The sensor is a true 16:9 sensor, meaning you get full resolution, up to 8 mb, at all aspect ratios.

There are a number of camera friendly aspects to this camera. For one, it will fit easily into the inside pocket of a light outdoor jacket or the inside pocket of a suit. The battery recharger is tiny and light with no cord. Just insert the battery (about the size of a thick postage stamp) and plug the recharger directly in the wall. So it's easy to pack for a trip. If you start the camera without removing the lens cover, the camera notifies you to remove the lense. This has the effect of training you to always replace the lense when the camera is not in use, protecting the excellent Leica optics. It has several modes for common situations, such as shooting at parties (I found it worked well to capture both the subject and background using flash).

It has a very easy to use auto shoot mode that let's you get into the picture. It is located on a button in the back, so you don't have to hunt through menus to find it. Because you can use manual focus as close as 5 cm in a wide angle format, you can shoot a picture of a group of people at your table - just place the camera on an overturned glass at the end of the table and wait for it to click. The auto shoot mode can also be used to deal with low light and less than steady hands. It has full manual mode capability so you can adjust parameters to you liking. It has a 2 or 10 second delay. Using the 2 second delay and bracing the camera on a nearby support or on your chest (hold your breath), you can capture excellent indoor pictures without flash. I used this several times to capture sharp, well saturated color panoramas of church and monument interiors. They look like picture postcards.

The camera is one of the few, or only, to shoot in RAW mode, allowing complete control of the picture when you download to your computer for printing.

If you are a fairly serious amateur, or a professional like Mr. Reichmann, you will find this camera a handy and fun traveling companion to your Canon or Nikon. Or just take it alone, as I did, when you don't plan on doing any serious shooting.
________________________________________________________________

          
Exceptional camera...but, November 6, 2005
Reviewer: TEH "tehschhi"
Finally, after waiting nearly 6 months, the DMC-LK1K arrived. In almost every respect, it meets or exceeds my expectations. The 16:9 aspect ratio is exceptional; density and color are spectacular for a point and shoot; the bracket mode takes all the guess work out of exposure; and the optics are incredible; just incredible. However, there are two serious problems. First, the camera does not ship with a protective cap for the LCD screen. Thus, one risks scratching the outer glass when simply handling the camera or storing it in your camera bag. Second, the lack of a viewfinder becomes a real problem when the sun is behind the camera (which it should be for proper lighting!). The glare on the LCD screen's outer glass is just horrible. You cannot see a thing without shading the screen with one hand and pointing and shooting with the other. Panasonic needs...urgently needs....to start providing a protective cap AND some sort of after-market pop-up shade or hood for the LCD screen. Otherwise, this camera is not going to enjoy the wonderful reputation it deserves in all other respects.
________________________________________________________________

           
Brilliant piece of art and perfect Leica lens + O.I.S.!, October 30, 2005
Reviewer: Thomas Tompson "Tommy"
First of all I want to point out to the previous reviewer who has stated that digital photography website claims something about very high noice level of Panasonic lx1.

This is totally untruth. There is nowhere in review of lx1 you can find such a statement.

Now about LX1 Pros and Cons:
Since the moment I got this camera on my birthday I've been impressed with its outstanding screen quality, picture quality and of course the most essential feature that all other brands are missing: Optical Image Stabilization

PROS:
-Mega O.I.S. works perfectly just like on others recent Panasonic cameras. As a matter of fact, I can claim surely that Panasonic's O.I.S. eliminates bluriness caused by hand shaking 100%. You can easily snap any photo holding the camera with one hand.
-Image quality is much better than on my previous Kodak 7530 (even though Kodak 7530 is very Sharp too)
-Low light images simply the best I've ever came across to!

CONCLUSION:
LX1 is a perfect conbination of Panasonic's perfect digital video technology with world's best German Leica lens!
________________________________________________________________

          
Excellent camera, solid feel, awsome pictures, October 30, 2005
Reviewer: tom "tom"
I just bought the LX1 and it is an impressive piece of hardware.

The fast focus and a wealth of features make it a pleasure to work with. It also works really well in low light situations - yes, with noise, but you still get pictures you would not get with most other compact digitals.

It is really built well and very intuitive to use. If you put it in automatic mode, it produces excellent pictures without much thinking. In the manual modes, you can change almost everything, including the focus which offers a lot of creative possibilities.

It is larger than you would expect but quite light.

   Back to Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1K 8MP