as the company as done in the past -- Panasonic has actually specified an image sensor slightly larger than the lens' image circle. None of the aspect ratio choices uses the full sensor area. Instead, they work to fit within the image circle while maximizing sensor area, giving you the ability to switch aspects without pixel guilt (but a fair bit lower resolution than the sensor could natively provide with a fixed aspect).

Atop the body, meanwhile, are a flash hot shoe -- a rare treat in this style of camera, but a necessary one given that there's no popup flash -- which sits centrally above the lens, and further right a profusion of controls. The Power switch sits beneath the Shutter Speed dial, and a zoom rocker encircles the shutter button.

The Intelligent Auto mode is the sole concession to beginners, and merits its own button; so to do digital filters. Finally, there's an exposure compensation dial within easy thumb-reach.

In front of the hot shoe are two ports for a stereo microphone, and at left you can see that the eyepiece for the camera's electronic viewfinder protrudes a bit beyond the rear deck.

Switch to the rear panel, and you'll see both a fairly straightforward fixed-position, 3.0-inch LCD panel (which, sadly, isn't touch-sensitive), and the electronic viewfinder at very top left.

This is a beauty of a finder, and quite similar to that in the Panasonic GX7. It sports a high-definition 1,280 x 720 pixel array, and uses a field-sequential design. In plain English, that means every single pixel provides all three colors -- but only one color at any given time. By cycling through the colors repeatedly, your eye gets the impression of a sharp, full-color image. Lining the right side of the viewfinder is a proximity sensor used to enable or disable the viewfinder and LCD automatically as you raise the camera to your eye, or vice versa.

This can also be accomplished manually using the LVF button adjacent to the finder. Other buttons in this row include Wi-Fi, Movie Record, and autofocus / autoexposure lock. Right of the LCD and beneath a small protruding thumbgrip are Quick Menu, Playback, Function1, and Display buttons. Two buttons in that top row also serve as function buttons, incidentally, the customizability being another indication that this is an enthusiast camera.

And finally, there's the Four-way controller surrounded by another dial, and with central Menu/Set button. Each cardinal direction serves double-duty as a Record-mode control -- ISO sensitivity, Focus area, White balance, and Drive mode. Directly beneath the Four-way controller, a tiny dimple indicates the location of the card access lamp.

The right side of the camera body is free of controls and features, save for a D-ring for a shoulder strap, and the cover over the HDMI high-definition video output. It's not marked on the door, but the combined USB data / standard-definition A/V output port also lives here. In the US market, this A/V output is NTSC-only.

The left side of the body is even more unencumbered, with only a metal D-ring and a curiously non-standard logo for the camera's NFC antenna, indicating where you should hold your smartphone or tablet to pair automatically.

Also visible is a switch on the side of the lens barrel with which to select the Focus mode.

And finally, we come to the base of the Panasonic LX100. At camera left is a nine-hole grille for the camera's speaker. Moving right, you come to a metal tripod mount, sadly situated off the lens' optical axis, a position less than ideal for tripod-mounted panoramas. (Although it's easy enough to source a bracket and reposition the camera over the tripod correctly, if you shoot a lot of panos.)

Lastly, the battery / flash card compartment sits beneath the hand grip, with a locking switch and a large rubber cutout to allow ingress for a dummy battery.

In the Box

The Panasonic LX100 bundle contains the following items:

• Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100 camera (black or silver)
• DMW-BLG10 Lithium-ion battery (7.2V, 1025mAh)
• DE-A98A Battery charger
• VEK0V37Z1 External flash
• Flash storage bag
• USB cable
• Lens cap
• Lens cap string
• Hot shoe cover
• Shoulder strap
• Software DVD (PHOTOfunSTUDIO 9.6PE / SILKYPIX Developer Studio/LoiLoScope (trial version) / Adobe Reader)

Recommended Accessories

• Large capacity SDHC/SDXC memory card. UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) required for 4K recording in MP4 format.
• Extra DMW-BLG10 battery pack (~US$40)
• Panasonic DMW-FL360L or DMW-FL580L external flash (~US$230-US$510)
• Camera bag

Comparison Shopping?

The premium compact camera market has heated up to the point you'll surely need our new camera comparison tool to help keep all the specs sorted out! Clicking on any of the following will take you there, where you can see features, specs, pros and cons listed for virtually any pair of cameras you'd like to compare. Here are a few obvious choices to compare to the Panasonic LX100 to get you started:

Optics

Lens Test Results

Zoom
A shorter than average wide-angle zoom, with good far-field performance.

The Panasonic LX100 is equipped with a 10.9-34mm lens, offering an optical zoom ratio of 3.1x, translating to a 35mm-equivalent focal range of about 24-75mm. That's a fairly limited range for a fixed-lens camera, especially one that doesn't offer a ton of resolution to crop from. But the lens is very fast (bright), with a maximum aperture ranging from f/1.7 at wide angle to f/2.8 at telephoto, which is excellent for low-light shooting and facilitates reduced depth-of-field for better subject isolation. The following table reflects the maximum and minimum apertures as reported by the camera at popular focal lengths:

Focal length (eq.)	24mm	28mm	35mm	50mm	70mm	75mm
Max. aperture	f/1.7	f/2.1	f/2.3	f/2.7	f/2.8	f/2.8
Min. aperture	f/16 at all focal lengths

At maximum wide angle, sharpness and contrast are quite good in the center of the frame at f/8, though there's some softening and coma distortion in the corners. Chromatic aberration is very low, as like most cameras, the LX100 suppresses it. Some flare can be see around very bright objects, though, but it appears to be fairly well-controlled. Performance at medium focal length (50mm eq.) is commendable with very good sharpness and contrast across the frame. Far-field performance at full telephoto appears to be good at f/8 across most of the frame, though it's not quite as sharp in the center as at shorter focal lengths. Note that the above images were taken at a 3:2 aspect ratio.

It's difficult to judge lens performance using such a deep and high-contrast scene, though (this series is meant mainly to convey zoom range), so see below for lab results on corner versus center sharpness, geometric distortion, macro performance, etc.

Macro
A slightly smaller than average minimum coverage area, with very good detail in the center. Flash worked well at minimum focus.

The Panasonic LX100's macro mode captured a slightly smaller than average sized minimum area measuring 2.23 x 1.68 inches (57 x 43 millimeters), which is quite good, especially compared to competing 1-inch sensor models. Sharpness in the center is very good, but corners show strong blurring even at f/8 (most lenses show some softening in the corners at macro distances, so this is typical). Exposure with the bundled flash was surprisingly good at such a close distance (a little over an inch or about 3 cm from the front of the lens). Nice.

Geometric Distortion
Very low distortion in camera JPEGs, but very high in uncorrected RAW files at wide angle.

Camera JPEGs

Barrel distortion at wide angle is about 0.4%

Pincushion distortion at telephoto is less than 0.2%

Thanks to in-camera distortion correction, there's low geometric distortion in the LX100's JPEG files at wide angle. At full wide angle, we measured just under 0.4% barrel distortion which is pretty low but still visible. At full telephoto, distortion is very low at just under 0.2% pincushion distortion. This is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel -- usually at wide-angle) or inward (like a pincushion -- usually at telephoto).

Uncorrected RAW

Barrel distortion at wide angle is about 3.4%

Pincushion distortion at telephoto is less than 0.2%

To see how much correction is taking place in the camera, we converted RAW files from the above shots with RawDigger, which does not correct for distortion (and also doesn't do full demosaicing, so please do not evaluate image quality using these uncorrected images). As you can see at wide angle, barrel distortion is very high at about 3.4%, while telephoto shows about the same very low pincushion distortion as JPEGs.

We expect to see fairly significant distortion in uncorrected RAW files in fast, compact lenses, as allowing this gives the lens designers greater flexibility in optimizing center sharpness and other aberrations, as well as in reducing cost, size, and weight. The downside is that the distortion correction contributes additional blurring to the corners of the frame where pixels are "stretched" during correction and where lenses are usually already a bit soft. Note that RAW converters that officially support the LX100's RW2 files will apply distortion corrections automatically, as specified by Panasonic in the lens profile built into the RAW files.

Chromatic Aberration and Corner Sharpness
Moderately low to very low chromatic aberration in JPEGs. The lens produces some slightly soft corners at both wide angle and telephoto ends.

Aperture: maximum
Wide at f/1.7: Upper right C.A.: Low Softness: Slightly soft	Wide at f/1.7: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Sharp
Tele at f/2.8: Upper left C.A.: Moderately low Softness: Slightly soft	Tele at f/2.8: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Sharp

Chromatic Aberration. Thanks to in-camera chromatic aberration suppression, there's low CA in the corners at wide angle, and moderately low CA in the corners at telephoto in JPEGs. As expected, though, uncorrected RAW files (see below) show much more CA than seen above.

Corner Softness. Wide open at full wide angle, the LX100's lens is sharp in the center, but all four corners are slightly soft, with some softness extending perhaps a third of the way into the frame. Much of the softness is due to the strong distortion correction, and you can also notice some interpolation artifacts in the form of rough edges in the USAF target. Still, pretty good performance for the aperture and focal length. Wide open at full telephoto, corners are also somewhat soft with the top left the softest, however the softness does not extend nearly as far into the frame and the center exhibits good sharpness.

Vignetting. There's some vignetting (corner shading), with a little more at wide angle than at full telephoto, though it's fairly minor.

Aperture: f/8
Wide at f/8: Upper right C.A.: Low Softness: Slightly soft	Wide at f/8: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Very sharp
Tele at f/8: Upper left C.A.: Very low Softness: Slightly soft	Tele at f/8: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Sharp

F8: At max wide angle, corner sharpness didn't really improve much if at all when stopped down to f/8, remaining somewhat soft, though contrast is better. This isn't a surprise given the amount of correction applied, though. Sharpness in the center did however improve slightly when stopped down. At full telephoto, the upper corners improved but they're still not tack sharp, while lower corners actually became a touch softer, which is a little disappointing. Sharpness in the center remained about the same, and vignetting was not detectable at either end.

Chromatic Aberration Correction

Camera JPEGs	Uncorrected RAW
Wide (f/1.7): Upper left CA: Low	Wide (f/1.7): Upper left CA: Moderately high
Tele (f/2.8): Upper left CA: Moderately low	Tele: (f/2.8): Upper left CA: Moderate

As you can see in the crops from uncorrected RAW images on the right (taken from RW2 files converted with RawDigger), the LX100's lens produces moderately high and bright lateral chromatic aberration at wide angle, and what we'd call moderate CA at full telephoto. So the LX100's processor does a great job suppressing lateral chromatic aberration in camera JPEGs (crops on the left). Note that most RAW converters should also automatically suppress CA when converting the LX100's RW2 files, in addition to correcting geometric distortion.

