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If a wide-angle compact, coupled with a good image quality and fast lens, is what you have been looking for, you won’t go wrong with Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3, dubbed as the most interesting compact of 2008.
With lens starting at a wide 24mm, it is only rivaled by Leica’s D-LUX 4, feature per feature.
In fact, the two compacts are very similar — both offer 2.5x optical zoom or 24mm-60mm, for instance — that in the eyes of many, the two are only separated by the price and brand recognition.
The LX3, to me, is more popular than the D-LUX 4 mainly because of the D-LUX 4′s higher price and the perception that the D-LUX 4, or any Leica camera for that matter, is for a different type of consumers — those with a little bit of Beethoven or Mozart in them, rather than the mass subscribers of pop culture.
Enter Samsung’s HZ10W
Fast forward to January 2009 and you will find a new entrant in the form of Samsung’s HZ10W.
It also starts at 24mm but ends a little farther than either the LX3 or the D-LUX 4 — at 240mm, for an overall zooming capability of 10x optical zoom.
While a longer zoom will obviously be an advantage — the HZ10W is the first compact offering this range of focal length — the LX3′s and D-LUX4′s proven image quality will set the two camera apart in terms of reputation.
But the HZ10W’s long zoom will raise enough eyebrows and it might just declare itself as a true contender to the two Leicas.
The X-factor
This is a picture of Leica’s D-LUX 4, with a classy if not conservative look.
The HZ10W will need an X-Factor — figuratively and literally — to compete with the LX3, D-LUX 4 and Ricoh’s GX200 (3x optical or 24mm-72mm) (notice all the Xs).
Come to think of it, Samsung should have named the new compact the HX10W or something to incorporate the “X-Factor”.
On a serious note, I know a photographer or two who will go at considerable length to get superior image quality and will not mind the restrictive zooms of the LX3 or D-LUX 4.
But if Samsung can pull its acts together and offer a comparable image quality, the HZ10W will be a welcome entrance in the crowded compact camera market. Otherwise, it will be a pity to have a first only to be let down by the thing that matters most — the image quality.
The camera will be available this month and price at about US$300.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
The Panasonic LX3 and the Leica D-LUX 4 are not just similar, they *are* the same camera (Panasonic and Leica have a co-branding/co-manufuacturing arrangement).
They come from the same factory and use the same parts. The only difference in build is that the LX3 has a grip and the D-LUX 4 does not (for aesthetic reasons). There are also supposed to be minor differences in the image processing engine, which Leica says give images from the D-LUX 4 a classic “Leica” look.
There’s one other difference: the D-LUX 4 costs almost twice as much, which is entirely a “branding” thing. *THAT* is why the LX3 is more popular. It has nothing to do with perception; it’s the REALITY that most people won’t spend $400 extra for a red sticker. (Although a few will, which is why some D-LUX 4s are being sold.)
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Well said… $400 extra is indeed a lot for what essentially is the same camera.
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my samsung hz10w is nice camera, i like
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I have beaten you all!
I took a broken digital camera, put in a kelloggs box with a pinhole and for less then a dime I have the world’s first digital box camera.
and you people thought you were the thrift kings of 5th Avenue!
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Compared the Samsung wB550 with the LX3 and the wB550 is awful! If the HZ10W is like the WB550 it’s junk. Terrible noise and picture quality. The LX3 is in another league of quality altogether… the is no comparison.
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Compared the Samsung wB550 with the LX3 and the wB550 is awful! If the HZ10W is like the WB550 it’s junk. Terrible noise and picture quality. The LX3 is in another league of quality altogether… there is no comparison.
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I spent my money on the LX3 after an in depth ‘shoot out’ between it & the Leica D-Lux 4, Although they both use the same lens there is a slight difference in the coating, as to whether there is a difference in the programming, I doubt it. The resulting pics are so close it’s not worth talking about, we are talking about a gnat’s whisker here! Go & spend almost twice the price on the Leica if you wish, if the red dot badge is so important to you.
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