madmaxmedia's Full Review: Panasonic Lumix® DMC-LC5 Digital Camera
I have looked long and far for a successor to my Casio QV-2000UX 2 MP camera, and have finally found it. There are so many digital cameras out there with different strengths and weaknesses, so your personal preferences may differ from mine.
I primarily shoot my daughter, and really wanted a camera that had the following attributes:
1. Fast startup time- I can't wait 10 seconds for a camera to turn on when the moment is now. This camera is ready in about 2-3 seconds.
2. Fast lens- I hate using flash, so anything other than a F2 lens was out of the question. This camera has a F2/F2.5 Leica lens (more on Leica below.)
3. Fast cycle time- I also hate waiting a long time between shots, waiting for the camera to write to the memory card (details below.)
4. Fast focusing- I wanted a camera with a relatively good autofocus, as digicams in general are not the fastest focusers. This camera has a improved AF mechanism that gives fast results with very good focusing (especially in spot focus mode.)
The Panasonic Lumix was just about the ONLY camera that fulfilled all those attributes. Off the top of my head, the only other camera that comes to mind is the Olympus C4040.
The camera is a little bigger than others, but not that different from a Canon G2 body. It has a retro design which is very nice in my eyes, and has a nice rubber grip (unlike its sister camera the Leica Digilux.)
SD memory prices are a little high right now, but SD cards have very fast read/write speeds that are only going to get faster in the future. With my LC5 I can take a picture every couple of seconds at high quality JPG mode, for as many pictures as I want. There is also a burst mode that allows me to take up to 4 shots in about a second (the camera then must write for about 10-12 seconds before you can shoot again.)
The picture quality is at least good in my opinion. The camera uses a Leica lens and is very sharp. Many people wonder if the lens is actually made by Leica. It may very well not be, but I would assume that Leica at least had a hand in the design or specs. In any case, I think the lens is good.
There has been some debate about an artificial 'posterization' effect that this camera produces, but in my experience it occurs mainly in out-of-focus or blurry areas. Areas with detail appear very good to me, and I like the colors the camera produces.
The best thing I would recommend is to look at as many sample images as you can, and decide for your own eyes. My online gallery is at:
http://www.pbase.com/madmaxmedia
Take a good look, especially at full resolution. Keep in mind that all the pictures in my gallery are ones I like, so not every picture I take is perfect (no camera is perfect.) Almost all of the images are right out of the camera with no alteration.
In brief, if the benefits I described above appeal to you, I encourage you to do some more research. If you are an absolute stickler on image quality, perhaps the Canon G2 is the better choice for you. But perhaps you will end up with this camera!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 640 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts
4 megapixel sensor creates 2240 x 1680 images for prints at 11 x 14 and beyond 3x optical plus 2x digital (6x total) zoom with Leica DC Vario-Elmarit ...More at Amazon Marketplace
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