Panasonic’s LX100 is the World’s First Pocket Camera that Captures 4K Video
Panasonic’s Lumix LX series includes some of the best cameras in the market, however, recently they’ve taken a backseat with the launch of some large-censored compact cameras like the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 and the Fujfilm X100S. Now, the LX series is coming back with a big sensor of its own.
The new Lumix DMC-LX100 is a remarkable improvement from its LX7 predecessor and probably the most sophisticated compact the Japanese company has ever built. One of main highlights of this camera is it’s Micro Four Thirds-sized, 12.8-megapixel MOS chip which is twice as big as the 1-inch-type sensor in Sony’s RX cameras and the Nikon 1 mirrorless cameras.
The LX100’s F1.7 aperture at the wide-angle end of its 3X zoom (24mm to 75mm) which helps it in harnessing even more light. Also, the LX100 is able to capture 11 shots per second in burst mode. A maximum ISO setting of 25,600 should help low-light shooting even more, and that astronomical setting might even be halfway usable at that sensor size.
It’s also got a fast Leica 24-75mm (35mm equivalent) f/1.7-2.8 lens, a wide-screen, 2,764K dot LVF (live viewfinder) and 4K video capture. The LX100 is also one of the first pocket cameras that captures 4K video footage. Some of those specs put it on par with the company’s flagship GH4, and well ahead of all its other interchangeable MFT models.
Other features include Wi-Fi, NFC capability for easier smartphone pairing, in-camera RAW to JPEG conversion and an external flash. It has a “multi-aspect” feature that allows 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 angles of view, which reduces the usable area of the sensor.
This premium point-and-shoot camera is due at the end of October. It’s expected to cost between $800 and $900, which makes it a direct competitor of the APS-C-sensored Fujifilm X100s and 1-inch-sensored Sony RX100 III.
