Many will look at the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 and wonder what all the fuss is about. $400 for a camera with only 10-megapixel resolution and a 2.5x optical zoom seems a bit strange. Camera enthusiasts, however, will see a camera with a wide-angle 24mm (equivalent) lens, f/2.0 maximum aperture, hot shoe and a bevy of manual controls. Not sure what all that means? Don't worry, we'll cover it all below.

The LX3 has classic good looks that anyone who remembers cameras from thirty years ago will instantly recognize. The somewhat blocky body, protruding lens and metal construction lend it a retro feel. Although it's on the larger side for a point-and-shoot, it's actually significantly smaller than many of its direct competitors in the high-end compact space, like the Canon G9 or G10. It should fit comfortably into most jacket pockets or purses, but don't expect to carry it around in a tight pants pocket. It will weigh you down a bit at about eight ounces.

Unlike most modern point-and-shoot cameras the LX3  lens protrudes from the front about an inch, and at the end of that lens you'll find another anachronism: a lens cap that has to be removed manually. On the top of the camera are a switch for the popup flash at one end, the shutter button, the zoom control and mode dial at the other and in between a hot shoe. This allows you to add accessories like a more powerful flash or an external optical viewfinder. Moving to the back of the camera you find a large, high-resolution 3-inch LCD display taking up most of the real estate. To the right are a four way controller, a tiny joystick that is used to access various manual functions and a few additional buttons. In addition to buttons and dials, the LX3 uses switches to control playback/record mode selection, power, focus mode and aspect ratio.
 
Those who find the bevy of buttons and switches on the LX3 a bit intimidating will appreciate the Intelligent Auto mode, which basically puts all the camera functions on autopilot for a true point-and-shoot experience, plus the wide array of scene modes available. We imagine that most people who buy the LX3, however, will want to take advantage of those buttons to access the camera’s extensive manual control options. The LX3 offers the full range of manual modes: Program, Shutter-Priority, Aperture-Priority and full Manual mode as well as manual focus. Aperture, Shutter Speed and manual focus are all controlled using the small joystick found on the back of the camera. When in a manual mode you can move the joystick left/right to switch between these options and up/down to make adjustments to them.

In addition, you have control over a wide array of other options, including ISO, white balance, exposure compensation, noise reduction, metering mode and auto-focus mode. Chances are if it can be controlled manually the LX3 puts the option at your disposal. Most of these settings can be adjusted quickly by pressing in on the small joystick to bring up the Quick Menu. Additional options are available in the main menu system, which is a bit difficult to navigate as there are up to five pages of choices available. One more feature that will get enthusiasts excited is the option to shoot RAW, which allows you to work with uncompressed data from the sensor rather than processed JPEG image files.

Aside from the wide variety of manual controls, the most interesting feature of the DMC-LX3 for camera enthusiasts is its lens. The 24mm wide angle view means you can get significantly more of a scene in your shot than the typical point-and-shoot lens. An f/2.0 maximum aperture allows much more light to reach the sensor than most point-and-shoots, which generally have  maximum apertures in the f/2.8 - f/3.5 range. This is a potential boon for low-light photography. The combination more than makes up for the relatively limited 2.5x optical zoom range.

Performance (read in-depth lab performance at Digitalcamerainfo.com)
The DMC-LX3's feature set and physical build are certainly impressive, but the most important consideration is the quality of photos a camera produces, and our testing found decidedly mixed results from the LX3. We were very impressed with the color accuracy, both in bright daylight and low light situations. Unfortunately the resolution of the photos was poor, especially for a camera in this class. We did like what we saw from the camera's automatic white balance system, but the white balance presets were another story. Noise levels were good all the way up to ISO 1600, very good for a point and shoot. One of the LX3's more interesting features, HD movie recording at 720p, produced video with good color, but once again poor resolution.

Comparisons (read in-depth comparisons at Digitalcamerainfo.com)
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 is marketed as a pocketable (as long as it's not a tight jean pocket anyway), point-and-shoot for camera enthusiasts, the sidekick to your larger and more capable SLR. From a features and handling perspective we'd say that the LX3 has hit the mark, but from a performance perspective we're less certain. We would expect a $400 camera to perform significantly above average in most of our tests and we just saw too many average or below-average results from the LX3. In fact it's older cousin, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5, actually outperformed the LX3 in our resolution testing. We're sure that the unique wide-angle, large-aperture lens combined with extensive manual controls will be a siren song for many photo enthusiasts, but the mixed performance results should be a point of concerns. We recommend take, in addition to the LX3, potential purchasers take a hard look at other high-end alternatives like the Canon G9 or G10.