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Cameras

First Impressions: Panasonic LX1 II (Maybe the Best Cam for Street?)

Chris Gampat
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08/22/2018
4 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Panasonic LX1 Mk II first impressions product images 2

The Panasonic LX1 II keeps the body mostly the same, but takes the GX9’s internals and crams them in.

I’m not going to lie, I was wondering if the Panasonic LX1 was ever going to be replaced, and today Panasonic is announcing their new Panasonic LX1 II. The camera keeps pretty much everything that was great about the Panasonic LX1 but replaces the internals. Basically, take the Panasonic GX9 and smush it into this body. Yes, the lens is still a zoom–and though I’d much prefer it to be a fast prime I can totally understand why Panasonic would create a lens like this. But if you combine it with the Monochrome effects, it’s bound to be a camera that’s almost perfect for street photography. At least, in concept and theory it all makes sense to us.

Tech Specs

Taken from our notes during the meeting

  • ISO from 200 to 25,600
  • Pre-bundled flash
  • 17MP sensor but it is a 21.7MP sensor
  • 24-75mm f1.7-2.8, same lens as previous version
  • Multiple aspect ratio 3:2, 16:9 1:1 and 4:3
  • AFS will give you 11 fps burst
  • Aperture ring
  • Shutter speed dial
  • Exposure Compensation dial
  • 0.7x 2.784k dot LVF
  • 1.240k touch monitor
  • L Monochrome
  • L Monochrome D
  • Filter Effect
  • 4K photo
  • 30fps burst mode
  • Venus Engine (same as the GX9)
  • Grain effect
  • DFD AF
  • Post Focus
  • Bluetooth
  • Wifi
  • 3cm macro shooting abilities
  • 4K video 24p, 25p and 30p video
  • Same sensor as the GX9
  • 30 minute max shutter speed
  • 9 aperture blades on the lens
  • No low pass filter
  • No weather sealing
  • New grip style
  • Touch the screen to focus
  • $999 October availability

Ergonomics

If you look at the Panasonic LX1 Mk II, you’ll see a camera that looks very much like lots of newer rangefinder style body options that have been on the market. It, for the most part, has a pretty simple interface.

Said interface is best understood when looking at the Panasonic LX1 Mk II from the top. Here you’ll find the aspect ratio switch, the aperture ring, the shutter speed dial, exposure compensation, hot shoe, etc. This is what you’ll use to control the camera for the most part.

Come to the back of the Panasonic LX1 II and what you’ll spot here are a number of other controls including the touch screen and a number of other options like ISO control, drive control, etc.

 

Build Quality

What initially annoys me about the Panasonic LX1 II is that the company chose to not give it weather sealing. Why? Not totally sure. I’m of the belief that every camera made today should have weather sealing as a standard feature and that if it doesn’t, it’s not worth buying. Photographers tend to not only bring their cameras to work, but they sometimes come with us as we’re out relaxing and hanging out. Naturally, folks around us have a drink or two and sometimes spills happen. Or for those of us who don’t bend to ethanol, we like to go shooting in the rain. Weather sealing should have been included with this camera.

Otherwise, you can think of it as a small Leica in some ways. This is a comment on the ergonomics, the form factor, etc. If you like rangefinder style bodies then you’re going to like the Panasonic LX1 Mk II.

Ease of Use

The Panasonic LX1 Mk II has the company’s pretty simple menu interface that also works with the touchscreen. When it comes to working with the exposures and such, there is an aperture ring around the lens along with a dedicated shutter dial, etc. Think of is as the Fujifilm X100F with a smaller sensor and a zoom lens. You shouldn’t have any sort of troubles with setting your parameters.

Autofocus

In our short time with the camera (probably a few minutes) we found the autofocus to be fast and pretty reliable. But that was in an office. We’ll need to test it on the streets to get a final say in.

Image Quality

We weren’t allowed to put a card in the camera as what we held was a pre-production unit even with some firmware issues. But we’ll have a gallery up when we get our review unit.

Conclusions

On a very serious and honest note, the Panasonic LX1 II is a camera that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. It makes no sense to me why Olympus hasn’t created a camera like this and I’ve always really enjoyed compact point and shoots with large sensors and lots of capabilities. We’re eagerly expecting a review unit in.

camera four thirds leica lens panasonic panasonic lx1 II Panasonic LX1 Mk II rangefinder sensor
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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