Overall, good performance from the LX100's lens considering its size, speed and the camera's price, but it's a little short on reach compared to some competing cameras, and corner performance is somewhat disappointing, at least at the wide and tele ends.

Viewfinder Test Results

Coverage
Excellent accuracy from the electronic viewfinder and LCD monitor.

The Panasonic LX100's EVF and LCD monitor both provide essentially 100% coverage at wide angle and telephoto in record mode. This is excellent performance, especially considering the amount of geometric distortion correction taking place at wide angle.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100 Photo Gallery .

Exposure

Color

Saturation & Hue Accuracy
Slightly higher than average mean saturation with below average hue accuracy.

In the diagram above, the squares show the original color, and the circles show the color that the camera captured. More saturated colors are located toward the periphery of the graph. Hue changes as you travel around the center. Thus, hue-accurate, highly saturated colors appear as lines radiating from the center. Click image for a larger version.

Saturation. The Panasonic LX100 produces images with slightly higher mean saturation levels compared to most cameras with default settings at base ISO. Mean saturation is 113.2% (13.2% oversaturated) at the base ISO of 200. The Lumix LX100 pushes dark blues a fair bit, dark red and dark green moderately, but undersaturates yellow and light green. Most consumer digital cameras produce color that's more highly saturated (more intense) than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people like their color a bit brighter than life.

Skin tones. Here, the Panasonic LX100 does reasonably well, producing fairly natural-looking Caucasian skin tones with a slight push towards pink when either Auto or Manual white balance is used, giving a healthy appearance. Darker skin tones have a small nudge towards orange, but overall results are pretty good. Where oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it's very easy for these "memory colors" to be seen as too bright, too pink, too yellow, etc.

Hue. The Panasonic LX100 shifts cyan towards blue by quite a bit and it shifts dark red toward orange, orange toward yellow and yellow to green, but these shifts are fairly minor. The LX100's mean "delta-C" color error after correction for saturation is 7.37 for JPEGs at the base ISO of 200 (100 is an extended ISO). That's below average these days, but again, most of the hue shift was in cyan to blue which is a common tactic to deepen blue skies. Hue is "what color" the color is.

Sensor

Exposure and White Balance

Indoors, incandescent lighting
Cool color with Auto white balance setting, warm with Incandescent, but very good color balance with the Manual setting. Average exposure compensation required.

Indoors, under normal incandescent lighting, color balance was a little cool and magenta with the Auto white balance setting, but results here are actually better than most cameras using Auto white balance. The Incandescent setting produced a color balance that was much too warm, with a strong orange-yellow cast. The Manual setting produced very accurate results. The Panasonic LX100 required +0.3 EV exposure compensation here, about average for this scene, though face detection was accidently enabled in these shots which could impact exposure accuracy. (Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulbs, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the U.S.)

Outdoors, daylight
Pleasant if slightly cool colors overall, with a tendency toward high contrast under harsh lighting. Above average exposure compensation required.

Outdoors, the Panasonic LX100 performed well, with good though slightly cool color in the Far-field shot (above right). Skin tones are fairly realistic in our "Sunlit" Portrait shot (above left), with a healthy-looking push of pinks and reds which is usually preferable to too flat or yellow. The camera required +1.0 EV compensation for our "Sunlit" Portrait shot to keep facial tones reasonably bright. That's a little higher than what's typical for this shot (+0.7 EV). Despite the bright appearance, few highlights were actually blown in the mannequin's white shirt which is very good, though there are some very deep shadows that are a bit noisy, discolored and posterized. The default exposure is good, just slightly dim for the Far-field shot, but as a result there are very few blown highlights, though again there are some very deep shadows that are somewhat noisy and discolored.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Resolution
~2,150 lines of strong detail.

In camera JPEGs, our laboratory resolution chart reveals sharp, distinct line patterns to about 2,150 lines per picture height horizontally and vertically. Complete extinction of the pattern occurs at around 2,800 lines horizontally and vertically. We weren't able to extract significantly more high-contrast resolution by processing the Panasonic LX100's RW2 file using Adobe Camera Raw, as the ACR conversion shows a lot of false colors and color moiré at the limits of resolution, which are well suppressed in the camera JPEG.

Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sharpness & Detail
Fairly conservative default sharpening with just minor edge-enhancement artifacts around high-contrast subjects. Mild to moderate noise suppression visible in the shadows even at base ISO.

Sharpness. The Panasonic LX100 captures fairly sharp, detailed images overall, with relatively conservative default sharpening. Only minor edge enhancement artifacts are visible on high-contrast subjects such as the sharpening "halos" along the lines and text in the crop above left, so default sharpening here is fairly tame and not overdone, more in keeping with the camera's pro target buyer. Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing colors and tones right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.

Detail. The crop above right shows the effect of noise suppression in the form of smudging of individual strands together in the darker areas of the model's hair, as well as in areas with low local contrast. Still, this is good noise versus detail processing performance for a Four Thirds sensor, leaving plenty of detail intact instead of blurring much of it away in an attempt to hide noise. Noise-suppression systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the individual strands are lost and an almost "watercolor" look appears.

RAW vs In-Camera JPEGs
As noted above, the Panasonic LX100 produces fairly sharp in-camera JPEGs with good detail for the resolution. As is almost always the case, though, better detail can be obtained from carefully processing RAW files than can be seen in the in-camera JPEGs. Take a look below, to see what we mean:

Base ISO (200)
Camera JPEG, defaults	RAW via Adobe Camera Raw

In the table above, we compare an in-camera, best quality JPEG taken at base ISO using default noise reduction and sharpening (on the left) to a matching RAW file converted with Adobe Camera Raw 8.7 using default noise reduction with some strong but tight unsharp masking applied in Photoshop (200%, radius of 0.6 pixels, and a threshold of 0).

As you can see, the in-camera JPEG contains pretty good detail, however ACR extracted additional detail in both the mosaic crop as well as in our troublesome red-leaf swatch. But ACR also revealed more noise, especially in flatter areas (keep in mind base ISO is 200, though). You can always turn up the luminance noise reduction (default of zero was used here), or process the files in your favorite noise reduction program or plugin if you find the noise objectionable. Bottom line, though, as is almost always the case shooting in RAW mode provides better detail, color, and control than in-camera JPEGs when converted with a good RAW converter.

ISO & Noise Performance
Good high ISO performance up to ISO 3200.

Default Noise Reduction
ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 1600	ISO 3200
ISO 6400	ISO 12,800	ISO 25,600

The Panasonic LX100's images are very detailed and clean at ISOs 100 (extended) and 200, with only minor luminance noise and hardly any chrominance noise detectable in the darker areas. As ISO increases, noise versus detail also increases as expected, but the trade off remains quite good until ISO 3200 where we start to see noticeable detail loss and more obvious luminance noise, however noise "grain" is fairly fine and tight and image quality is still pretty good. ISO 6400 shows a more abrupt drop in image quality, with some obvious chroma noise in the shadows as well as the results of strong noise reduction, causing artifacts that produce a somewhat crystalline effect. Loss of detail and noise reduction artifacts increase rapidly from there, to the point where the ISO 25,600 setting produces a very noisy image with a peppered look while showing strong chroma blotching and smudged detail. Colors also begin to desaturate noticeably above ISO 6400.

Overall, though, high ISO performance is excellent for a Four Thirds sensor, though as expected, not quite as good as leading APS-C models. We're of course pixel-peeping to an extraordinary extent here, since 1:1 images on an LCD screen have little to do with how those same images will appear when printed. See the Print Quality section below for our evaluation of maximum print sizes at each ISO setting.

A note about focus for this shot: We shoot this image at f/4. To insure that the hair detail we use for making critical judgements about camera noise processing and detail rendering is in sharp focus at the relatively wide aperture we're shooting at, the focus target at the center of the scene is on a movable stand. This lets us compensate for front- or back-focus by different camera bodies, even those that lack micro-focus adjustments. This does mean, though, that the focus target itself may appear soft or slightly out of focus for bodies that front- or back-focused with the reference lens. We know this; if you click to view the full-size image for one of these shots and notice that the focus target is fuzzy, you don't need to email and tell us. :-) The focus target position will have been adjusted to insure that the rest of the scene is focused properly.

Extremes: Sunlit, dynamic range and low light tests
Somewhat high default contrast but with surprisingly good dynamic range. Excellent low-light performance.

Sunlight. The Panasonic LX100 did quite well with the deliberately harsh lighting of this test. Contrast is a little high at its default setting as with most cameras, but dynamic range is actually quite good. We felt the +1.0 EV exposure is the best compromise here as skin tones around the eyes are a bit dark at +0.7 EV, though there are a few clipped highlights in the mannequin's shirt. It's really the photographer's choice here as to which direction to go in. Pros would probably prefer +0.7 EV for its better highlight retention but for those Panasonic LX100 owners that are going to want to print with little or no tweaking, the +1.0 image would produce a better-looking face uncorrected. Exposure preferences aside, though, the Panasonic LX100 performed well with the wide dynamic range of this very harshly lit shot.

Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here.)

Tone Curve Adjustment (0 EV)
Lower Contrast	Higher Contrast	Brighten Dark Areas

In addition to a standard contrast setting (with 11 levels!), the Panasonic LX100 also has a curves setting which allows you to adjust the shape of the tone curve to tweak shadows and highlights independently. There are 4 presets (Standard, Higher Contrast, Lower Contrast, and Brighten Dark Areas) as well as 3 custom settings that allow you to adjust the highlight and shadow ends of the curves by +/-5 units. Above are samples using the 3 non-standard presets.

Far-field iDynamic Examples
Off	Auto	Low	Standard	High

Panasonic's Intelligent Dynamic Range
The above shots are examples of Panasonic's Intelligent Dynamic Range Control (or iDynamic) at work, with no exposure compensation. Note that the camera does not take multiple shots and merge them as HDR mode does (see below). It's a system that adjusts local contrast and exposure more akin to Nikon's Active D-lighting, Canon's Automatic Lighting Optimization or Sony's Dynamic Range Optimization.

There are three levels of iDynamic available on the Panasonic LX100: Low, Standard and High, plus Auto and Off. It's automatically invoked in iAuto and manually selectable in PASM modes. Here, you can see darker midtones and shadows were progressively boosted as the strength was increased, without blowing many highlights in the process.

Far-field HDR Examples
Off	Auto	+/-1 EV	+/-2 EV	+/-3 EV

HDR mode
Here, you can see the Panasonic LX100's High Dynamic Range mode at work with our Far-field shot. HDR mode takes three images at different exposures and combines them to increase dynamic range. Options include strength settings of Auto +-1EV, +/-2EV or +/-3 EV and whether or not the camera auto aligns the images. Mouse over the links, and click on them the view the full resolution files.

