Shooting with a 4K pocket camera - the exceptional Panasonic LX100

[vulgatron]

@Andrew Can't wait to see your full review on this camera.

 

 

I also want to replace my GM1 for another cam that can shoot at 50/60p, and I'm trying to decide between a GX7/A6000 this LX100 or even a RX10 as with the new codecs it might be better for that purpose (plus 100fps @720), although not sure how it performs in low light.

 

Anyone has tried the 50p conformed to 25p on this camera with low light? If so, how it performs? Also DOF is comparable to the 12-35 on a "bigger" m4/3 or more like a 1" sensor?

[Eric Cote]

My first week with the LX100: http://www.mirrorlessjourney.com/blog/2014/11/my-first-week-with-the-panasonic-dmc-lx100-1

:D

[tosvus]

Another example of what can be done with this little camera (by Erik Hecht):

 

[EL Pistoffo]

Another example of what can be done with this little camera (by Erik Hecht):

 

Impressive. I watched it in 1080p and it was extremely sharp.  I can't understand why some folks still say that the advantages in detail when downsampling from 4K is a gimmick.

[GMaximus]

 

What I miss the most so far is the touch and tilting screen, especially when I do macro shots. You get used so fast to touching the screen to select where you want to focus.

I have to agree, touch autofocus is one of the things you get used to almost instantaneously. I think this feature should become mandatory for a consumer photographic product, just like the autofocus did. It is not to be considered a premium feature - hey, you get that in a 100$ smartphone, that's what my consumer mind is telling me.

[Igor Campana]

So I tested the LX100 on real business this days. It performs pretty well, the sharpness is extraordinary but the focus pumps a lot if objects moves... so it is better to go manual. If you set the picture stile to superflat and raise shadows, the pics are astonishing good in 4K, in my opinion far better than GH4... the LX100 gives more natural colors, skin tones are better...

 

but im still not able to get any video out of this camera... I purchased the AV adpater, but nothing... has anyone of you been able to get a video out signal?

[ita149]

 the pics are astonishing good in 4K, in my opinion far better than GH4... the LX100 gives more natural colors, skin tones are better...

Interesting, Panasonic should lower the 12-35mm price now.

[johnnymossville]

Very impressive little camera.   

[tosvus]

Hmm...either I misunderstood something, or I managed to switch some setting that disabled it, but in manual (set shutter and aperture), auto iso only works for pictures. once I press record, it defaults to iso 200. Anyone have an idea? I thought it could still do auto iso measured at the start of the video (and then set for the duration)?

[nathanleebush]

Is the stabilization similar in quality to the 5 axis stabilization on the Olympus OM-D cameras?

[psoetio]

A big disappointment I found out about on a gig is, no ae lock in video mode! And no, I don't need to be told I can just do everything in manual mode! For events you often want to be fast, and with ae lock you get most of the benefits of fully manual mode (for example, exposure stays constant even if you shift your framing during a shot to show more of a bright window in the background), but without wasting precious seconds fiddling with dials. I missed several shots on this gig, first by exposure changing during a shot before I realized ae lock was disabled, and later by not being able to set exposure quickly enough. Bummer! Ae lock is such a valuable tool at events; you can also use it and still vary the exposure during a shot if the light changes without having to be locked down on a tripod, by using the compensation dial.

So with this ae lock thing, plus the thing about the tripod hole forcing you to remove your quick-release plate to change batteries or cards, this camera is going to be less useful for weddings than I thought at first.

[fuzzynormal]

I don't need to be told I can just do everything in manual mode

Oh I don't know. Perhaps you do. It's worked for over a hundred years so far...for a reason.

[tosvus]

you can change "exposure" quickly by setting iso on the control ring.

[Andrew Reid]

Is the stabilization similar in quality to the 5 axis stabilization on the Olympus OM-D cameras?

 

Nope it's not as good as that.

[PrebenR]

The LX100 does flare, and not very nicely. Green splodge. Sometimes it is as if I need to call Ghostbusters.

