I recieved my LX3 in black midweek.
KayJay nailed it with the description - Gorgeous camera
On picking it up for the first time I knew I had invested in a seriously well made piece of kit - it is a solid lump of camera while not being
too heavy.
While I was waiting for the battery to charge I had a bit of a scan round the body, and both the battery door and the external cable flap are smooth hinged with a good locking mechanism. The switches on the lens feel very nice to operate although I have since found they are quite easy to flick to a different setting by accident while shooting.
The mode dial on the top is a nice touch espeically as it has to custom user settings that allows you to record the camera setup to a dial function - you can then access that setup by rotating the mode dial to either C1 or C2. I like this on my 40D and to see it on a compact is very nice. Some reviews say the mode dial is easy to flick by accident, in general shooting I don't think I will have a problem with that.
So the battery is charged and I power on. Startup is quick and accompanied by a small fanfare of noise - which I proceeded to disable.
Zoom from wide to tele is relatively slow but I actually prefer this as it means you can get accurate framing, and the mechanism sounds really smooth and (at risk of repeating myself) well put together.
Actual shooting with this camera is fast. AF is quick to lock a subject and shutter lag is rather good too. Slows down somewhat when the flash is used but with the fast lens that probably won't be nearly as often as n other compacts.
A few reviews slated the implementation of exposure compensation on the rear joystick - I have found no problem at all with that. Sure, it would be nice to have a dial like on the G10 but tbh it is easy to use and still very accessible. The metering on the camera does a pretty good job anyway but there have been a few occasions where I needed it ti get the shot I wanted (Below for example).
Noise. It is there, but it is generally pretty well controlled. I went in straight at the camera limits by shooting indoors, without flash and at without much light. ISO 400 is actually pretty good, previous compacts it has been unusable but I think I could get some good prints from it. I will do some tests at 800 and 1600 over the coming weeks along with a more in depth review (Need to use to more before I feel I can really pass judgement).
Overall in the 2-3 days I've been using the camera I am very impresssed. As a DSLR user I normally have major irritations about a compact within hours so this is very good. I do wish it has flash exposure compensation but that is probably expecting too much.
Overall, a
VERY good camera - but good luck finding one in stock!
Now, one photo here.
and a few more in this thread
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=134567
Quite a few peeps here have got the Leica version, which is identical under the skin.