The Auto, +/-1 EV and +/2 EV settings produced very similar exposures, while +/-3 dimmed the entire image. Notice the ghosting of moving objects like the flag, as is expected when compositing multiple images. Also notice the angle of view is narrower in the HDR images, likely because the images have been cropped and upsized during the alignment process.

Dynamic Range Analysis (RAW mode)
While we once performed our own dynamic range measurements based on in-camera JPEGs as well as converted RAW images (when the camera was supported by Adobe Camera Raw), we've switched to using DxO Labs' results from their DxOMark website. As technology advanced, the dynamic range of modern high-end cameras in some cases exceeded the range of the Stouffer T4110 density scale that we used for our own measurements. DxO's approach based on RAW data before demosaicing is also more revealing, because it measures the fundamental dynamic range of the sensor, irrespective of whatever processing is applied to JPEGs, or to RAW data by off-the-shelf conversion software.

In the following, we use DxO's "Print" dynamic range results, which are scaled based on camera resolution. As the name suggests, this scaling corresponds to the situation in which you print at a given size, regardless of how many megapixels the camera might have. (In other words, if you've decided to make a 13x19 inch print, that's the size you're printing, whether the camera's resolution is 16 or 300 megapixels.) For the technically-minded, you can find a discussion of the reasoning behind this here on the DxOMark website. Also note that DxO Labs uses a signal-to-noise (SNR) threshold of 1 when defining the lower boundary of acceptable luminance noise in their dynamic range measurements, which corresponds to the "Low Quality" threshold of the Imatest software we used to use for this measurement.

In the above graph we compare the Panasonic LX100's normalized dynamic range to its interchangeable-lens sibling, the GM5, as well as to the Sony RX100 Mark III, one of the most popular enthusiast compacts based on a 1"-type sensor.

As you can see, the LX100's dynamic range (plotted in red) is quite a bit better than the GM5 at low ISOs. For example at their base ISO settings, the LX100 manages 12.46 EV versus 11.66 EV for the GM5. The LX100 continues to best the GM5 up to the ISO 1600 setting, where the GM5 is on par, and the GM5 does a little better at higher ISOs, with a maximum advantage of about 2/3 EV at the ISO 6400 setting,

The LX100 also does better than the Sony RX100 III at lower ISOs with up to about 2/3 EV advantage at moderate ISOs, though at base ISO and high ISOs, they are pretty close. Keep in mind the Sony has quite a resolution advantage at 20.2MP, so its screen results (at 100%) won't be as impressive against the 12.8MP LX100. Click here to visit the DxOMark page for the Panasonic LX100 for more of their test results and additional comparisons.

	1 fc 11 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux	1/16 fc No NR
ISO 200	1s, f2.8	15s, f2.8	15s, f2.8
ISO 3200	1/15s, f2.8	1s, f2.8	1s, f2.8
ISO 25600	1/125s, f2.8	1/8s, f2.8	1/8s, f2.8

Low Light. The Panasonic Lumix LX100 performed very well in our low light tests, able to capture bright images down to the lowest light level we test at all ISOs (in the above table, we only shot down to base ISO of 200, but the camera can easily shoot at its lowest ISO with such a fast lens and the option to shoot up to 60 second timed exposures). The darkest level equates to about 1/16 the brightness of average city street lighting at night, so the Panasonic LX100 should be able to take well-exposed photos in almost any environment in which you can see well enough to walk around in.

Using the default noise reduction setting, noise is very low at ISO 200 and well-controlled at ISO 3200, though turning down NR produced some objectionable chroma noise as well as a lot of bright speckles in darker areas at ISO 200. (At ISO 3200 and 25600, even the lowest NR setting eliminates most of these artifacts.) As expected, ISO 25,600 is quite noisy and is best avoided except in emergencies.

We didn't notice any significant issues with heat blooming or pattern noise, however as mentioned, we did spot some hot or overly bright pixels seen at ISO 200 with long exposure noise reduction turned off (right-most column) that still appeared faintly with default NR at the 1/16 foot-candle level.

Auto color balance produced a fairly neutral color balance, just a touch cool.

The LX100's autofocus system was able to focus on our subject down to well below the 1/16 foot-candle light level unassisted which is excellent, especially for a camera with contrast-detect autofocus. And the Panasonic LX100 has a focus-assist lamp which allows it to autofocus in complete darkness, as long as the subject is within range and has sufficient contrast.

How bright is this? The one foot-candle light level that this test begins at roughly corresponds to the brightness of typical city street-lighting at night. Cameras performing well at that level should be able to snap good-looking photos of street-lit scenes.

NOTE: This low light test is conducted with a stationary subject, and the camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. Most digital cameras will fail miserably when faced with a moving subject in dim lighting. (For example, a child's ballet recital or a holiday pageant in a gymnasium.) Thanks to their phase-detect AF systems, digital SLRs tend to do much better than point & shoots, but you still shouldn't expect a quick autofocus lock with moving subjects. The LX100 uses contrast-detect autofocus, as is found in most point & shoot cameras, so its low-light focusing ability may be less than that of some SLRs with phase-detect systems. That said, though, the larger, more sensitive pixels of the LX100's sensor do better under dim lighting than do the tiny pixels of most point & shoots.

Output Quality

Print Quality

Very good 24 x 36 inch prints at ISO 100/200; a nice 13 x 19 at ISO 1600 and a good 4 x 6 at ISO 12,800.

ISO 100/200 prints are quite good at 24 x 36 inches, with crisp detail and rich colors.

ISO 400 shots look good at 20 x 30 inches, retaining good detail throughout our test image. 24 x 36 inch prints aren't bad, with only a minor trace of noise in a few areas, and can generally be used for less critical applications.

ISO 800 yields a good 16 x 20 inch print, which is a nice size for this ISO. There is a definite softening of contrast in our tricky red fabric swatch, common in most cameras by this sensitivity, and mild noise in a few flatter areas, but a very nice print all around.

ISO 1600 makes a nice 13 x 19 inch print, with only mild softening in the red fabric swatch and minor noise in the shadowy areas of our test target.

ISO 3200 produces an 11 x 14 inch print similar to the 13 x 19 at ISO 1600, and is a good size for this ISO, especially compared to most compact cameras! Most contrast detail is now lost in our red swatch, and there is minor noise in the usual flatter areas, but still a good print altogether.

ISO 6400 prints just pass our "good" standard at 8 x 10 inches. This is a sensitivity most compact cameras struggle with, but the LX100 handles it better than most. The most noticeable artifact is that there is a slight loss in saturation, but the amount is negligible and easily returned in post-processing if so desired.

ISO 12,800 yields a good 4 x 6 inch print for this ISO and sensor type.

ISO 25,600 prints are not usable and this sensitivity is best avoided when possible.

The Panasonic LX100 turns in an impressive performance in the print quality department, especially considering that it comes from the ranks of compact cameras. Starting with solid prints at 24 x 36 inches at base ISO (limited in size primarily by the relatively low 12.7-megapixel resolution) and then moving up to a good 8 x 10 inch print at ISO 6400, this camera can certainly deliver high quality prints. Most issues noticed are common for cameras with 4/3" sensors, and the LX100 stands in the same league with most of the best in the Micro Four Thirds class despite the fact that it doesn't use the entire sensor, and well above the crowd of traditional compact cameras.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100 Photo Gallery .

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!

Performance

Image Quality

Below are crops comparing the Panasonic LX100 with the Panasonic GM1, Canon G7X, Fuji X100S, Nikon Coolpix A, and Sony RX100 III. All of these models sit at relatively similar price points and/or categories in their respective product lineups as compact enthusiast cameras.

NOTE: These images are best quality JPEGs straight out of the camera, at default settings including noise reduction and using the camera's actual base ISO (not extended ISO settings). Clicking any crop will take you to a carrier page where you can click once again to access the full resolution image as delivered straight from the camera. For those interested in working with the RAW files involved, click these links to visit each camera's respective sample image thumbnail page: Panasonic LX100, Panasonic GM1, Canon G7X, Fuji X100S, Nikon Coolpix A, and Sony RX100 III -- links to the RAW files appear beneath those for the JPEG images, wherever we have them. And remember, you can always go to our world-renowned Comparometer to compare the Panasonic LX100 to any camera we've ever tested.

Panasonic LX100 vs Panasonic GM1 at Base ISO

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 200	Panasonic GM1 at ISO 200
Here, we compare the fixed-lens LX100 to its compact interchangeable-lens cousin, the Panasonic GM1, as they likely use the same or very similar sensors. The GM1 offers slightly higher resolution since it uses more of its 16MP Live MOS sensor (about 15.8MP vs 12.7MP) so the elements in the LX100 crops look a bit smaller, however fine detail from both cameras is very good at base ISO. Interestingly, the LX100 image is a bit crisper and colors are rendered somewhat differently, but the GM1 does a touch better in the red-leaf fabric. (Note that although the exposures look different, middle gray levels are closely matched between the two, so the apparent exposure difference is due to slightly different tone curves and color mapping.)

Panasonic LX100 vs Canon G7X at Base ISO

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 200	Canon G7X at ISO 125
Above, we compare the 12.7-megapixel "4/3" sensored LX100 to the 20-megapixel 1"-type sensored Canon G7X. The resolution difference is much more apparent here in both the relative element sizes and the higher detail from the G7X in all three crops at base ISO. But while the Canon's resolution is higher, noise is also a little higher, as you can see in the background of the bottle shoulder crop. The G7X applies slighter stronger sharpening, though, which tends to exacerbate noise. Still, the Panasonic's larger pixels pay off in terms of slightly lower noise already at base ISO when comparing at 100% like this, but the G7X still wins with better detail.

Panasonic LX100 vs Fuji X100S at Base ISO

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 200	Fuji X100S at ISO 200
This comparison is perhaps a bit unfair given the Fuji X100S price premium, but at the time of writing, the X100S is available on sale for about the same price as the LX100. Here we see that the Fuji's larger 16-megapixel APS-C X-Trans II sensor produces lower noise levels (particularly chroma noise), but it doesn't really resolve any additional detail in most areas. Fine detail in the mosaic crop is actually a little better from the Panasonic despite the lower resolution, but the Fuji does better with fine detail in the red-leaf fabric.

