Panasonic LX100 first impressions review and 4K footage

[leeys]

 

 

The general responsiveness and layout of the camera is good, though the video button is quite close to your nose when shooting through the EVF. 

Use your right eye to view the EVF. Viewfinder positions generally favour right-eye dominant shooters...

[ntblowz]

The footage look pretty sharp, I have to dump the 12-35mm to get this!

[fuzzynormal]

Same sensor as the gx7, yet my gx7 ain't doin no 4k. Man, I need to hire a coder to take care of that... That camera needs a hack.

[Hubert]

I've been waiting years for a camera like this.
If only it had a mic socket, headphone out and a tilt touchscreen. Then it would be a backpacking film makers wet dream!
Matt Frazer at Panasonic US please take note!

[tosvus]

The 4K file looks great!!!

 

@FuzzyNormal - I don't think the Gx-7 has the processing power necessary unfortunately.

[theSUBVERSIVE]

Shame about the highlights, though did look a bit over exposed.  Hopefully there will be profiles to help that as the footage even through vimeo is very clean and detailed.  THe stabilisation looks good and I couldn't notice any rolling shutter jelly.

 

Some questions I have:

 

Does It take 4k from a native crop?  I assume like the gh4 it does.  If so the lens becomes 27mm to 85mm equivalent.  Not perfect for wide angle but still pretty cool.

Does it have similar roling shutter to the GH4 when pushed or is it actually better like your vid sugests?

Does it have the cinelike profiles or profile adjustment?

How is the sound? (pretty relevant since it doesn't have a mic socket).

 

The only way to really know more about rolling shutter is if he had pushed it a little further but in theory it should be around the same as the GH4, I don't think it will be better than the GH4.

 

As for the 4K crop it's 26 - 81mm.

 

It should have the Cinelike profiles just like the FZ1000 has.

 

The mic should not be very good just like any built-in mic.

[theSUBVERSIVE]

The LX7 had a max shutter speed of 1/2000 at F1.4 so a 3 stop ND filter was integrated to improve the camera's ability to shoot wide open in strong lighting conditions.  The LX100 can shoot up to 1/16000 in electronic shutter mode.  This is the same exposure result as having a built-in 3 stop ND filter in front of a 1/2000 shutter (without the engineering challenge of covering a much larger sensor with a mechanical piece of glass).

 

For video work I'll carry a Hoya ProND 6 2/3 stop filter, spare battery and card in a small pouch.  Compared to lugging around my GH4 and 12-40mm lens, filters, etc. it will be nirvana!

 

I know how they compare but my point was that a built-in ND would had been very handy for video. I know it's part of the tech world but I just wouldn't like to buy the LX100, just to find out next year that it wasn't so much of a technical issue and that the new model is basically the same camera but now with built-in ND filter and a tiltable screen.

 

I would prefer that Panasonic tries to prolong the LX100 just like Fuji and then, two or three years from now they could present a LX100 sucessor with an organic sensor or something instead of minor updates every year like Sony does with the RX100 - they could had skipped the RX100 II, for instance.

 

But I do understand that they might just do like Sony, to use the old model as a baseline and then launch a new model with some new stuff and charge more for it while keeping the old model. Anyway, my point was just trying to understand the reason behind the omission of these feats that would help video.

[Thomas]

This "toy" will make a good picture next to my RED Epic (even if it`s going to be lthe Leica pendant)

[Erik R SP]

Do you think it will be a nice step up for us users who come from low end DSLR and Mirrorles systems? I work with a Sony Nex 5N Would it be a nice step up for filmmakers on a budget?

[Juha]

I think this is the most versatile compact for all sorts of applications - for me it will be an everyday travel companion and a gh4 back up.
But we can't have it all at once, panny Wants to sell us more cameras as the 4/3 marked is growing.
Assuming that Panasonic has a much faster product cycle we will see a Lx 100 mk II in about 1 - 1.5 years if not earlyer - which will feature:

Tilting back (and selfie capable) touch screen
Built in nd
Same pixel count sensor with larger pixels
2.0 constant aperture same focal length lens

You can quote me on that :)
What do you guys think - I mean seriously

[MaxAperture Films]

I know it's part of the tech world but I just wouldn't like to buy the LX100, just to find out next year that it wasn't so much of a technical issue and that the new model is basically the same camera but now with built-in ND filter and a tiltable screen...

 

...Anyway, my point was just trying to understand the reason behind the omission of these feats that would help video.

