A much bigger sensor for the new LX100 but that's not the whole story
Panasonic's new LX100 has a Four Thirds sensor at its heart
As the budget-end of the compact digital camera market is being slaughtered by smartphones, camera manufacturers are focusing on the premium end. Panasonic Lumix is a prime example with the launch, at Photokina this week, of their latest LX model, the LX100. The headline news concerning the LX100 is its use of basically the same 16 megapixel Four Thirds sensor found in the Lumix GX7 Micro Four Thirds mirrorless system camera.
This sensor is five times larger in area than the LX100's predecessor, the LX7. However, Panasonic has rather sneakily implemented multi-aspect ratio framing on the LX100. Multi-aspect ration means when you change framing aspect ratio the corner of the frame remain at the image circle and so relative to each frame style you choose there is no sacrifice of available resolution. Otherwise you get a crop of the default frame. This means the lens image circle is smaller than with the Micro Four Thirds and so not all the sensor is covered. The cropping factor is 2.2 rather than 2 for Four Thirds.
Why 'sneakily'? Well, the smaller image circle means the size of the Leica-branded lens is contained. All things considered, the Leica DC Vario-Summilux f/1.7-2.8 lens, which has an equivalent focal length zoom range of 24-75mm, is remarkably small. It would have been noticeably more bulky if Panasonic had chosen to use the whole Four Thirds sensor area. The reduction in resolution from 16 to about 13 megapixels in 4:3 aspect ratio is also a differentiator between this camera and Panasonic's tiny GM-series Micro Four Thirds camera - I haven't checked the specifications yet but I am pretty sure that the GM1 and the new GM5 are smaller than the LX100 although the LX100 has a brighter and wider zoom range lens compared to the GM-series kit zoom.
Even with a cropped sensor there are more than enough pixels to enable 4K video and stills shooting. To shunt all this extra data around at high speed compared to HD video the LX100 gets a beefed-up quad-core Venus Engine image processor. Although its predecessor didn't have a built-in viewfinder the LX100 also inherits the extra-high-resolution electronic viewfinder developed for the GX7, although unlike with the GX7 it doesn't tilt. Continuing the LX tradition of a functional blend of retro-style controls and cutting edge features the camera has a shutter speed dial, an aperture ring and a function-programmable control ring. You also get a flash hot shoe which is not always found on even premium compacts now.
The LX100 looks and feels slightly larger than the LX7 but it remains eminently pocketable and image quality thanks to the significantly larger sensor should pay dividends.
Lens extension at full telephoto.
Lens extension at wide angle.