Panasonic LX100 vs Nikon Coolpix A at Base ISO

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 200	Nikon Coolpix A at ISO 100
Here's a comparison to a 16-megapixel APS-C sensored compact with a 28mm eq. prime lens, the Nikon Coolpix A. The Nikon does resolve more detail as well as produce lower noise at base ISO, but its advantage over the LX100 is perhaps not as great as one would expect at base ISO, in part due to the Nikon's rather conservative image processing.

Panasonic LX100 vs Sony RX100 III at Base ISO

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 200	Sony RX100 III at ISO 125
Here's another comparison to a 20-megapixel 1-inch sensor, this time from the company that started the category. Here again we see Sony's 20MP sensor clearly out-resolve the Panasonic, but the camera is working harder to control noise, producing a somewhat more "processed" looking image. The Sony does however do noticeably better in the red and pink fabrics.

Panasonic LX100 vs Panasonic GM1 at ISO 1600

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 1600	Panasonic GM1 at ISO 1600
As expected, image quality from both Panasonic cameras at ISO 1600 is quite similar, though again, the slightly higher resolution from the GM1 is apparent, but mostly just in the size of the elements within the crops. Both blur subtle detail in the red-leaf swatch quite a bit, with the LX100 blurring it a bit more.

Panasonic LX100 vs Canon G7X at ISO 1600

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 1600	Canon G7X at ISO 1600
At ISO 1600, we see the LX100 start to pull ahead of the G7X with better detail despite the lower resolution, as well as lower luma noise. The Canon does a little better with controlling chroma noise, though. Both struggle with the red-leaf fabric.

Panasonic LX100 vs Fuji X100S at ISO 1600

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 1600	Fuji X100S at ISO 1600
Similar to base ISO, the Fuji produces a cleaner, smoother image with almost no chroma noise, but both show very good detail in most areas for this sensitivity. However, the X100S does much better in the red-leaf fabric as the LX100's default noise reduction blurs it quite a bit.

Panasonic LX100 vs Nikon Coolpix A at ISO 1600

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 1600	Nikon Coolpix A at ISO 1600
Again, differences in tone curves and color handling make the Coolpix A looks quite a bit brighter in this comparison, but middle gray is closely matched and the same aperture and shutter speed were used. While the Nikon clearly does better with the red-leaf fabric, elsewhere it's a much closer contest, though the Nikon applies less aggressive noise reduction and sharpening, producing a softer but more natural looking image.

Panasonic LX100 vs Sony RX100 III at ISO 1600

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 1600	Sony RX100 III at ISO 1600
At ISO 1600, the LX100 does noticeably better than the RX100 III, producing a crisper, more finely detailed image all around. The Sony's looks a little drab in areas, and has a much more "processed" look. The RX100M3 does however do a little better in the red-leaf fabric.

Panasonic LX100 vs Panasonic GM1 at ISO 3200

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 3200	Panasonic GM1 at ISO 3200
Again, similar performance from the two Panasonics apart from the slight resolution difference, though at this ISO, it's clear the LX100 applies slightly stronger default noise reduction, particularly in the red channel.

Panasonic LX100 vs Canon G7X at ISO 3200

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 3200	Canon G7X at ISO 3200
Once again, the LX100 comes out on top in this contest, with better detail, lower noise, and better color, but both struggle reproducing any fine detail in our red-leaf fabric.

Panasonic LX100 vs Fuji X100S at ISO 3200

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 3200	Fuji X100S at ISO 3200
Here we see Fuji's X100S really shine at ISO 3200, producing lower noise, better detail and great color. And there's simply no contest in the red-leaf fabric.

Panasonic LX100 vs Nikon Coolpix A at ISO 3200

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 3200	Nikon Coolpix A at ISO 3200
The Nikon leaves behind higher noise levels (both luma and chroma), but noise "grain" is more film-like, and it also renders more detail in the mosaic crop and especially in the red-leaf fabric. We'll give the edge to Nikon, but it's difficult to make a call on which is better overall, as it's really up to the viewer's tastes.

Panasonic LX100 vs Sony RX100 III at ISO 3200

Panasonic LX100 at ISO 3200	Sony RX100 III at ISO 3200
Here again the LX100 comes out on top despite its resolution handicap. The RX100 III image is noisier with more noise reduction artifacts as well greater saturation loss. And while there's slightly better contrast in the red-leaf swatch from the Sony, it actually appears as if it's almost smeared horizontally.

Panasonic LX100 vs. Panasonic GM1, Canon G7X, Fuji X100S, Nikon Coolpix A, Sony RX100 III

Panasonic LX100 ISO 200 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Panasonic GM1 ISO 200 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Canon G7X ISO 125 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Fuji X100S ISO 200 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Nikon Coolpix A ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Sony RX100 III ISO 125 ISO 3200 ISO 6400
Detail comparison. High-contrast detail is also important, pushing the camera in different ways, so we like to look at it too. As expected, at base ISO, the higher-resolution Canon G7X and Sony RX100 III come out ahead with better detail and definition than the LX100. The Nikon A, Fuji X100S and Panasonic GM1 also do a little better, but not by much. It's interesting to note that aliasing artifacts are however more visible from the LX100 in other areas of the label, an indication it likely has no or a very weak optical low-pass filter. At ISO 3200, contrast is still good from the G7X, but it starts to have difficulty resolving the fine lines, and the Sony RX100 III even more so. The two Panasonics continue to do well, though, as do the Fuji and Nikon. At ISO 6400, the two Panasonics and the Fuji come out ahead. The Nikon does well too, but its wide-angle lens distorts the image such that the fine lines aren't as level, making them more difficult to resolve at the higher ISOs. The higher-resolution G7X and particularly the RX100 III struggle to resolve the fine lines as they combat higher noise levels from their smaller pixels.

Very good 24 x 36 inch prints at ISO 100/200; a nice 13 x 19 at ISO 1600 and a good 4 x 6 at ISO 12,800.

ISO 100/200 prints are quite good at 24 x 36 inches, with crisp detail and rich colors.

ISO 400 shots look good at 20 x 30 inches, retaining good detail throughout our test image. 24 x 36 inch prints aren't bad, with only a minor trace of noise in a few areas, and can generally be used for less critical applications.

ISO 800 yields a good 16 x 20 inch print, which is a nice size for this ISO. There is a definite softening of contrast in our tricky red fabric swatch, common in most cameras by this sensitivity, and mild noise in a few flatter areas, but a very nice print all around.

ISO 1600 makes a nice 13 x 19 inch print, with only mild softening in the red fabric swatch and minor noise in the shadowy areas of our test target.

ISO 3200 produces an 11 x 14 inch print similar to the 13 x 19 at ISO 1600, and is a good size for this ISO, especially compared to most compact cameras! Most contrast detail is now lost in our red swatch, and there is minor noise in the usual flatter areas, but still a good print altogether.

ISO 6400 prints just pass our "good" standard at 8 x 10 inches. This is a sensitivity most compact cameras struggle with, but the LX100 handles it better than most. The most noticeable artifact is that there is a slight loss in saturation, but the amount is negligible and easily returned in post-processing if so desired.

ISO 12,800 yields a good 4 x 6 inch print for this ISO and sensor type.

ISO 25,600 prints are not usable and this sensitivity is best avoided when possible.

The Panasonic LX100 turns in an impressive performance in the print quality department, especially considering that it comes from the ranks of compact cameras. Starting with solid prints at 24 x 36 inches at base ISO (limited in size primarily by the relatively low 12.7-megapixel resolution) and then moving up to a good 8 x 10 inch print at ISO 6400, this camera can certainly deliver high quality prints. Most issues noticed are common for cameras with 4/3" sensors, and the LX100 stands in the same league with most of the best in the Micro Four Thirds class despite the fact that it doesn't use the entire sensor, and well above the crowd of traditional compact cameras.

Field Test

Field Test Part II

An enthusiast compact head-to-head with Sony and Canon!

By Michael Tomkins | Posted: 12/08/2014

52mm-equivalent, 1/100 sec. @ f/2.8, ISO 320

Ever since Sony launched its RX100-series camera line a couple of years ago, I've been a big fan of compact cameras with large sensors and zoom lenses. (In fact, truth be told I'd been asking the manufacturers to make just such a camera at every chance I got, for several years before the RX100-series hit the scene.)

The Panasonic LX100 takes that concept and runs with it, fitting in an even larger sensor than those of the RX100-series or Canon's G7X, yet still remaining at least coat-pocket friendly. To say that I wanted to get my hands on this camera was an understatement.

Compact is a relative thing

Sure, I had concerns about camera size: One of my favorite features of the RX100-series cameras is that I can slip them in a pants pocket and almost forget they're there. That's simply not possible with the Panasonic LX100: It's fine for a coat pocket or modestly-sized bag or purse, but except in the winter I don't wear a jacket, and I seldom carry a bag.

But that larger body and lens were what was needed to boost the sensor size, and I had a feeling I'd want the better image quality it had the potential to bring, especially in low light. Perhaps it was time to go back to a shoulder strap; this would still be a noticeably smaller camera than a DSLR or mirrorless model with similar lens, after all. (And for that matter, it's also quite a bit smaller than what's realistically its closest competitor -- Canon's rather larger G1X-series line.)

A camera made for photographers

On taking it out of the box, I immediately appreciated the Panasonic LX100's controls. It felt like a photographic tool in a way the RX100-series and G7X simply don't, thanks to dedicated external controls for aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation. By contrast, its more svelte rivals feel more like consumer cameras, although the G7X does at least sport a dedicated exposure compensation dial.

Twin controls rings on the lens

I also instantly appreciated the fact that with a somewhat larger lens, there was room for two separate lens rings. It has always bothered me slightly that the RX100's lens ring is stepless when using it to control aperture. It makes it more obvious that it's a fly-by-wire control, and feels disconnected. Conversely, though, the G7X's stepped lens ring is awkward when used to control focus or lens zoom.

Here, I had the best of both worlds. The Panasonic LX100's front ring has click detents for aperture control, while the rear ring is smooth and stepless. That's not to say that it was perfect, though. The LX100's lens isn't a constant-aperture zoom, and so if you zoom in somewhat, it's possible for the aperture ring to differ from the actual aperture of the lens at the widest settings.

47mm-equivalent, 1/160 sec. @ f/2.6, ISO 200

I also felt that the aperture dial itself could have benefited from a slightly greater resistance, because I found myself just occasionally bumping it. Given that there's no Mode dial on this camera -- a feature I actually like, other than for this quirk -- it's possible to unintentionally change not only the aperture setting, but to switch from Program or Shutter-priority operation to Aperture-priority or fully Manual respectively.

