For how I like to, and what I like to shoot, I have not had a better camera than the LX5.

The Leitz lens is super sharp…”it’s all about the lens” is the old saying in film terms. My old standard were Nikon lenses I loved shooting with, the 24mm f/2.8, 55mm f/3.5 macro and the 105mm f/2.8 short telephoto were iconic lenses known for their sharpness. I shot a few times with a film Leica M5 and that was super sharp too, like the LX5.

The 24mm (35mm equivalent) is my view of life – I used to live with the Nikon 24 f/2.8 on my FM – the Panasonic camera and Leica lens is at least a sharp if not more so, with less distortion. No more fat arms or pulled cheeks at the edges, everything looks pretty normal given it’s a super wide. I can hold the camera at arms length and take good two-shots of my wife and me in a dim elevator or dark restaurant without a glare-y harsh flash. Magical.

The 2.0 maximum f-stop is great for these two-shots. In the underwater room at the California Academy of Sciences the other day, I did the two shot of us at 24mm @ f/2.0 @ 1/30th at a pretty low ISO so the shot had no digital noise at all but captured the weird color cast of being several feet underwater which wouldn’t have happened with a flash – beautiful! All while holding the camera at arm’s length because of the wide angle could get my wife and I with fish above, perfect (no more asking strangers to take our pic!).

The camera’s light weight and small size fit my hands just right. I’m getting older and now nearly at retirement cannot put up with the bulk of an SLR anymore. At the same time, with my eyesight going and getting some arthritis is my finger joints, I no longer am fond of the ultra-tiny digital point and shoots with their equally tiny controls that I’m constantly hitting by mistake. The LX5 is a good compromise for me, mostly mechanical buttons and switches clearly marked so I can operate them without glasses – my last two Panasonic point and shoots were more pocketable but this led to casual handling and subsequent droppage and cracked LCDs. The LX5 is large and heavy enough to let me know that I’m carrying a real camera, not a piece of jewelry or a toy.

I carry the LX5 camera and it’s given me great photographs easily and is really helping to capture my later years of life – great camera.

• 10.1-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality poster-size prints
• 3.8x F2.0 ultra-wide-angle 24mm Leica DC Vario-Summicron lens
• 3.0-inch Intelligent LCD; Record HD videos in AVCHD Lite; Creative Movie mode
• Venus Engine FHD image processor; hot shoe for easy accessorization
• Capture images to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)

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