Looking for feedback on LX-5

Just flooded my G-10 and am now in the market for a new camera (strictly for UW use only). Trying to decide if I want another one or should move on to something else so am thinking about the LX-5.

Would like to hear pros and cons from anyone that is using it...

thanks

I would avoid the G series for 2 main reasons. First is slow auto focus, compared to the state of the art. Second is no TTL flash in M exposure mode. If you go M, you are forced to use manual flash exposure too.

And you can't cheat and use A mode, very well, since the slowest shutter speed in A mode, with flash on, defaults to 1/60 with is so slow you get motion blur of just about everything.

The LX5 is a fine camera, with a lot to recommend it. But the colors in jpgs are not up to snuff. You are forced to use RAW all the time.

If this is going to be a camera to use above water and below, that may be an issue. For me the lack of any view finder is a major problem, above water. The optional EVF puts the price up quite high.

If I were buying now, I'd go for the fuji x10, or an oly micro 4/3 camera.

I like a manual twist zoom lens! And a view finder. The fuji colors are incredible! The oly's are good because they make cheap underwater housings for them.

I would avoid the G series for 2 main reasons. First is slow auto focus, compared to the state of the art. Second is no TTL flash in M exposure mode. If you go M, you are forced to use manual flash exposure too.

 

And you can't cheat and use A mode, very well, since the slowest shutter speed in A mode, with flash on, defaults to 1/60 with is so slow you get motion blur of just about everything.

 

The LX5 is a fine camera, with a lot to recommend it. But the colors in jpgs are not up to snuff. You are forced to use RAW all the time.

 

If this is going to be a camera to use above water and below, that may be an issue. For me the lack of any view finder is a major problem, above water. The optional EVF puts the price up quite high.

 

If I were buying now, I'd go for the fuji x10, or an oly micro 4/3 camera.

 

I like a manual twist zoom lens! And a view finder. The fuji colors are incredible! The oly's are good because they make cheap underwater housings for them.

will most likely be using this just for uw so am not too concerned about having a viewfinder.

have been hearing that you need to shoot raw with the lx-5 and not sure i want to have to do that all the time... especially since i like to be able to quickly crop, downsize pixels and post while traveling.

Have started looking into the oly 4/3... mainly the e-pm1. like the idea that their housing has a focus light built in for macro. subsee already makes an adaptor for it and think i can get everyone thing for under $1500. have heard that sea&sea makes the housing for them

Have heard that recsea will be making a housing for the fuji and is should be out the end of this month.... just not sure if i want to spend $1000 for it and another $600 for the camera... and then i would need to see what keri would charge me to make a subsee adaptor for it as well since i can't use the same one that i did with he g-10.

LX-5 is a very nice camera.

It has good IQ, fast AF (very close to the fastest 4/3, but not as fast as the super fast Nikon J1) and good video. On top of this is has tons of useful features and is very sturdy build. Everything about it feels high quality.

And it's still pretty small and light.

No you don't have to shoot raw all the time. I use on land as well and the colors are very nice. If you don't like it out of the box you have many options to fine tune how the jpg should be created in the camera.

Raw in combination with a good raw converter will, like on any compact give you higher IQ. Less noise and less jpg artifacts is what I appreciates. The IQ you get after processing its raw files in e.g. Lightroom 3 (simply a little sharpening and a little nr) is amazingly good. You can even batch process your raw (using the same nr and sharpening) and get really top notch jpg without any efforts.

But, my suggestion is to shoot raw+jpg. It takes no extra time and if you don't have a raw converter at hands, you simply go with the jpg.

I love that you can easily move the AF. Not many compacts can do that.

Ikelite also has their smallest uw-housing ever made for a TTL camera. It's exactly like a schrunk D-SLR uw-housing. With Ike strobes you get real TTL with cable. No need to use the internal flash, waste battery and get slow reloads.

The housing isn't perfect but at that price and with true TTL, it is very hard to beat.

If you want to spend more money their are smaller, lighter housings with better ergonomics. But, not with true TTL.

It has a 100% fully manual video mode wich is great. You can even alter the expose during filming. You can even zoom during filming. But perhaps the best part is that it has an excellent following AF while filming.

You can also here change the way the colors etc are created.

Sure it's only 720p, but it's h.264 and is silk smooth.

LX-5 is a very nice camera.

It has good IQ, fast AF (very close to the fastest 4/3, but not as fast as the super fast Nikon J1) and good video. On top of this is has tons of useful features and is very sturdy build. Everything about it feels high quality.

And it's still pretty small and light.

 

No you don't have to shoot raw all the time. I use on land as well and the colors are very nice. If you don't like it out of the box you have many options to fine tune how the jpg should be created in the camera.

Raw in combination with a good raw converter will, like on any compact give you higher IQ. Less noise and less jpg artifacts is what I appreciates. The IQ you get after processing its raw files in e.g. Lightroom 3 (simply a little sharpening and a little nr) is amazingly good. You can even batch process your raw (using the same nr and sharpening) and get really top notch jpg without any efforts.

 

But, my suggestion is to shoot raw+jpg. It takes no extra time and if you don't have a raw converter at hands, you simply go with the jpg.

 

I love that you can easily move the AF. Not many compacts can do that.

 

Ikelite also has their smallest uw-housing ever made for a TTL camera. It's exactly like a schrunk D-SLR uw-housing. With Ike strobes you get real TTL with cable. No need to use the internal flash, waste battery and get slow reloads.

The housing isn't perfect but at that price and with true TTL, it is very hard to beat.

If you want to spend more money their are smaller, lighter housings with better ergonomics. But, not with true TTL.

 

It has a 100% fully manual video mode wich is great. You can even alter the expose during filming. You can even zoom during filming. But perhaps the best part is that it has an excellent following AF while filming.

You can also here change the way the colors etc are created.

Sure it's only 720p, but it's h.264 and is silk smooth.

Have narrowed down my choices to lx-5 or e-pm1.

If i get the lx-5 will get the nauticam housing so am looking at about the same pricing for either one

I am shooting the LX-5 after shooting the LX-4 in a UK-Germany housing. I have been very pleased with this series, especially as I was able to upgrade my housing easily. I shoot both raw and jpg with mine and have starting using light room. I like that the camera can be set to full manual including the focus. It is probably the most full featured point and shoot camera on the market.