 

I hear that Subversive, I was just offering my thoughts about the camera traditionally having been a photographic tool first and foremost rather than a video machine.  That is obviously changing now with the addition of the larger sensor and glorious 4K.  Keep in mind that a 3 stop ND filter is not particularly useful for strong daylight video shooting with a fast lens.  You would typically need a 6 to 8 stop filter to get shutter speeds down around 1/50 or 1/60 (with wide apertures).  That being the case, you would still need to stack on a vari-ND or additional 3-4 stop ND to achieve a proper video shutter angle.

 

I believe it is 100% likely that new features will be added to this camera in the next iteration, that has always been the case with most compact and mirrorless products.  You should consider the Leica D-Lux, as it will probably hold more resale value if you decide to upgrade to a new model with a flip/touch screen (I highly doubt the 3 stop ND filter will ever return).

[tosvus]

Are there any compacts with similar sensor size that has built in ND? I'm just wondering if it is even physically possible, since the filters have to cover a fairly large surface. Make the camera big enough and it can certainly be added of course.

[Clayton Moore]

Andrew this post brings one thing to mind for me ……

 

Black Magic (albeit horrid ergonomics) producing wonderful images and Panasonic with its 4k well under $1,000-2,000, now SONY’s A7s with all it can do.  It should tell everyone that somewhere in there lies the potential for a very impressive camera that will do 90% +  of what a 60,00/0 camera body can do easily.  So the parts are all there. The question is when will it arrive and who will engineer that. 

[Juha]

The Sony rx 100 has built in Nd

[Juha]

Btw. Does anyone know how theese Leica rebrandings are treated firmware update wise.
Meaning are they usually getting the same updates as their panny brothers?
In my feeling panasonic is more aware updating features - I have no experiences with Leica, though.
If yes it could make sense to go for Leica as we get free three year warranty and Adobe LR for just a hundred euros more.

[Inazuma]

From an email exchange I had with Leica UK.

 

Will the colours and tonality differ from the Panasonic lx100 (in raw and video)?

 

I haven’t tried the Panasonic version myself but I would imagine you won’t see much difference in colour or tonality between the Leica and Panasonic as long as you are shooting in Raw, the softwares are different so that will affect the colours when shooting in jpg.

 

If a firmware is released for the aforementioned camera, will the D Lux also receive the same update in a timely manner?

In regards to the firmware update, I cannot be 100% sure but I would imagine we would release our own versions in a timely manner.

[Andrew Reid]

Good review; where do I find the 4K version of the video to download? VIMEO only offers me 1080 ...

 

You have to be a Vimeo Plus member apparently, and lick the beards of several hipsters.

 

I'll upload a 4K version to YouTube.

[Nikkor]

I'm not a plus member and I could download the 4K once I logged in with my free account.

[Tzedekh]

Are there any compacts with similar sensor size that has built in ND? I'm just wondering if it is even physically possible, since the filters have to cover a fairly large surface. Make the camera big enough and it can certainly be added of course.

 

If you're willing to go a little smaller, the RX10 has built-in ND.

[Matthew Walsh]

Hey Andrew, how is the manual focus on the LX100? Is it at all repeatable off the barrel? And can you dial in a 1/50 shutter?

 

Thanks.

 

Geoff

It's focus-by-wire, so no it is not repeatable off the barrel. The shutter speed dial does not include 1/50, but you can dial it in easily with other knobs.

 

 

Shame about the highlights, though did look a bit over exposed.  Hopefully there will be profiles to help that as the footage even through vimeo is very clean and detailed.  THe stabilisation looks good and I couldn't notice any rolling shutter jelly.

 

Some questions I have:

 

Does It take 4k from a native crop?  I assume like the gh4 it does.  If so the lens becomes 27mm to 85mm equivalent.  Not perfect for wide angle but still pretty cool.

Does it have similar roling shutter to the GH4 when pushed or is it actually better like your vid sugests?

Does it have the cinelike profiles or profile adjustment?

How is the sound? (pretty relevant since it doesn't have a mic socket).

The camera actually doesn't use the entire 4/3 sensor at any given time like a GH4 in photo mode can. The sensor is set up with a multi-aspect mode, so depending on the aspect ratio a different chunk of the sensor is being used. Its 4k mode uses the same area as the GH4 - resulting in a 2.2x crop from full frame 35mm. But the lens isn't 12-37.5mm, it's 10.9-34mm. So the 4k crop is actually very close to 24-75mm equivalent.

Rolling shutter is the same as the GH4.

No Cinelike profiles at the moment, but picture styles have the same adjustments that they do on Panasonic's other m4/3 cameras.

Haven't tested the sound yet. I'm expecting GX7 quality (great for built-in mic), but that's just a guess.