My reasons for buying this camera are as follows; I wanted a pocket-friendly camera to use as my main camera (not just a second camera) with good low-light capability, a wide angle lens and the auto focus and optical zoom in the HD video mode, The LX5 with the large sensor (large for a pocket-friendly camera), the fast f/2 lens (at the wide angle setting), and the excellent image stabilization meets my requirements.

Although I liked the pocket ability of the S95, I chose the LX5 because of the excellent build quality, wide angle bright Leica lens and the optical zoom.

Zoom function is OK but it would be nice if zoom could be more than the 3,8 times - again Panasonic makes x10 zoom in cheaper models.

Now, do NOT expect this to have the same performance as a DSLR or even a Four Thirds camera, because the LX5 still uses a compact, 1/1.63" CCD sensor, which cannot match the light and color sensitivity of a DSLR sensor that is larger - the LX5's sensor is about 45 mm^2 in area whereas a Four Thirds sensor is 225 mm^2 in area and, say, the Nikon APS-C sensor in DSLR's from Nikon, Pentax and Sony measure 370 mm^2 in area.

f/8..Especially on the edges...While the DSLR may still have a stronger signal/noise ratio because of the larger pixels, it's the pixel pitch of the LX5 sensor that tips the scales in it's favor for resolution...Panasonic has really improved their noise alogrithyms as in most cases I'm not afraid to shoot at ISO 1600 for prints up to 11x14"...The shutter lag is non existent and even in Raw/jpg with the review off you can shoot one shot after another with approx.

That being said, the Panasonic can be tweaked to produce decent jpegs, especially at lower iso settings, and after buying the LX5 and its LVF 1 eyelevel viewfinder for $550 here at Amazon, I still had $250 of the $800 I would have paid for the Leica to buy the $299 Adobe Lightroom software included with the latter.

As a Canon user, I immediately found the LX5 controls to be fully intuitive, although I must admit I'm still learning ALL of the menu controls as I crave manual control and creative flexibility!

I got the LX5 because I am traveling extensively and wanted something versatile, a camera that could be completely automatic, or totally manual, compact, flash, good zoom (90 mm), and fast shutter speed.

I thought I would miss the 12x zoom of the ZS1 but the LX5's 3.8x zoom seems to be adequate and I haven't missed the 12x zoom of the ZS1.

A year later this Lumix LX5 seems to me to be much more camera, at about 1/4 the price and 1/4 the size and weight as the Sony DSLR I was going to buy.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 camera - ReviewOn trips, there have been times when I've left my SLR camera at home because of its weight and size.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 is the long-awaited successor to the ahead-of-its-time LX3, a compact camera that hit the sweet spot for photographers looking for a pocketable alternative to their DSLR.

Because the super sharp lens and better signal/noise ratio with the larger sensor the 720P video from the LX5 is actually superior to the 1080i video from my FZ100.

Very nice finishing, the Lumix LX5 takes way better pictures than my Canon S90, and the video quality is surprisingly clear.

I had returned the LX5 because I wanted a smaller camera with top of the line video quality, but after going through many P&S over the course of 2011: Canon S95, S100, 300HS, 100HS, Sony HX9V, Olympus XZ-1, Fujifilm XP20, W3 - I realized the error of my ways.