Features
With a 10.1-million-pixel, 1.63in CCD sensor, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 has the same resolution as the LX3, although it has undergone some improvements to the construction of the sensor and the signal processing.
This has been achieved by increasing the charge capacity of the Vertical Charge Coupled Device (VCCD) and that of the photodiodes. The micro lenses above the photosites have also been made larger to direct more light onto them. By doing this, the performance of the sensor should be more efficient in both low and bright light, resulting in a greater dynamic range and less amplification noise.
Despite the newly designed sensor, the standard ISO sensitivity range remains at ISO 80-3200. However, the LX5 does have an extended range of ISO 6400-12,800, although images captured at these settings are at a greatly reduced resolution of three million pixels.
The 10.1-million-pixel sensor is capable of producing images that measure 3648×2736 pixels in its native 4:3 aspect ratio. Images can be saved as JPEG files, as Panasonic RW2 raw files, or both simultaneously, which should prove popular with enthusiast photographers. Like the LX3, the LX5 can also record JPEG images in 3:2 and 16:9 aspect ratios, but new to the LX5 is the square 1:1 format.
The 24-90mm focal length is great for social occasions and holiday photographs, with the 24mm end perfect for landscapes
As previously mentioned, the other major addition to the LX range is the new Leica DC Vario Summicron 3.8x, 24-90mm equivalent zoom lens. This new lens unit comprises ten elements in nine groups, which includes three aspherical lenses that Panasonic claims provide a 30% improvement in resolution and a reduction in chromatic aberration compared to the lens of the LX3. As you would expect from Panasonic’s flagship compact camera, the LX5 has full manual exposure control, as well as aperture and shutter priority modes.
For less demanding photographers there is a full complement of automatic exposure settings, including intelligent Auto (iAuto), which detects what you are trying to photograph and changes the scene mode and settings accordingly.
With a range of features that would look impressive on a DSLR, the LX5 has a specification that will appeal to many photographers looking for a compact camera.
Features in use: 10.1-million-pixel, High-Sensitivity CCD Sensor
Like many other compact camera manufacturers, Panasonic has decided not to add more photosites to the sensor of the LX5, keeping it at the same 10.1-million-pixel resolution as the LX3. Instead, the aim of Panasonic’s engineers has not been to improve the image quality, but to improve the way that the light is captured and then used.
The first change Panasonic has made to the sensor is to increase the size of the lenses over each photosite. Doing this means more light can be captured and directed onto the photodiode, as can be seen in the diagram below. The photodiodes themselves have also been made larger, which increases the amount of signal charge (created by the captured light) that can be stored. With more light, or photons, being captured, the photodiodes’ dynamic range, low-light performance and image noise can all be improved.
The signal charge created by the photodiodes is then transferred to the Vertical Charge Coupled Device (VCCD), which has also been made larger in the LX5. The ability to hold more charge before the VCCD reaches capacity should also result in an improved dynamic range in comparison to other similarly specified sensors.
Panasonic claims that the improvements to the sensor include an ‘expansion’ of dynamic range by increasing the sensitivity by approximately 31% and the saturation by approximately 38% compared to the LX3. Although we didn’t have an LX3 available at the time of testing, our dynamic range and noise tests show that, particularly at low IS0 sensitivities, the LX5 lives up to Panasonic’s claims.
