Panasonic Lumix LX5 outed by tech support page, improvements are black and white

Panasonic may be pushing Micro Four Thirds tech these days, but that doesn't mean it's forgotten about the pocketable high-end -- in fact, full spec sheets and pictures have just leaked from the company's technical support website, detailing the unannounced latest in the Lumix LX lineup. The 10.1 megapixel DMC-LX5 doesn't have any revolutionary new features, sadly, but it certainly brings the 2008 LX3 predecessor up to spec in nearly every way, with a longer 3.8x optical zoom lens by Leica, 12,800 ISO mixed-pixel sensitivity and a familiar-sounding AVCHD Lite 720p video recording mode. Slightly heavier due to a larger 1250mAh battery, the camera supports SDXC memory cards this time round, has an anti-glare coating on the 3-inch LCD and thankfully replaces those bulky breakout component cables with a mini-HDMI out. There's also an optional electronic viewfinder and a jog dial on the back, but we don't want to ruin all your fun unearthing these gems; peruse the specs yourself at our source link.

[brianentrop Posted Jul 18th 2010 7:03AM]

Can we assume a D-LUX 5 will be released soon then?

[gfahey Posted Jul 18th 2010 7:45PM]

I absolutely love my LX3. I have a Nikon D300 and D700 too. I just keep the LX3 set to shoot B&W only with a max ISO of 800. It's my poor man's Leica and the B&W's I get are keepers. IMO, shooting the LX3 this way is what it's all about. Using NIK's Silver Efex Pro brings it up another level. I'd never sell my LX3, it's by my side 24/7.