Fiddling with lens caps

Another thing I quickly realized when shooting with the Panasonic LX100 alongside the Sony RX100 III and Canon G7X -- I was lucky enough to have all three cameras, plus the earlier Sony RX100 and RX100 II on my desk at the same time; see side-by-side photos in our updated Canon G7X gallery and Sony RX100 III gallery -- was that the LX100 lacks a built-in lens barrier. It's obvious if you're paying attention, but I must admit I didn't consciously note it until I got my hands on the camera.

The bundled lens cap isn't too terribly bulky, comes complete with a cap leash, and probably provides better protection for the lens. With that said, though, I am not a fan of cap leashes because they're forever tangling around the shoulder or wrist strap, or the lens cap distracts me as it swings back and forth. And I was always worried about accidentally misplacing the lens cap, so most of the time it went in a pocket and stayed there all of the time I was out shooting. In effect, the LX100's lens went unprotected, while the other cameras had at least a modicum of protection when switched off.

There is a petal lens cap on the way for the Panasonic LX100, incidentally, but at around US$40 for a cap, it's quite pricey. It's also not available yet. Personally, I'd like to see it just replace the standard lens cap in the product bundle.

Do less zoom and less resolution mean less versatility?

And of course, the LX100's lens was rather shorter than those of the first and second-generation RX100-series cameras, not to mention the Canon G7X. That gave me more pause for thought than it did with the Sony RX100 III, which has the shortest zoom of the bunch. Why? Because the Panasonic LX100 also has the lowest resolution, and that meant it provided the least opportunity for cropping.

When it comes to flash, it's external only

And there was one other design feature of the LX100 that concerned me: Its lack of a built-in flash strobe. Honestly, in a camera whose main design goal is reduced size and weight compared to an interchangeable-lens camera, I just don't see the presence of a hot shoe as that big of an advantage.

I'd much rather have had an internal flash that's always available when I need it, and which takes up less space than an accessory strobe. Not that the LX100's bundled flash strobe is that bulky, really, but it's another thing I need to remember to bring, and to slip in a pocket somewhere. Nor does it come with a protective hard case -- just a soft bag that made me worry for its longevity.

24mm-equivalent, 1/125 sec. @ f/1.7, ISO 1600

I know that not everyone agrees with me on this, though. Plenty of you prefer the possibility of greater flash range provided by an external strobe, and in that case, the Panasonic LX100 offers a versatility matched only by the RX100 II, which also offers a hot shoe.

An electronic viewfinder you'll actually use

But there was another feature of the LX100 that I fell instantly in love with: its built-in electronic viewfinder. Among its competitors, only the Canon G1X II, Sony RX100 II, and Sony RX100 III offer electronic finders, and for all but the RX100 III, these are bulky, expensive external accessories. The LX100 and RX100 III are thus your only options if you want a built-in EVF, and while Sony's nifty popup finder is technically impressive, I much preferred the fixed-position finder in the LX100.

For one thing, there was no need to extend it every time I turned the camera on. Sure, Sony cleverly powers up the RX100 III as soon as you flick the lever to raise the finder, but before you can use it, you still have to manually extend the rear lens of the finder to prepare it for use. With the LX100, the electronic viewfinder is just there, ready whenever you need it.

Perhaps more importantly, though, it's a much nicer viewfinder than that of the Sony. The viewfinder image is both roomier and noticeably higher-resolution than that of the RX100 III. Where on the RX100 III I found the EVF to be a worthwhile tool of last resort when the main LCD was obscured by sunlight, on the Panasonic LX100 I found myself using the viewfinder quite often even if the LCD was perfectly visible.

And I should note that while it's a field-sequential display (which cycles through red, green and blue colors in turn, rather than using adjacent subpixels of different primary colors to provide a full-color image), I really didn't notice much of the rainbow artifacts from which field-sequential displays sometimes suffer. I did, though, find the shallow viewfinder eyecup wasn't great at preventing glare. Under direct sunlight, I sometimes had to shield the finder with my spare hand, just as I did with the RX100 III's finder.

The fixed-position LCD is definitely less versatile

As great as that finder is, the Panasonic LX100 does trail its smaller-bodied competitors in one surprising respect that I think is something of a shame. The RX100 II, RX100 III and G7X all sport tilting LCD monitors, but that in the LX100 is fixed in position. It also lacks the touch-sensitive overlay of the G7X's screen.

I can certainly understand that Panasonic was doing everything possible to counter the fact that its larger sensor (and that sensor's need for a larger lens) already put it at a size disadvantage, but the lack of an articulated screen is a shame, because it makes the camera rather less useful for shots from over your head, down at your hips, or even low to the ground. And focus point selection is rather more cumbersome than the tap-to-select of the Canon.

Still, I can live with these, even if I hope to see a followup model add both features one day. At least the LCD monitor itself has quite good viewing angles, and provides a sharp, clear picture that's visible in reasonably bright light.

Aspect ratio is a meaningful variable, once more

One advantage of the Panasonic LX100 takes some getting used to -- in fact, thus far I'm still struggling to remember its presence. Unlike most cameras, the LX100 offers meaningful aspect ratio choices.

For most cameras, switching aspect ratios simply means throwing data away, and that's never struck me as a worthwhile tradeoff for the added creativity it brings. If you switch a 3:2-aspect camera to its 4:3-aspect mode, for example, then pixels from the left and right edges of the picture are cropped and discarded, but nothing is added to the top and bottom of the image.

The Panasonic LX100 is rather unusual in offering a selection of aspect ratios that don't just change the horizontal width of the frame, but also the vertical height. That makes them a rather more meaningful proposition than in most cameras, but also means that you'll want to pay attention to aspect ratio at capture time for best results. 75mm-equivalent, 1/125 sec. @ f/2.8, ISO 500

In effect, you could get the exact same crop once you get home if you'd shot in 3:2-aspect, and perhaps could have cropped more precisely than you'd have been able to frame while taking the shot. For that reason, I've mostly avoided using in-camera aspect ratio settings, and just cropped my images post-capture. But the Panasonic LX100 is different.

Like a few of the company's past models, the image sensor is actually larger than the image circle of the lens, and so light doesn't reach right into the corners of the sensor. This might seem a curious decision, but it allows Panasonic to mask off different areas of the sensor that reach right to the edge of the image circle for each aspect ratio. For example, if you switch from 3:2 to 4:3-aspect shooting on this camera, pixels aren't just discarded at the left and right edges of the image, but the capture area actually increases a little vertically.

This takes a little getting used to, because it means that there is no one aspect ratio that's "best" -- the ideal choice varies from shot to shot, and so it makes sense once again to choose your aspect ratio at capture time. The problem is that so many other cameras over the years have taught me the opposite that I find it hard to remember to think in those terms.

When I can remember to -- or alternatively, if I set the aspect ratio bracketing mode -- it's really nice to feel that aspect ratio is a meaningful variable once more, though. I have a feeling if I shot with the LX100 regularly for a little while, I'd probably find myself playing with aspect ratio quite regularly, and doubly so given there's a dedicated control right on top of the lens.

Excellent performance all around

One thing that definitely put a smile on my face as I wandered around downtown Knoxville shooting with all three cameras side by side was the Panasonic LX100's performance. Sure, I wasn't shooting sports, but then none of these cameras have long enough lenses to be well-suited to sports anyway, unless you're pretty close to the action. But for more general shooting, the LX100 was easily swift enough to capture active kids and pets or the like, and it felt significantly faster than either the RX100 III or G7X.

That's likely due in no small part to Panasonic's Depth from Defocus autofocus technology, and the swift Venus Engine processor will also play its part. Subjectively, I'd say that the LX100 had the lead in both focus speed and burst performance, with the RX100 III and G7X each having a slight edge over each other in some respects, but trailing in others.

But what of the pictures?

The most important thing, though, is the image quality. And at base sensitivity, there's no way around it: The Panasonic LX100's lower-res sensor simply doesn't capture as much detail as those of the Sony RX100 III and Canon G7X. (You can see side-by-side shots from these cameras, shot at the same time as the LX100 shots in this Field Test, in my updated Canon G7X gallery and Sony RX100 III gallery, respectively.)

With that said, though, the difference wasn't as significant as their respective megapixel ratings might suggest. And while thus far I haven't shot in very low light, as the ISO sensitivity was raised towards sunset, the image quality balance definitely started to turn more in favor of the LX100 even despite its lower resolution.

And that's just considering detail and noise. I thought that image quality in other respects was easily the equal of the other cameras, or perhaps there was a slight edge in Panasonic's favor, with good white balance and color, and quite accurate exposure metering.

Looking forward to more side-by-side comparison

I've got to be honest, as well -- I wasn't expecting the Panasonic LX100 to win the image quality battle at low sensitivity. There's only so much you can do in terms of image processing to make up for a lower sensor resolution. It's at night that I really expect the LX100 to shine, though, and I'll have a side-by-side comparison with the RX100 III and G7X to test that theory out. I'm also planning to compare movie capture with all three cameras. If there's anything in particular that you'd like to see me take a look at, drop me a note in the comments below, and I'll do my best to answer your requests as well!

Field Test Part III

Bright lens, big sensor: This compact street shooter adores the night!

By Michael Tomkins | Posted: 04/22/2015

70mm-equivalent, 1/30 sec. @ f/5.6, ISO 3200

When I started my review of the Panasonic LX100 with my first Field Test, I found much to like about this capable enthusiast compact. (Not read it yet? You might want to start there first!)

Sure, it's not as small as rivals like the Canon G7X and Sony RX100, RX100 II or RX100 III, but I loved its approachable, intuitive controls and handy electronic viewfinder. And while it lags its rivals in terms of resolution, it still provides great daytime image quality and excellent performance.

Want to see how the LX100 compares to its rivals? Read our comparisons below:

• Panasonic LX100 vs. Canon G7X
• Panasonic LX100 vs. Sony RX100 III

It's at night that I really expected the Panasonic LX100 to be in its element, though. The smaller, higher-resolution sensors in the RX100-series and Canon G7X seemed to have their work cut out for them against the Panasonic LX100, even if it doesn't actually use the full real-estate of its sensor in any given aspect ratio.

Of course, that's offset somewhat by the fact that the Sony RX100 III and Canon G7X both use backside-illuminated sensors where the LX100 doesn't, meaning that proportionately more of their sensor area is devoted to light gathering. With so many variables in play here, I certainly didn't want to prejudge any of these cameras -- the way to an answer was to be found in a side-by-side comparison after the sun had set.

And so that's precisely what I did, taking all three cameras for a nighttime shoot-out, with the goal of deciding which was my favorite when the lighting conditions weren't so ideal.

(Want to see more on how the G7X fared? You'll find info on its night-shooting abilities in my Canon G7X Field Test Part II.)

