An Introduction of my LX3.

So I've bought my LX3 and I'm back in action here. I think with some time, I would be able to post up a month's post. ^.^;; Hopefully~



Everything is in the box.


Out open, there's the body, the charger, the wires, the USB connectors, the battery, some manuals and 2 CDs.. Of which, I've actually really used them all. Especially the manuals, I don't read them. :P


It's interesting that they provide 2 wires but 1 charger only. One is 3 head pin; another is 2. I used the 3 headed one because it's more convenient and safer since it has a fuse. But you don't have to worry about overcharging the battery. The charger will automatically off when the battery is full. I tried to overcharge it for 8 hours on my first use. But it seems it automatically off after 2 hours of fully charge. I was told that rechargeable batteries for gadgets need to be overcharge on its first use. I guess they don't do that anymore... ^.^;;


And finally, here's my baby. LX3. Pretty cool huh? :P I find that the LX3 looks much cooler then its sister D-Lux 4. My personal opinion lar. Because LX 3 has a hand grip there and it's rugged black. Whereas, for D-Lux 4, it's all flat. This reminds me of Lisa's post. One for AirAsia's aeroplane to land, and another is the iceberg that sunk Titanic. Hahaha. You get the idea. ^.^


Camera with o'l goodies. Got the camera bag for free and some batteries. Din't care much about the batteries though. As for the bag, it's kind of tight when you slot the camera in. I got an extra battery too. When I tried to put in the small pocket in front, it looks so bulky and I nearly can't clip on the bag. But you know what? The camera cost freaking RM200+!!! -.-".. Better guai guai use...


Wasn't free until one week later when I get to actually play with it. Fit it onto my dad's old tripod. It's rusty, but it still do the job. Imagine you are carrying your old school antena around searching for the proper direction for your TV's reception. Ah yes! That's what I did.


The reason I bought this camera is because of Manual Function. And yes I gotta show here that I tune in to manual mode to take photos. Push the power button right to "on", wait for the camera to load, turn the "Mode Knob" to M which litterally means Manual.


The manual functions can work with auto focus, auto focus macro or manual. In here I push down the button to MF which litterally means Manual Focus. Yes, am I explaining to a camera noob? No, I'm sharing my experience who have never used a manual function before. With technologies today, if you aren't a camera enthusiast, you bother it. If you are, you won't bother neither because you will be using a DSLR! Unlike half-breed like me... ^.^;;


Here, I set up my camera, preparing to shoot a birthday card. There are important element during a photoshoot out especially if you're using a manual. The aperture, the shutter speed and the contrast?? (Hope you can notice the 3 symbol below the LCD screen) Okay, I know I'm misleading and many of you pros are beggining to lose confidence in me here. I'm a total noob here. But personally, the reason I get this camera is also because I wanna play with this 3 main elements: Aperture, Shutterspeed and Focus. Playing with higher Aperture allows me to take higher contrast pictures since more lights flow into the sensor. Faster shutterspeed on the other hand allows me to capture moving objects sharper, no more those ghost image! And lastly, manual focus allows me to control my focus area and make bokeh effects.


Here in the screen, I'm demonstrating the manual focus functions. By turning the mini knob on the right (look at my right thumb), I selected the cursor under MF and push up or down to get my right focus.


But usually, the focus area will be in the center. In order to shift this focus area, I push once onto the knob, and a small inset screen will come out with arrows pointing at 4 different directions. Then by I can control the focus area to the side of the screen wherever I want. Pushing the knob again I can control the focus level again. The inset picture would show up the zoomed effect of my focus area. If it shows up a sharp image, it means I've reached the best focal point. If not, at that dept, it would show a bokeh effect. It also means, my image are off focus.


Next, like any other camera in the market, I can control the zoom level. However, as the further I zoom, the capability of my aperture and MF will drop. But to get the effect that I want, I try and error, playing around with these functions to get the best image I had in mind.


As you can see I'm taking this picture in my room. The lightings aren't enough. Therefore, I can control the EV to suits my likings. However, this would affect my aperture level too.


Aperture control had been selected. See yellow coloured symbol. The quick menu knob easy as I can easy change the options around with my thumb. Unlike using a DSLR whereby you turn your focus with your left hand at the lense area, set the aperture and shutterspeed level with your fingers on top of the casing and look into the viewfinder to watch the metering. You can get to see all these functions control in the LCD display screen which is very much convenient for lazy people like ME! :P


Prepare... and Snap! After playing around with the MF for something. I get too tired. Each picture I took needs nearly about 10 minutes or more because I need to search for the correct settings. Then I suddenly discovered one small button beside the trigger. It's a focus button! By clicking onto the button as you point your camera to an object, the camera will automatically focus for you! So it's like auto focus in manual focus mode! Confusing? Yeah, many will say here that better put in the AF mode and just point and shoot. But the camera does not always know what you wanna focus at. Besides, in AF mode, your can't move your focus area to the side. So basicall, the rule of A third would be hard in practice.


A close up view of the birthday card. Noticed that the front part is kind of blurry but the center part is sharp and clear. This is the bokeh effect.


My dad always tells me that a good picture, you need to have a subject, a background and a foreground. In this case, the birthday card is the subject, behind the window and plan is the background. There's no foreground. =.=" Conclusion, it's not a good picture?


Here the subject is the same and background is the laptop and wall poster. Also not a good picture? But this picture shows a distant effect. This means that you're short-sighted, and you can only see things clearly but the further away, the blurry it is...


This two picture here and below shows the bokeh effect and the different focal area. In the picture the plant is crystal sharp and clear, but the card isn't. This means that focal area is at the plant.


On the other hand, without moving the camera but changing the focal point, the card become clear and the plant blurred. This, I can concluded that, I've bought the right camera... ^.^;;


Now you see...


Now you blur... This is how our eyes works. Unfortunately, mine weren't that good. So this is a good excuse for me to bring my camera everywhere? ^.^

Will be posting up more sample photos with my new baby. But if you are already hyped up and really want to get this camera, click the link below and buy it ba~! No regrets serious!

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 Digital Camera (Black) (10.1MP, 3" LCD, Mega O.I.S., 24mm Wide Angle, ISO 3200)