Dynamic range
Our dynamic range tests confirm that Panasonic has improved the dynamic range of the LX5. With a measured value of 12.5EV, the dynamic range is very impressive for a compact camera, but the shape of the ‘curve’ is interesting as it isn’t actually a curve, but more of a line. In practice, the dynamic range of the LX5 is noticeable in sky detail.
Although it doesn’t prevent some images having burnt-out highlights, it does mean that bright blue skies are slightly darker than on other compact cameras. Similarly, I have found that a lot of detail can be recovered from very dark shadow areas by increasing the brightness of JPEG files in Camera Raw by up to 3EV. At ISO 400, chroma noise is slightly visible when the brightness is increased, but it is good to know that there is some room for adjustment of these shadow areas.