The enthusiast compact shooutout continues at night

It's been quite rainy in the evenings recently, as it tends to be at this time of year in Knoxville, Tennessee. Cold and warm fronts have been fighting back and forth across the area, and each one brought with it another downpour, and another evening in which I had to pass on my evening's shooting plans.

Spotting an evening that seemed promising, at last, I headed downtown with the Panasonic LX100, Sony RX100 III and Canon G7X to get the comparison underway. I set all three cameras to their defaults, and then switched them to Aperture-priority mode with a fixed f/5.6 aperture to provide a fair basis for comparison. Each camera was also set to enable its step zoom function so I could easily match the focal lengths when framing, and the ISO sensitivity was manually set to the same level for each shot. And as usual for my reviews, I also enabled exposure bracketing and raw+JPEG storage.

I started off at ISO 6400 with a shot of Knoxville's Market Square, with the pavilion nicely lit up but not currently being used. Comparing the LX100 to the Canon G7X and Sony RX100, the Panasonic's resolution deficit that I saw in the daytime seemed to have been all but erased. All three cameras suffered from noise and the after-effects of noise reduction, but the LX100's shot was noticeably cleaner than its rivals, and the crispest of the bunch as well.

Of course, part of that is down to the fact that its image renders a little smaller, but even so, all else being equal it should be trailing the other two cameras by quite some distance due to its sensor resolution deficit. Yet not only did it nicely retain detail in most of the pavilion's brick columns, but the plaque on the left column was even just about as legible as it was from the much higher-res RX100 III and G7X.

Moving on, I tried some shots at ISO 12,800, the highest sensitivity offered by Canon and Sony's cameras. While all three cameras again provided results that would be usable for small prints, they were clearly pushing the limits here. I'd personally stay at ISO 6400 or below with the Panasonic LX100 most of the time, and probably at ISO 3200 or below for its two rivals. Again, I give the LX100 a slight edge here in detail and crispness, even having downsampled the images from the Canon and Sony to match the resolution of the Panasonic.

And dropping back down to ISO 3200, again I saw much the same thing: The LX100's images kept up with its rivals, despite the significantly lower resolution. You can make your own call using the images in my Panasonic LX100 gallery, and comparing side by side with my updated Sony RX100 III gallery and Canon G7X gallery.

Another day, another night shoot

With that comparison out of the way -- and curtailed slightly by my having to head home a bit early -- I decided to limit my shooting for the remainder of the comparison to just the Panasonic and Canon cameras, given that we've long-since finalized our Sony RX100 III review. (And frankly, juggling three cameras from different manufacturers while trying to remember to maintain settings parity between them can get rather stressful and time-consuming.)

24mm-equivalent, 1/50 sec. @ f/1.7, ISO 6400

For a change of scenery, I decided to start my walk from Knoxville's Old City, a district jam-packed with bars, nightclubs and coffee shops. The light splashed across the front of Patrick Sullivan's Saloon caught my eye, as did the sounds of folks enjoying their evening across the road at Boyd's Jig and Reel. I quite like shooting Boyd's at high sensitivity, because the fine detail in the tartan pattern of its sign is a tough challenge for a camera's noise reduction system. The LX100 did a good job, retaining the pattern of diagonal lines in the tartan in all but the white bar, which was blown out by a bright spotlight.

Walking up towards downtown, I grabbed a couple more shots enroute, noting that the auto white balance system did struggle just a little with to neutralize the strong yellow cast from the city street lighting. That's pretty easy to fix, though -- either by shooting with a preset or manual white balance, or simply shooting in raw -- and I've seen a lot worse in out-of-camera JPEGs before. I paused to take a long-exposure shot of a train passing through a railyard that runs along the back of downtown, but you won't see it in the gallery.

A rare quirk in the otherwise-impressive autofocus

The reason: The Panasonic LX100 point-blank refused to focus on it. Actually, that's not quite true. What it did was to indicate that the subject was in focus when it was actually nowhere near to being correctly focused. Mostly, I've found the LX100 to focus quickly and confidently, but with this particular shot, no matter how I tried to frame, it simply wouldn't focus even though the Canon G7X alongside it had no such problems.

I'm speculating here, but my guess is that the many small, bright highlights in the scene -- streetlights from above, and reflections of them from vehicles in the adjacent carpark -- were throwing off the LX100's Depth from Defocus AF system. It's the only time I've seen this issue in my time with the camera, but I think worthy of a mention anyway because I've never seen a camera so reliably indicate a focus lock with a completely out-of-focus subject, even after reframing.

On the plus side, manual focus will get you out of the situation just fine, and I did indeed shoot the scene with manual focus just to be sure. As it happened, though, it wasn't the photogenic shot I was hoping for, so I haven't included it in the gallery.

Continuing my walk up to Market Square, I spotted an attractively-retro looking bicycle with whitewall tires, and grabbed a couple of quick shots. The Panasonic's screen being fixed in place, I had to get down on one knee to frame the shot as I wanted it, but the result was pretty impressive for a handheld, low-light shot at ISO 4000 from a fixed-lens compact that would easily fit in a jacket pocket or small purse. Even the tiny white "hairs" on the whitewalls, left over from the molding process, are clearly visible and yet noise is well-controlled.

Really high sensitivity for a (coat)-pocket camera

Continuing on from Market Square, I took a shortcut through Strong Alley, a back alley that is rapidly becoming one of my favorite places in Knoxville thanks to its wonderfully vibrant and eclectic street art. Every time I visit, something has changed, and this time was no different with a large painting of a shark catching my eye -- and the LX100's lens. At ISO 12,800, the little Panasonic captured plenty of detail both in the painting and texture of the wall. Again, it was all rendered rather too warm for my tastes, but even in JPEG mode, a few quick clicks in Photoshop is enough to fix it.

But what of the very highest sensitivities, well beyond what's offered by the RX100 III and G7X? Surprisingly, I found even ISO 16,000 to be quite usable, as you'll see in the shot of Suttree's Tavern sign below. Handheld at 1/30th second with the lens at 75mm-equivalent and f/2.8, the LX100 renders even the finest lines in the sign, and while the flat areas in the sign and wall behind are rather noisy, this would certainly be fine for a modest print size.

I wouldn't recommend straying beyond that unless you have no alternative, though. By the time I reached the maximum sensitivity of ISO 25,600 equivalent, images were really suffering both from noise and the effects of noise reduction, and colors were somewhat washed out.

75mm-equivalent, 1/80 sec. @ f/4.0, ISO 20,000

I almost had to pinch myself when remembering that I was shooting at ISO 25,600 with a coat-pocket compact camera, though, and the results here were certainly no worse than what the RX100 III and G7X managed at their own maximum sensitivities.

Update: I missed sharing my videos!

When I first published this Field Test back in April, it seems I was suffering from brain fade. Although I shot a fair few videos with the Panasonic LX100 during my time with the camera, I somehow missed uploading them, a point which I've only just realized as I'm now finalizing the review. (Sincere apologies for any of you who've been waiting to see what videos from the LX100 looked like!)

Unfortunately, in the time between my Field Test going live and the last t's being crossed and i's dotted so we could conclude the review, I managed to misplace the videos I'd shot. (Doubtless they're somewhere in my archives, but at a certain point, it makes no sense to keep hunting when we still have the camera in-house.)

Hence, rather than my own videos which have gone astray, Associate Editor William Brawley popped out with the Panasonic LX100 for me, and shot a few new videos. You can see them below, along with links to download the (huge) original files, straight from the camera. The results pretty much speak for themselves. Image stabilization isn't the best we've seen, but it certainly takes care of the worst of the shakes, while autofocus is quite responsive and shifts smoothly.

The lens's power zoom mechanism does introduce a little audible noise into your videos, but I think most shooters would be satisfied with just a little noise in exchange for the ability to control framing as their video progresses. The only thing I really found objectionable -- and it's noticeable both in 4K and Full HD video -- is an occasional flickering as the LX100 adjusts exposure to take account of varying scene brightness. It's subtle, but noticeable enough that it bothered me a little. If you find it troublesome, though, you can control exposure manually, fixing it at a level suitable to your subject.

See our sample videos below, and if you want to see the original files (since YouTube compresses content for quicker playback), click the links alongside each video!

All good things come to an end -- and so must this Field Test

Want to see more of my night shots from the Panasonic LX100? Take a look in the gallery and you'll find them amongst close to 100 real-world photos shot throughout our review. (And don't forget our many lab samples, as well!)

And that brings my Field Test to its conclusion. I've had a lot of fun shooting with the Panasonic LX100, especially in low light when my own personal Sony RX100 would ordinarily start to struggle. Of course, the LX100 isn't the pocket camera that my Sony is, but were I in the market for a compact fixed-lens camera, that low-light performance might be enough to persuade me to look past its larger size.

The Panasonic LX100 is a lot of fun to shoot with, and it can make some really great photos without the need to carry bulky lenses, tripods and more around town. Considering all that it lets me leave at home, perhaps bringing along a jacket or small bag to carry it in -- or a shoulder strap to sling it from -- isn't such a big ask!

If you'd like to find out more about the cameras to which I've been comparing the Panasonic LX100, head over to their reviews and read my Field Tests for the full story:

• Canon G7X

  • Field Test Part I -- The contender for Sony's throne goes toe-to-toe in the real world!

  • Field Test Part II -- After sunset, the enthusiast compact head-to-head continues!

• Sony RX100 III

  • Field Test Part I -- Up, up and away!

  • Field Test Part II -- Time for a road trip!

  • Field Test Part III -- Answering your questions (and mine, too!)

Flash

Panasonic LX100 Flash

Bundled Flash Test Results

Coverage, Exposure and Range
A fairly weak flash for an external clip-on unit, with somewhat narrow coverage. Average positive exposure compensation required.

Coverage
24mm eq.

Coverage. Flash coverage is somewhat narrow and uneven at wide angle, leaving dim corners in our flash coverage test image at 24mm equivalent, though we've seen much narrower coverage from other units. We no longer test at full telephoto is coverage is invariably better, making wide angle the worst case.

Exposure
Normal Flash, ISO 200, 1/60s, f/4, +0.7 EV	Slow-Sync Flash ISO 200, 1/6s, f/4, 0 EV

Exposure. Indoors under incandescent background lighting, the Panasonic LX100's bundled flash produced a bright exposure of our Indoor Portrait scene at ISO 200 with +0.7 EV flash exposure compensation. The typical amount required for this shot is +0.7 EV, so the LX100's performance is about average here, but higher values did not produce a brighter image. The camera's slow-sync flash mode required no compensation for bright results, though the longer exposure resulted in a very warm cast from the ambient background lighting.

