End User: Out-rangefindering the rangefinder: Panasonic LX3

Two years after the release of the LX2, Panasonic has released a new high-quality compact camera, the LX3. They made a slew of interesting changes to the design that run counter to the "pack-more-pixels-in" school of thought that dominates the compact market (and which they sated with the 14.7 megapixel FX150)

Here are the things to know about this camera:

They kept the pixel count the same (10 megapixels) but increased the physical sensor size, which theoretically will decrease image noise and increase dynamic range. Panasonic says it does this by 40 percent. This may be the "Hey, it worked for the D3" school of thought trickling down.
In addition to a more-sensitive sensor, the lens is also more light-sensitive, starting at f/2.0, more than twice as sensitive as most competitors' lenses, meaning lower ISOs are required.
The camera has a small zoom range, which goes from a nice, wide 24mm equivalent to a normalish 60mm. That's right, there's no telephoto on this camera.

Panasonic seems to be marketing this as a companion camera for advanced users who also own a dSLR but don't want to bring it everywhere, and I admit it is intriguing, but that target might be slightly off. This really is a camera for people who would love a digital rangefinder but don't want to spend the cash for a Leica M8. This makes sense, since Leica will doubtless rebrand this camera into a model of their own, as they do for many Panasonics.

What is the "rangefinder aesthetic" and how does this fit it? There are technical differences between SLRs and rangefinders -- rangefinders have a different focusing system, smaller lenses, and no slapping mirrors -- but they have always been wildly popular with "street shooters," people trying to capture basic daily life around the world, emulating famed photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. They were much smaller and quieter than big medium format cameras popular when they were first used, allowing photographers to shoot subjects, especially people, in less obtrusive ways. The rangefinder focusing system also made use of telephoto lenses very, very tricky, making the camera much more natural at shooting street scenes than songbirds.

Compact digital cameras not only do away with the SLR mirror, they don't have a shutter at all, so they can be quieter and smaller than any rangefinder dreamed of being. With a fast lens and better light sensitivity, this wide-to-normal range may be great for those people who like the unobtrusive reportage style that rangefinders popularized. Many advanced owners, though, may be looking for pure convenience -- if they want extreme quality, they'll get out their dSLRs. What a dSLR can't do well is shoot long telephoto without sizable lenses, so someone merely looking for an alternative to a weighty camera may look at other models like the Canon G9.

Still, I applaud Panasonic for going against the grain and releasing a compact that has clear differences from the body of the compact market. It will be interesting to see whether a new generation of photographers will pick up the "rangefinder aesthetic" with this camera. You'll be able to tell them apart as the ones who spring for the optical viewfinder attachment -- it's kind of hard for a camera to be unobtrusive if its entire back is glowing onto your face.