However, still enjoying it very much. A lovely experience.

Typical of compacts to have flaring issues. In many cases it is internal flaring due to light reflecting off the sensor in the small space.

[psoetio]

C'mon fuzzynormal, you didn't answer my point about speed. By your logic I should use a bmpcc as my A cam at fast moving events, since having to carefully set up each shot and change batteries every five minutes doesn't matter.. I'm quite sure that in the hundred years people used only manual exposure there were plenty of great shots ruined or missed. People also got along for decades without sound, or color, or stabilization and made superb films, but that doesn't mean those aren't useful things to have. Just as ae lock is indeed useful.

Oh well, it's still a great camera, and, yes, having to use manual exposure more often will be good training. I agree that a downside of all the helpful "the camera does it for you" functions is that it can make you lazier..

[Eric Cote]

C'mon fuzzynormal, you didn't answer my point about speed. By your logic I should use a bmpcc as my A cam at fast moving events, since having to carefully set up each shot and change batteries every five minutes doesn't matter.. I'm quite sure that in the hundred years people used only manual exposure there were plenty of great shots ruined or missed. People also got along for decades without sound, or color, or stabilization and made superb films, but that doesn't mean those aren't useful things to have. Just as ae lock is indeed useful.

Oh well, it's still a great camera, and, yes, having to use manual exposure more often will be good training. I agree that a downside of all the helpful "the camera does it for you" functions is that it can make you lazier..

Well, by having an aperture ring on the lens and always having live view with Zebra and a histogram, it can't be really faster to adjust the exposure on the spot.

[psoetio]

Last thing I'll say about this: Yes, with the various exposure and focus assistants like zebras and peaking, one can become quite proficient at doing manual adjustments on the fly. However, especially with a tiny camera like this one, the more you adjust dials during a shot the more you risk camera shake when handheld. The aperture dial is not clickless which makes it even harder to stay steady. Why not have make use of some automatic functions so you can focus on composition and moving the camera fluidly? So long as you can quickly revert back to manual of course, or at least lock the settings when being on automatic becomes a liablility, such as when things slow down and focus hunting is a problem, or the background lighting is changing making unnecessary exposure changes a problem. That's why this camera would be substantially better as an event camera if it had ae and af lock with a gentle button press, and even better if you could turn it on and off DURING a shot with a gentle button press, and if with that lock in place, you could adjust focus and exposure manually if needed. Okay, whatever anybody replies, I'm done.

[tosvus]

Last thing I'll say about this: Yes, with the various exposure and focus assistants like zebras and peaking, one can become quite proficient at doing manual adjustments on the fly. However, especially with a tiny camera like this one, the more you adjust dials during a shot the more you risk camera shake when handheld. The aperture dial is not clickless which makes it even harder to stay steady. Why not have make use of some automatic functions so you can focus on composition and moving the camera fluidly? So long as you can quickly revert back to manual of course, or at least lock the settings when being on automatic becomes a liablility, such as when things slow down and focus hunting is a problem, or the background lighting is changing making unnecessary exposure changes a problem. That's why this camera would be substantially better as an event camera if it had ae and af lock with a gentle button press, and even better if you could turn it on and off DURING a shot with a gentle button press, and if with that lock in place, you could adjust focus and exposure manually if needed. Okay, whatever anybody replies, I'm done.

 

If you use the function ring on the lens for ISO, and adjust that rather than Aperture, you will find it a lot smoother. Set it up to show 1/3 stops as well, and you can do pretty nice smooth changes, both in terms of motion and exposure look. I don't think it will jar the camera more than a press on the ae lock button, though I completely agree that Panasonic should add this feature in a firmware upgrade.

[tosvus]

I didn't get a response on this, hoping someone knows...

 

Hmm...either I misunderstood something, or I managed to switch some setting that disabled it, but in manual (set shutter and aperture), auto iso only works for pictures. once I press record, it defaults to iso 200. Anyone have an idea? I thought it could still do auto iso measured at the start of the video (and then set for the duration)?