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range
5.8 feet ISO 200, 1/60s, f/5.6

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range Test. Panasonic rates the LX100's bundled flash Guide Number at 7m at ISO 100, or 10m at ISO 200. That works out to about 5.8 feet at f/5.6 and ISO 200, as shot above. As you can see, the Panasonic LX100 captured a slightly dim target, so the bundled flash did not quite perform to specification. Here we shoot with manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims. The specified range has been calculated for the sensitivity and aperture used in the test shot above.

Technical Info

by Mike Tomkins | Posted: 09/15/2014

Sensor

There's a lot that differs between the Panasonic LX100 and its nearest rivals, but the biggest differences all follow on from probably the most important one of the bunch: its sensor. Where all of its rivals opt either for a smaller 1"-type sensor (albeit still far larger than those of most compact cameras), or for a larger 4:3-aspect, near-APS-C height sensor, the LX100 takes a middle road with a 4/3"-type sensor like those used in Panasonic mirrorless cameras.

It's important to note, though, that the full sensor area -- roughly double that of a 1"-type sensor -- isn't actually used by the camera. As Panasonic has chosen to do with quite a few models in the past, it has actually selected a sensor that is somewhat larger than the image circle of the lens. This decision means that you can switch aspect ratios without guilt -- no matter which you choose, you're not throwing away data by cropping the image. Instead, you're simply changing the active area of the sensor within the confines of the image circle (well, except for the 1:1 aspect ratio).

Below is an illustration of the active image area for each aspect ratio offered by the the LX100, as compared to the maximum active area on the Micro Four Thirds mount Panasonic GX7 (in red) which uses a sensor with the same total pixel count.

Interestingly, the LX100 uses almost all of the active width of the sensor (about 98%) for its widest aspect ratio (16:9), but the height is limited to noticeably less (about 90%), perhaps because lens coverage is slightly anamorphic at wide angle, requiring more correction or "stretching" in the horizontal direction than the vertical. See the lens' uncorrected coverage at wide angle.

The net result is that while the total pixel count of the sensor is 16.84 megapixels, the effective pixel count is just 12.8 megapixels. The highest output resolution is in 4:3 aspect mode, and equates to just under 12.7 megapixels. This is one area in which the Panasonic LX100 really trails most of its rivals. All of the 1"-sensor cameras have 20-megapixel resolution, while the Canon G1X has a resolution of 14.2 megapixels. Closest is the G1X Mark II, which has 13-megapixel resolution in 4:3 crop mode, only fractionally more than the LX100.

Performance

It might have relatively low resolution compared to its rivals, but as we mentioned in our intro, the Panasonic LX100 is a real speed demon. No two ways about it, this camera is far faster than anything else in its class according to manufacturer-rated figures as well as our own test results.

With autofocus and autoexposure between frames, the nearest rival is the Canon G7X, with a rate of 4.4 frames per second. Using Depth from Defocus technology and the Venus Engine processor, the LX100 is rated for a full 6.5 frames per second, a full 50% faster.

Disable autofocus and autoexposure between frames, and the rate climbs up to an impressive 11 frames per second. Only the Sony RX100-series cameras come close, with a maximum of around 10 frames per second in this condition, but the Panasonic LX100 can leave them in its smoke. With electronic shutter active and resolution limited to three megapixels, you can shoot at up to a staggering 40 frames per second! (Admittedly, you'll likely find artifacts like rolling shutter in moving subjects.)

Sensitivity

Of course, a key benefit of the Panasonic LX100's larger sensor than most rivals is the ability to gather more light -- which is what photography is all about, after all. More light means less noise at a given sensitivity, or the possibility of higher sensitivity shooting.

The theory looks to play out as you'd expect here, as no other large-sensor, fixed-zoom camera can shoot a single-frame exposure at above ISO 12,800 equivalent, yet Panasonic gives you access to a maximum sensitivity of ISO 25,600 equivalent.

There's a flip side of the coin, though. The sensor's base sensitivity is also higher at ISO 200 equivalent, where rivals start from ISO 100, 125 or 160 depending upon the model. The LX100 allows you to expand sensitivity down to ISO 100 equivalent, but doing so will reduce dynamic range as the camera simply overexposes, and then dials back the exposure level post-capture. (That's why the expanded settings aren't part of the standard ISO sensitivity range.)

Fixed zoom lens

If the Panasonic LX100's sensor is key to its story, the other key is probably its lens. The two go hand-in-hand, after all, and anything the sensor sees has first been passed through this Leica DC Vario-Summilux optic.

Acknowledging the fact that the larger the sensor, the larger the optic, the LX100's lens is actually the second shortest-ranging of the group behind only the Sony RX100 III. Where most rivals offer a 3.6x-5x range (the RX100 III being the sole exception with a 2.9x range), the Panasonic LX100 has a 3.1x optical zoom.

The focal range starts from a 24mm-equivalent wide-angle, matching the widest of its rivals, but impressively the f/1.7 maximum aperture at wide-angle is the brightest of the bunch. That, combined with a larger sensor than the RX100-series cameras or G7X, will conspire to make depth-of-field blur effects easier to achieve. (And a 9-bladed, rounded aperture diaphragm -- a feature shared only by the Canon G7X -- will help make those blurred backgrounds more attractive.)

Zoom all the way out to the 75mm-equivalent telephoto position, and the lens' maximum aperture falls, but only down to f/2.8. That matches or betters all of its rivals, although in fairness, many of them have further-reaching zooms in the first place. Minimum aperture is f/16 across the zoom range.

The optical formula of the Panasonic LX100's lens consists of 11 elements in eight groups. Of these, there are five aspheric elements, eight aspheric surfaces, and two dual-sided aspheric ED elements. Unlike the Canon G7X and Sony RX100 III, there's no built-in neutral density filter in the LX100.

Stabilization

Although it might not have the telephoto reach of some rivals, the Panasonic LX100 nevertheless includes optical image stabilization. Specifically, it's what Panasonic terms Power O.I.S. -- note that there's no mention of an Active mode. The company hasn't provided any specifics as to the system's corrective ability.

Focusing

Another key area in which the Panasonic LX100 betters its rivals -- at least, according to the manufacturer specifications -- is in its autofocus performance.

The 49-point, Light Speed AF-branded autofocus system in the LX100 might be more point-dense than the 31-point system of the Canon G7X or the 25-point systems of the Sony RX100-series, but it nevertheless allows for burst-capture complete with autofocus adjustment between frames at a full 50% faster than its nearest rival.

The key to the system's speed is what Panasonic calls Depth from Defocus technology. First introduced in the GH4 compact system camera, this variation on contrast-detection autofocus steals a trick from phase-detection. Like the rival tech, which relies either on hardware tweaks to the image sensor or a separate, standalone AF sensor as in a DSLR, Panasonic's Depth from Defocus can determine the direction and distance required to achieve a focus lock prior to shifting the focus group.

The result is that focusing is one quick, smooth maneuver, rather than the constant stop-and-start of a standard contrast-detection AF system, with pauses to check how contrast is changing along the way. By removing the need to pause over and over, Panasonic's system greatly reduces the time to a focus lock.

The Light Speed AF system includes face detection technology and tracking capability, and provides single, flexible or continuous operating modes. There's also a focus assist lamp, and the minimum focus distance is 1.2 inches (3cm) at wide angle, or 11.8 inches (30cm) at telephoto.

You can, of course, also focus manually -- and if you choose to do so, you'll be happy to find focus peaking and magnification functions provided.

Viewfinder

The Panasonic LX100 is one of only two cameras in its class that include an electronic viewfinder. (The other being the Sony RX100 III, which has a smaller popup finder.) The RX100 II and G1X-series can, admittedly, accept optional viewfinder accessories, and the G1X also has a built-in optical finder, but these solutions are less than ideal compared to the LX100's EVF.

The Panasonic LX100's viewfinder is a very high-resolution unit, based around a high-definition 1,280 x 720 pixel, field-sequential panel as used previously in the Panasonic GX7. In plain English, that means every single pixel provides all three colors -- but only one color at any given time. By cycling through the colors repeatedly, your eye gets the impression of a sharp, full-color image. The downside with field-sequential finders is that they can sometimes show rainbow "sparkle" effects on edges of subjects in motion, or when you blink.

Compared to the built-in finder in the RX100 III, the LX100's finder yields a much larger image. (In fact, it's nearly as large as that of the RX100 II's expensive accessory finder.) It also has significantly higher pixel resolution, although the field-sequential design means that the RX100 III's finder dot count suggests higher resolution. A good chunk of that resolution difference, though, comes from the fact that Panasonic has opted for a wider 16:9 aspect ratio on the viewfinder, as compared to the 4:3 aspect of the RX100 III finder. Field of view is 100%.

Lining the right side of the viewfinder is a proximity sensor used to enable or disable the viewfinder and LCD automatically as you raise the camera to your eye, or vice versa. This can also be accomplished manually using the LVF button adjacent to the finder.

Monitor

The LCD monitor, by contrast, is rather more run-of-the-mill. Size is 3.0 inches diagonal, and resolution is 640 x 480 pixels (4:3 aspect), with three dots per pixel. The Canon G7X's screen is wider-aspect and so has a somewhat higher pixel count, and Sony's RX100-series cameras all use four dot per pixel WhiteMagic screens that yield a higher dot count, greater outdoor visibility for a given power consumption level, and lower power consumption for a given brightness.

The LX100's screen is neither touch-sensitive, nor is it articulated.

Exposure

The Panasonic LX100 offers a healthy selection of exposure features as you'd expect on an enthusiast camera, while forgoing the consumer-oriented fluff like scene modes that most photographers will never touch.

Exposure modes on offer include Program (shiftable), Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority and Manual, and they're all accessed simply by turning the Shutter and Aperture controls to their Auto positions, or dialing in a value that fits your subject. The only concession to approachability is a dedicated button on the top deck which launches Intelligent Auto mode, something that should suffice if you're handing your camera off to a friend or colleague for a few quick shots.

Exposures are determined using intelligent multiple, center-weighted or spot metering, but like Sony before it, Panasonic hasn't disclosed the number of areas into which its evaluative system breaks down the scene. Nor is metering system working range disclosed. We can confirm, however, that autoexposure lock and exposure compensation are provided, with the latter having a working range of +/-3EV in 1/3 increments set using a dedicated dial on the top deck. And there's also a three, five, or seven-frame exposure bracketing function that can roam within a range of +/-3EV in 1/3, 2/3 or 1EV steps.

