Premium compacts such as the Panasonic LX-15, or LX-10 as it is known outside of Europe and Asia, are probably the only segment of the market not completely suffering from the proliferation of smartphones.
There's no reason to really carry around a standard compact when Samsung, Huawei, and Apple are putting some great tech into their mobiles, but premium compacts now sport some ridiculously good features relative to their size.
For example, the LX-15 can record in 4K UHD (3840x2106) at up to 30p, and importantly can use 4K Photo, which lets off a burst of 8MP images at 30fps. For action shots, you can then choose the exact frame you want, and 8MP is more than enough for web or even small print usage.
When you consider that it has a fast lens and 20. 1MP, we have little doubt the images coming out of this will be very acceptable for most photographers as a secondary camera.
It's all very impressive, so we were quite excited at Photokina to take a look at the handling of the camera, which fits easily in any pocket.
On the front part of the LX-15, the 24-72mm lens does protrude out from the body a little, but Panasonic have put in an aperture dial which is a fantastic touch. The iPhone 7 and Huawei P9 may have fake bokeh software, but the LX-15's f/1. 4-f/2. 8 can give you a taste of the real thing.
There's a pop-up flash on the top, and easy access to manual, shutter priority, and aperture priority modes. Unfortunately there's no dial for ISO, but Panasonic tries to keep it sleek. There are three custom buttons on the back, which can allow users to toggle for ISO if needed, since the LX-10 can go up to 12,800 on default, and 25,800 in extended.
There's nothing spectacularly distinctive to speak of for the controls, as most of the back is occuied by a 3" tilting LCD. The screen is well defined, and has touch capabilities, although it's unfortunate that there's no hotshoe on the top of the camera.
It's impossible not to compare the LX-10 to the RX100 IV, since both are similarly sized, with similar lenses and a similar 1" sensor.
In fact, both cameras are very similar in both appearance and specs, and the main difference is that Panasonic is providing all of this for only US$699, while Sony is still selling the RX100 IV for US$999. Of course, the RX100IV came out with all these specs last year in 2015, but for Panasonic it's true that late is better than never.
For the price, this promises to be one hell of a compact, and pocketable 4K video and a decent set of manual controls means that the LX-10 is nothing to scoff at.
. digitalrev.com
2016-10-7 03:00