Panasonic LX100 Hands-On Field Test (With HC-X1000 Quick Look)

The Panasonic LX100 is the most ambitious compact camera to come along since the original Sony RX100. With a big 4/3 sensor and gorgeous lens is this the best image quality a pocket camera can provide? The Camera Store's Chris Niccolls investigates.

Filmed on the Panasonic HC-X1000 (Pre-Production)

[gchamp]

There is no doubt in my mind the Camera Store has the best, by wide margin, camera reviews. Great, honest reviews and top of the heap production. Keep it up. Love it.

[Whuups.]

Accidentally turning on iA (intelligent auto mode). : You can set the button to only work with "Press and hold" or "Single Press". So setting it to "Press and hold" you will not turn it on just by being near it. This is done in menu: Wrench C - Page 8/9.

[andymarkwell]

Great Review on the LX100. The courier arrived with my silver one yesterday. I took it out today for the first time and love it already!! The Sony RX100 is a great camera but just too small and fiddly for me. The LX100 is perfect to hold and so easy to make changes to settings with the numerous controls and the aperture ring on the lens. I love the aspect ratio option too, another function that makes photography more enjoyable. The 16:9 ratio actually gives a wider view of the scene & not just a cropped version. I've only used JPEGs so far but the images were great, I can't wait to try shooting in RAW. I've read some negative comments about the LX100 using a maximum of 12.7 megapixels. Let's cast our minds back to not so many years ago, when Pro grade DSLRs had 6 megapixels, and all the reviews were saying how great the image quality was!! 12.7 MP is fine for me, I'm not planning on making massive posters! If you're thinking of getting one of these, go and buy one! (and no I don't work for Panasonic!!)

[trapease]

Jordan's dance at the end is everything

[christophergallagher]

Thanks guys,
One of the problems with this genera is, when the lense extends it draws a vacuum in the body.
Air rushing in draws dust in.
Makers need to adress this.
I filtered port is a no brainer.

I would like something like this in multiple formats!

The G9 viewfinder would make it real. Chris

[PolluxChung]

The jump on the LCD when shooting video can be solved by going to the menu, pick the Wrench icon with C, scroll to page 7, and select Rec Area and pick video.

[problemslayer]

2:38 "so weve got some nice disgusting couches here"....made me chuckle, Chris is cool.

[TechInspected]

I was watching the video and definitely noticed the video camera you were using was subpar. I think the shadow detail was mushed, the aforementioned skin tones was definitely off, and seemed like it had much less dynamic range. I'm not an expert but thanks to TCS I can now spot good video quality when I see it.

[TheRacerRich]

What's with the purple stripes on the bricks in the LX100 shot in the RX100 comparison picture?

[MichaelPerez]

You had me worried there. I'm primarily a video guy and I thought the first part of the episode was filmed on the LX100. I was looking at Chris' face like, "What the heck is going on with his skin color… and wheres the detail." It was nice to see that you added in that last part that was filmed on the LX100. I'm sold. 

[King_Kenny]

I enjoyed the ending part more than the rest!

[nfmarriott]

Thanks for the review - ordered this camera and it arrives tomorrow!

[LearningFast]

Excellent review. Answered all of my questions. The LX100 is what I need.

[GiulioSciorio]

Nice review on the LX100. Keep in mind that there is an option which changes the iA button from a single press to a press and hold to engage iAuto. Also I am one of the people that have embraced the filters. I shoot small JPEG + RAW and send the JPEGs to my iPhone for posting to socials.

Why no mention of the 4K Photo mode?

[dudemanismadcool]

6 years later and that 4k quality is still superb by today's Panasonic dunked on themselves haha

[avene]

It's good to see that HC-X1000 shoots 60P at 4K. So the GH4 successor may end up being capable of that too, and then competitive Sony cameras and so on. In which case, hopefully there'll be some good 4K 50 or 60P cameras around within 2 years with improved rolling shutter, dynamic range and all the rest.

Then maybe within 10 years there'll be 8K 50 or 60P cameras that will let your crop close ups for 4K output, as people are now doing from 4K to 1080P.

[UnicornReviews]

Please don't say "you know" so many times. The reason I watch is because I don't know :p

[xperience-media]

Pics and vid out of the LX100 look great

[GrampassoFilms]

Still a great camera today. I did a short film in Florence and It gave me stunning results!

[martinbreslow]

Panasonic has a video addressing the 1-stop shutter speeds.  The dial on the back allows you to increase or decrease the speed by 1/3 of a stop.