LX3 is here!!??
July 21, 2008A fellow visitor, smiserg, kindly linked me to the following picture posted in a russian forum dedicated to Lumix users (click image to view large).
In the picture you can see the originall LX1 besides the LX2 and..the LX3!! You will have to judge for yourself how credible this is..If this is a mockup or a photoshopped image I ignore, but it looks pretty real to me. Now if the image is real, I get the feeling from the the few things we can conclude from it that Panasonic has been closely observing the success of the latest Ricoh compacts:
- New 24mm wide lens (something a lot of people had been asking for) with “Summicron” designation. For those not familiarized with Leica´s lens naming, Summicron is the name their f 2 lenses receive. Some of Leica´s most venerable and legendary lenses have been Summicrons..So the lens is no longer an f2.8/f4.9 but f2/f2.8!! A faster lens indeed in both the wide and specially the tele end, but with a tradeoff: It seems like the lens is now a 24-60, so it has lost some reach in the tele end.
- The camera now has a hot-shoe presumably to mount a specific flash..?? (and also one of the most requested features for the LX3).
- In the most “Ricoh” style, in the mode dial you can see two new modes: C1 & C2. I assume those would be “custom1” and “custom2”, two customizable modes in the style of Ricoh´s My1 and My2 settings. Cool!!
- Body slightly bigger and with a vertical grip in the right end that I bet will improve the ergonomics/holdability of the camera..
- The camera keeps one of it´s coolest features and probably one of it´s main marketing strenghts: the native 16:9 aspect ratio I am so in love with..
What is hidden in the back and inside the machine remains a mystery..I bet we will have to suffer with one of the new generation 12Mp sensors. I asume a new 2.7 inch screen in the back. A new focusing feature maybe? (You can read “focus” in the right top of the camera, so maybe there is a wheel located in the back to allow quick/precise focusing..). And the rest we will have to wait and see..
The topic on the russian Lumix user´s forum is here . If anybody speaks russian and wants to keep an eye and give us some hints..
Isn´t gossip fun? 😉
Best, Erik.
LX2,taking it a day at a time.. 
Wow Erik, check dpreview.com. There is plenty of information about this new camera. It looks fantastic. Larger sensor (1/1.63-inch CCD) and 10.1 megapixels. Oh my God, this is a GX200 killer.
Yes, it´s official now. I received the link to the picture on saturday and have spent the weekend dreaming..Just alittle after I posted this morning it becamer official!!