Panasonic Lumix LX3 Results

I've been shooting with the LX3 since October 2009. My initial impressions are mostly favorable. Although having a better zoom feature might eliminate the need for me to carry multiple cameras, the LX3 F2.0 lens provides options not found on any other P&S camera. There are several improvements that could be made; as others have pointed out before me, the lens cap is problematic. I've turned on the camera multiple times only to have a warning message flashed reminding me that I forgot to take off the lens cap. Another interesting problem is the location of the tripod socket. I thought that using a JOBY tripod would make difference in shooting in both a lightbox and the field. However, the tripod socket on this camera is all the way to one side, therefore attaching the tripod is awkward, and then, the camera seems to swing on it's own axis rather than lock up tight. Pictures are incredible though, and for the weight savings with the multitude of options available, I have no regrets overall. I own a LX3 and ZS3, and wear 1 on each hip. The combined weight of 1lb provides me the ability to shoot under all conditions from macro to telephoto, and the combined price of the two cameras was less than a cheap body in the DSLR market.

Photograph Post Processing

Best tools of the trade (in my humble opinion):

Gimp - free and very powerful

Picasa - free and moderately powerful - great organization features

Adobe Lightroom - somewhat user friendly, fairly powerful

Adobe CS3 - most intense, rich features

If you haven't tried all of them, you won't know what you are missing. All of my experiences with these have been on the Windows platform. There are ports for them on the Unix/Linux platform. Experiments have revealed that Adobe CS3, and therefore CS4 is the richest featured product on the market.

Camera - Panasonic LX3

I'm going to be covering my new Panasonic LX3 extensively on the this blog.  Several years of research went into the selection process that led me to this decision.  I will explore the factors that led to the final product.  In this way, you will understand why certain features are important from a photographic standpoint.  Having the ultimate control in a miniauture camera is the holy grail.  Stay tuned for a lot of information, photos, related articles, and important links to outside locations.

New Technology

I'm pretty interested in several new technologies, one being ubuntu linux which can be seen at www.ubuntu.com. You should check it out. It's very impressive.
Also, Nikon came out with a new camera, the D90. My favorite web site for viewing information on cameras is www.dpreview.com.

Let's talk about what is going to change the direction of the outcome of our economy. I'd like to hear your thoughts about what it's going to take to make things happen for the better. If you think it's going to get worse, let me know that too. What's the next big thing that will jumpstart the US output to something sustainable. For all those shoppers out there, consumerism, which drives 75% of our economy, is not sustainable. What can we make here in the US that will be of value to our world partners?

After a long summer

Well, here it is, another day in paradise. Most people would think this was great, being here in sunny Florida, but it really stinks. It's too hot to go outside.

I didn't really know this until I was through the first book, Don't Stop the Carnival, then moved onto others. A really good work of his was Youngblood Hawke.

Just wanted to say that an author that everyone should read is Herman Wouk