Panasonic Lumix DMC LX7

I have tried many cameras, my last was a Panasonic, but this one beats them all. It is fast, small, takes video, is solidly built, has easily accessible features and is of excellent quality. It still is not yet perfect - the lens cap is an annoyance, but can be replaced with an automatic mechanism for under €20. When viewing photos, the zoom automatically shows all sorts of settings which have to be clicked away so that the picture can be seen naked. I could list a dozen other trivial items which have deliberately been placed there so that the next LX8 will appear unbeatable since it WILL feature a headphone socket AND an external mic socket, but for the €320 I paid in April 2013 it is worth the cents. Features such as the panorama, the art settings and full manual possibility make it a joy to play with and take with you wherever you go. I have taken shots of people at parties and then been the centre of attention as people crowd round to see the great results. I could have sold many had I been a Panasonic agent, but I am not, just someone who appreciates those Nippon wonders that occasionally pop up in the west and are then surpassed by even better toys a few years later. This one is here to stay and although the pixel count of 10MB is already "small", a check through the so-called "professional" reviews will show that the final image quality is almost comparable with Canon or Nikon, but their size will limit many users who don't want to be dragging a heavy lump in their pockets when out for fun somewhere, but still want, or need, to be able to capture print quality shots on the fly. I made my own leather pouch for it so that it sits strapless and completely accessible at a flash, the automatic settings being 85% fine for most situations and after another few months I think I will have mastered the many many features which remain under the array of menus available.

This is a highly technical device allowing enormous creative possibilities. I would like to list all the negative points but without doing the same for other cameras it would put too poor an image on this fine piece of equipment. My congratulations to the makers for giving us the quality!