Yesterday my new Panasonic DMC-LX3 arrived in the mail. I’ve been looking for a smaller camera than my Canon S3 for a while. Although I have enjoyed the quality of my S3 pictures, lugging it around with me hasn’t been fun so I rarely take it out and hence I have missed many great shots. So I purchased the LX3 thinking that I would use it half the time when I needed portability and the S3 the rest of the time when I needed zoom and other features. After a day with the LX3 I’m thinking I can probably sell my S3 as I can’t imagine very many situations in which I will ever choose it over the LX3. The LX3 has far more features, the photo quality seems just as good, if not better, and–to my surprise–the LX3 actually has a 4.5X optical zoom (even though it is advertised as 2.5X).
I’ve been chomping at the bit for 24 hours to take some pictures outside, but it has been raining nearly non-stop. Thanks to the LX3’s size I put it in a pocket and brought it to the YMCA with me today. During a brief break in the rain I took today’s photograph behind the YMCA. I haven’t touched this picture in Photoshop or any other photo-enhancing software. This is what the LX3 gave me with a quick point and shoot–rich color, high quality, and a nice looking photo. So far, so good. Stay tuned for more LX3 images.