Since there have been many requests from members here for examples of the LX3's extended optical zoom capabilities, I thought it best to test the entire zoom range (optical and digital).



TEST DETAILS:

I put the camera on 'M' mode (Manual). Switched stabilization off. Put camera on a tripod. Used 2 second timer for each exposure. File resolution was set at 2 megapixel to enable the maximum digital zoom capability of 17.9x. Metering was center-average (subsequent gamma compensation matched the exposure levels of each image.)



I noticed that the LX3's zoom range from minimum to maximum was now spread out in 19 steps... as mentioned below:

1x
2x
3x
4x
4.5x
5x
6x
7x
8x
9x
10x
11x
12x
13x
14x
15x
16x
17x
17.9x

As you can see from the zoom steps mentioned above, there is no 2.5x step available anymore. I guess when digital zoom is activated at a resolution of 2 megapixel, the 2.5x step is not available (since extended optical zoom is available right up to 4.5x, after which the zoom becomes digital.) I hope I am correct in my assumption here.

A strange thing I noticed was that the increase from 4x to 4.5x wasn't much i.e. very slight difference in magnification. Since I do not rule out an error in testing, perhaps someone else in the near future will run a similar test and report back here if this is true for their LX3's too.

Here are the JPEGS (with the zoom range printed in 'red text' at the upper left corner of each image for your visual reference):


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3234/2830307371_59c9992a35_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3024/2831141928_52bc6d8139_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3067/2831142606_8a6c3821f9_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3265/2830308059_10e971faaa_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3141/2831142396_e1c7c6529b_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/2831143130_79125832c3_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3258/2830308623_f3a5515d4e_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2830308809_78a300d38a_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/2830308235_1bc017b602_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3012/2830309307_ee81e33430_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3050/2830309165_5bdd730b49_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3223/2831143630_bdda810e59_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/2831144220_907550e515_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3257/2830310013_5059616083_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3064/2830309833_c178dc5bf0_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/2830309667_3ed4467690_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3007/2830310203_9d2e6ec342_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3055/2830310363_864cd72b6b_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/2830307511_ae9d4d831f_o.jpg







For sake of visual convenience, I have provided below a low resolution (256-color) animation for you to easily see the changes in magnification happening one after the other. This is almost akin to a simulated view of the LX3's LCD. Since this animation is a large 4.3 MB .gif file, please do allow enough time for all nineteen frames to download. NOTE: The animation runs in a continuous loop with frames changing every 2 seconds.



http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3041/2830226461_0f50bdbc09_o.gif





Hope this post helps you to understand better the Extended Optical Zoom and Digital Zoom capability of this camera.


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Click

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1114/747659743_7e4ec7c30d_o.jpg