Then my Alien Bees ABR800 Ring flash died. Arg. but they were great and are sending me a replacement! So hopefully I’ll be okay. Other light is a Canon 580ex fired in a softbox… but I am not sure I am going to use it like that or gridded. Still playing.

These were actually taken with my Panasonic LX3!

So I bought a Canon 40D the other day. I love my Canon 1DmkIII but I have always wanted a lighter, carry everyday, anywhere camera. I figured also with Eveyln’s wedding coming up, I would have two bodies to shoot. Plus, I got a great deal… I know I know… we are in a recession.

So the 40D came in and it is a lovely body. I shot some test images with it and they came out very nice… similar to my 1DmkIII. And it was much nicer and smaller than my 1DmkIII. I had two problems. I all of a sudden found myself looking at wide wide lenses to make up for the 1.6 crop factor (specifically the Tokina 11-16mm and 12-24mm). And I am was stuck in the same dilemna when I considered getting a 5D second body… WHICH BODY DO I USE! It is smaller but not that much smaller especially when you smack a big L lens on it. I ended up turning around and selling it again.

I looked at my Canon G7 again. Man, never really happy with the images that came out of it. So I started poking around the worst websites for this stuff… www.dpreview.com, www.fredmiranda.com and www.photo.net and an interesting camera popped up: the Panasonic DMC-LX3. It is a mirror of the Leica D-Lux 4 (I was looking at the Leica D-Lux 3 which mirros the Panasonic LX2). I saw some samples on www.theblogisfound.com (if I could be half the photographer this wife and husband team are… I’d be extremely happy). I was SOLD! SOLD! SOLD!

Only problem, I missed a sweet $100 of pre-order sale and they were looking like $450-$500 online now. But low and behold, I found one locally on Craigslist! Picked it up on Saturday and have been enjoying all weekend.

It is tiny. Not backpocket tiny but definitely jacket pocket tiny. The lens protrudes about 1/2 an inch from the body giving it’s real depth. The best thing about this camera though… 24-60mm f/2.0-f/2.8 Leica lens!!! That is seriously wide. And seriously fast. The sensor is also bigger (similar to the Sigma DP1) than normal P&S cameras. I have to say, this is the first P&S that I have been happy with its image quailty. I decent ISO to 400… usable beyond. And it shoots HD (1280×720) video! Forget the Canon 5D mkII. Ha!

The drawbacks? No RAW converter available yet… but I am sure it will come. And this removable lenscap. What is that? It is as annoying as anything. Why would they do that! I looked at some of the other high-end P&S and same thing. I think I will eventually get the lens adapter so I can put a filter on it. It defeats the “ride in my bag” camera if the lens is all scratched up (especially if it is a Leica lens) and it just is cumbersome to be taking the lens cap on and off. They include a thin little leash but it is still kinda goofy.

Oh well… you can’t have everything but with the LX3, you are pretty damn close.

Oh… this definitely doesn’t mean I am getting rid of my Canon 1DmkIII anytime soon. Having a DSLR and a P&S (that I love), I now clearly know when to bring which.