Panasonic says the Lumix brand name was coined from the words luminance and mix, representing the optical technologies contributed by Leica and the digital imaging technologies Panasonic added to the mix. In fact, each Lumix sports a Leica DC lens and almost all of them are optically stabilized with Panasonic's Mega Optical Image Stabilization. The very Leica-like Panasonic Lumix LX1 stands out from the crowd. It has switches in unusual places, a fine lens, a great feel, and a wide aspect 8 megapixel sensor.
Among the many unusual aspects of the Panasonic Lumix LX1, one stands out, and that's the camera's 16:9 ratio sensor. Unlike most digital cameras with a 4:3 or 3:2 ratio sensor, the LX1's 16:9 sensor is only at its maximum 8.4 megapixel resolution at that ratio; from there, the sides get cropped off, and the actual total number of pixels falls from 8 to 7.1 megapixels at 3:2 and 6.0 megapixels at 4:3. Leaving it locked to 4:3 for familiarity's sake would be very much like getting a wide screen TV and watching only old VHS video tapes: you end up wasting much of the screen area left and right. Even the squarish 4:3 ratio viewfinder LCD gives you the impression that the camera is cutting off the top and bottom of the image (as most cameras do) but ironically with the Panasonic LX1, when the display isn't being used at its fullest, the sensor actually is being used fully, and only then is the lens showing its full 28mm equivalent. Aye carumba! The emails we'll get. Read on for all the details.
While the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 is an undeniably competent--even exciting--point-and-shoot digicam, we quickly came to appreciate it as something more like a rangefinder. It's as playful and friendly as any point-and-shoot, but it can also be as serious as any high-end digicam... [read more]