Shutter speeds range from 1/4,000 to 120 seconds, a very wide range that bests the 1/2,000s limit of the Canon G7X and Sony RX100-series cameras. Enable the fully-electronic shutter, and this can be extended to a stunning 1/16,000 second. There's also a Time exposure function which applies on exposures 30 seconds or greater. Be aware that the top mechanical shutter speed can change depending on the aperture selected though, because the LX100 uses a leaf shutter instead of a focal-plane shutter. So for example if you set the aperture wider than f/4, the top mechanical shutter speed is reduced to 1/2,000s. A major advantage, though, is that the flash syncs at any mechanical shutter speed, allowing flash shots up to a very versatile 1/4,000s. However flash is not supported with the all-electronic shutter.

A fairly typical selection of white balance modes are provided. These include Auto, five white balance presets, a generous four custom positions, a color temperature setting, and the ability to fine-tune white balance.

Flash

If there's one surprising omission in the Panasonic LX100, it's the flash strobe. Unlike all of the other cameras in this segment, the Panasonic LX100 lacks a built-in flash strobe. Instead, there's a hot shoe and a bundled external strobe, meaning you need to carry an extra accessory with you if there's any chance of encountering less than ideal ambient lighting conditions. (The Sony RX100 II also boasts a hot shoe, but this supplements the internal flash, rather than replacing it altogether.)

The included, external strobe has a rather meager Guide Number of 7 meters at ISO 100, and is said to have a working range of two to 46 feet (60cm to 14.1m) at wide angle, or one to 28 feet (30cm to 8.5m) at telephoto, using Auto ISO sensitivity. The range at base ISO will thus be quite a bit shorter.

The bundled flash derives its power from the camera and includes both TTL Auto and Manual modes, the latter allowing you to manually adjust flash output from full down to 1/64 power. Auto flash modes include Force On, Forced On/Red Eye, Slow Sync, Slow Sync/Red Eye and Forced Off, and there is a second curtain sync option as well as a post-capture red-eye correction mode. Flash exposure compensation range is +/-3EV in 1/3EV steps, and can be separate from or linked to standard exposure compensation.

As previously mentioned, maximum flash sync is a very speedy 1/4,000s thanks to the mechanical leaf shutter.

Creative

Photo style options include Standard, Vivid, Natural, Monochrome, Scenery, Portrait and Custom. Possible adjustments (as relevant to the style chosen) include contrast, sharpness, noise reduction, saturation, color tone and filter effect, so you can tweak results to your taste.

Creative Control Filters include Expressive, Retro, Old Days, High Key, Low Key, Sepia, Monochrome, Dynamic Monochrome, Rough Monochrome, Silky Monochrome, Impressive Art, High Dynamic, Cross Process, Toy Effect, Toy Pop and Bleach Bypass.

A self-timer function is provided with preset durations of two or 10 seconds, plus a 10-second option which captures three images. A level gauge function helps to get horizons level. A panorama function is also included.

Movie

One last feature of the Panasonic LX100 that really stands out from the competition is its movie-capture capability, again a testament to the high processor power on offer in this camera.

Unlike all of its direct competitors, which are limited to Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixel) video capture, the LX100 can shoot much higher-res 4K (3,840 x 2,160 pixel) movies. That's four pixels shot by the LX100, for every one shot by other large-sensor, fixed-lens cameras, or on paper at least, double the linear resolution in its movies.

4K capture, though, is limited to a rate of either 24 or 30 progressive-scan frames per second. For the full capture rate of 60 progressive-scan frames or interlaced fields per second, you'll need to drop down to Full HD capture. (You can also shoot 24p or 30p at this lower resolution, or 30p at VGA 640 x 480 pixel resolution.)

Full HD videos use AVCHD compression, while MP4 capture can be used at all resolutions. AVCHD videos include Dolby audio, while MP4 videos use AAC audio. This is captured using a stereo internal microphone, and sadly there's no external microphone connectivity. Internal microphone gain can be adjusted in four steps, there's an optional mic level display, and there's also a wind cut filter with three strength settings plus Auto and Off.

PASM exposure modes are available for videos, as is Intelligent Auto exposure. And you'll be able to extract 4K stills -- around 8.3 megapixels in resolution -- post-capture from your recorded 4K videos. These can then be cropped to aspect ratios other than the 16:9 of the video footage.

Optical zoom is supported during video recording, with a slower zoom speed than when shooting stills. Continuous autofocus is available during recording, as is manual focus.

Wireless networking

Now that we're in the smartphone age, you have to offer Wi-Fi networking if you want to remain relevant. The Panasonic LX100 doesn't disappoint, including built-in Wi-Fi wireless networking technology (IEEE 802.11b/g/n), as well as support for passive Near-Field Communications technology.

NFC is something that came to Android about four years ago now, and has since become widespread on Blackberry, Symbian and Windows Phone devices too. For years, we've been calling out the fact that Apple was resisting adopting the standard, but it has finally surrendered and added NFC support to its latest-generation iPhone 6 models, however it's currently using NFC exclusively for Apple Pay.

With NFC on an Android device, all you do is simply bump the devices to be paired together briefly, ensuring the locations of their antennas are near each other. (NFC has a very, very short range that acts as a security feature.) Once the devices see each other via NFC, they can then automatically negotiate a much faster, longer-range Wi-Fi connection, and the NFC tech can also be used to have the smartphone run the relevant app for you automatically, saving you launching it yourself.

The requirement for a specific app invariably rules out platforms other than the big two -- Android and iOS -- though, and that's the case here too, leaving Blackberry, Symbian and Windows Phone users looking on with jealousy. Those photographers using iOS 6.0+ or Android 4.0+, though, can look forward to quick and easy sharing through their phone or connected tablet on social networks and the like, as well as support for wireless remote shooting and geotagging images.

Connectivity

Connectivity options in the Panasonic LX100 include standard-definition video output in NTSC format only (a feature Sony's RX100-series cameras lack, although the Canon G7X offers both NTSC and PAL output), as well as high-definition video output and USB for data transfer. The HD output is a Micro HDMI port, and the SD video / USB outputs share a single connector.

While the LX100's HDMI port is capable of supporting 4K video output in playback mode, we could not get it to output clean HDMI for external recording.

Storage

The Panasonic LX100 stores images on Secure Digital cards, as do almost all higher-end cameras these days. Both the higher-capacity SDHC and SDXC types are supported, and so are the higher-speed UHS-I types up to Class 3.

Still images can be stored in 12-bit raw or compressed JPEG formats, or both simultaneously.

Power

The LX100 draws power from a proprietary lithium-ion battery pack. With a rated 7.2 volts, 1,025 mAh, and 7.4 Wh capacity, Panasonic predicts battery life a little behind that that offered by Sony's RX100-series cameras. Those models manage 320-350 shots on the LCD monitor, where the Panasonic LX100 is rated as good for 300 shots on the LCD, and that's with the bundled flash enabled for every second shot.

If you switch to the viewfinder, battery life will fall to 270 shots, which is par for the course. (We're not sure why these smaller displays are so much more power-hungry than full-sized monitors, but it's almost always the case that EVFs offer lower battery life.) The good news: a drop of 30 shots really isn't that bad -- Sony's RX100 III plunges from 320 to 230 shots if you use the EVF. (!!)

The LX100 ships with both a battery pack and a dedicated charger. An optional AC adapter and DC coupler (dummy battery) are available.

Conclusion

With the LX100, Panasonic joins an elite club: It's now one of a small handful of manufacturers that can sell you a compact enthusiast camera with both a larger-than-average image sensor and a zoom lens. And believe us when we say that cameras like these are popular for good reason. They offer a really compelling advantage over the camera built into your smartphone, and without the bulk of an interchangeable-lens camera.

But with the LX100, Panasonic has made some very different decisions to those of its rivals, Canon and Sony. Where the Sony RX100-series and Canon G7X are small enough to fit in your pants pocket, the Panasonic LX100 won't. Yet it offers a significantly larger sensor than all of those cameras, helping it to gather more of the light which, after all, photography is all about capturing and preserving. The Canon G1X-series, meanwhile, has an even bigger sensor, but it's also quite a bit larger, pushing the boundaries of what can be considered compact. The middle ground, then, belongs to Panasonic, while its rivals opt for the headline-grabbing extremes.

And so long as you're not dead set on a camera you can slip into a pants pocket, the middle ground turns out to be a very good place to be. With a larger body than the RX100-series and G7X, the Panasonic LX100 has great ergonomics. This is, without question, a very photographer-friendly camera. Save for an aperture dial that's a little too easily-bumped -- and which can, once zoomed in a little, indicate an aperture wider than is actually available to you -- I found little to quibble about in terms of handling. An especially nice touch is the presence of twin dials around the lens barrel, one of which has click detents for aperture control, and the other free-spinning for smooth focus adjustments. It's an altogether more satisfying experience than the single dials of rival cameras.

Once you head out to shoot with the Panasonic LX100, it quickly becomes clear that its beauty is more than skin deep. It shoots swiftly and confidently, turning in a generally excellent performance all around. Seldom did I find myself waiting for the camera, at least once it was powered on. (A slightly slow startup was the one notable exception to the rule, and something we'd love to see addressed.) But after that brief delay, the LX100 focuses quickly and in very low light, and it shoots generously deep, fast image bursts as well. That, in a camera which would easily vanish in a coat pocket, small purse or bag is really quite impressive, as is the availability of 4K movie capture.

And the love story continues once you look at your images. Sure, the sensor resolution is a bit on the low side compared to its rivals, but be that as it may, the Panasonic LX100 offers really great image quality with a good measure of fine detail even at base sensitivity. And once you boost the ISO for low-light shooting, any resolution deficit can quickly be forgotten. Its larger pixels -- a feature allowed both by the lower resolution and larger sensor -- translate to lower noise levels, and cleaner, more attractive images. Where its pocket-friendly rivals have to blur out the fine detail in their quest to combat noise, the Panasonic LX100 can keep hold of more detail and really punch above its weight.

That's not to say it is perfect in every way. We did note soft corners at both wide-angle and telephoto, the former at least in part to the significant amount of distortion correction that's applied automatically when shooting in JPEG mode, or as your raw images are processed. And despite its larger size than its 1"-sensor shod rivals, the Panasonic LX100 also has one of the shorter zoom lenses among its class. This, coupled with the lower sensor resolution, mean it's not a camera you'll be using to bring distant subjects up close and personal. And I did find myself occasionally wishing for a touch-screen on which to select my point of focus, or an articulation mechanism that would let me see the display from an awkward angle.

But frankly speaking, even without these features the Panasonic LX100 is assuredly a very capable camera indeed. If you're the type who always has your camera at hand -- or who typically wears a jacket or carries a small bag in which to slip its compact body -- the Panasonic LX100 is a really great choice. It's a pleasure to shoot with, and gets really great results: A very well-deserved Dave's Pick winner, I'd say!

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