Almost two years after their last efforts, Panasonic have refreshed their selection of top-end digital compact cameras with the new Lumix LX3.

They've had plenty of time to add new features, including a wide-angle lens and HD video, which should prove attractive to skilled photographers and beginners after a touch of style alike.

Handling

Our first impressions of the LX3 didn't disappoint.

For a compact, the camera's metal case is a little large, but easy to get a grip on.

The build quality is excellent, and the solid frame, which weighs in at 300 g is largely reassuring, apart from a few niggling details.

First, the access to both the battery and the memory card slot seems a little too flimsy.

Second, the plastic scroll wheel is a disappointing contrast to the high quality material used elsewhere.

A small bulge on the right hand side makes holding on to the camera easy, even if we have seen more ergonomic handles on other similar cameras.

Interface

There's nothing outstanding about the interface on the LX3: the menus are fairly standard, and are manipulated using a directional control on the back of the camera.

Some well-placed shortcuts, including a button that automatically activates AutoFocus directly from manual mode, make life easier.

A joystick is used to control the Q.Menu feature, which groups the most useful settings for taking photos in the various semi-manual modes.

Controlling the settings with a joystick rather than a wheel takes a little getting used to, but it's still not as a useful as a click wheel.

An LCD screen, measuring a handsome three inches from corner to corner, sports 460 000 pixels to produce a very detailed image.

In low light, it can seem jerky, but of more pressing concern is the glossy screen, which makes it hard to use the camera effectively in bright sunlight.

Another disappointment is the LX3's sluggish response: you'll need to wait about two seconds before you can take your first photo.  Once things get going go, though, the nifty AutoFocus gets straight to the point in less than a second.



Image Quality

Panasonic have decided not to chase headlines and the LX3 comes with 'only' 10 Megapixels.

However, the manufacturers' engineers have succeded increasing the surface area of the sensor by 19%, meaning the LX3 delivers excellent quality photos.

Indeed, it's one of the few models in Panasonic's catalogue to make it up 3200 ISO.

In practice, though, we found adventures above 800 ISO were a little trying, because, despite the presence of a new Venus Engine 4 processor, electronic noise handling is not where the LX3 excels.

Nevertheless, the results are far from disastrous: at 800 ISO, prints on A4 are completely reasonable, but at 1600 ISO graininess appears in dark areas.

It's rare that you'll need to use these fast shutter speeds, though, given the optical image stabilization and the fast lens.



There's very little distortion on the lens (even at 24 mm), with only minimal vignetting and chromatic aberration.

A 24-60 mm zoom on the fast lens (f/2-2.8) gives excellent results.

Automatic white balancing is well handled, but some images are all a little too warm under tungsten lights--a classic problem with digital compacts.

If you are using RAW mode, it's easy to get round these faults.

Finally: video, where the LX3 also excels.

Capturing 1280x720p HD clips, the detail was always going to be excellent, but scenes could do with being a bit more fluid.

In low light, the image billows a little too rapidly, and it's a shame you can't use the optical zoom while recording.