Get a 3M Microfiber and a blower. Lenspen is good too. But nothing beats indirect cleaning (no touching of lenses). If that doesn't work, then fall back to either Microfiber cloths or the lenspen. Try not to use any cleaning agent. 3M Microfibers have a layer of 'oil' which effectively cleans without harming the coating.

Hmmm... I think the High Dynamic mode shouldn't be confused with HDR. The High Dynamic feature is just like the Shadow Optimization feature found on most cameras. It is meant to balance the exposure of the subject if the background is very bright or there exist a high contrast lighting. In the situation, the subject would be very dark because the camera will attempt to compensate exposure of the background. If it doesn't do this, the background would be overexpose and the brightness will bleed into the rest of the picture. As a result of this compensation on exposure the subject will naturally turn dark.

This really is the limitation on sensor because its dynamic range is narrow especially for a sensor this small. This High Dynamic feature allows it to give priority to the subject during exposure compensation to prevent it from being expose too dark. This feature is available now because Panasonic has found a way to increase the exposure compensation to +/-3 than the original +/-2.

However, nothing beats a real HDR. If you're on FB, join up the Panasonic Lumix page where the photographers show photos from their Tibet Expedition. Those pictures were taken with TX7 and using HDR photo technique.

I think the firmware v2.0 is not an incremental update but a full update. In firmware update process, the system wipes out the entire EROM space and then rewrite it entirely according to the new firmware you wish to flash. This is called flashing. Not to be confused with program updates typical on a PC where it can dynamically change certain files while retaining others.

Hmmm doesn't sound good. Probably the server is down. What about older firmware updates like v1.1, 1.2, 1.3? Is it still there? If they are its definitely a update recall. Probably due to some issues.

Nobody's fault hehehe its an acceptable issue of CCD sensors. You'll get bad 'flares' if you shoot up a high contrast and brightness background. But it will not show in the photos. Which is why most DSLR with LiveView have move up to CMOS sensors. The larger the sensor is, the worse 'flaring' you'll get. Its already bad on the LX3 and its sensor size is like what? Just 20% of 4/3 size?

And I don't know why CMOS sensors don't have this problem. Probably I should read about it. I do have a high-end Sony AVCHD camcorder using a CMOS sensor for video recording (a first in the industry?). Shoot it up at a high contract and brightness background, guess what? No flaring.

Don't think so lor... hehehe... cause optical zoom capability is hardware related. The firmware can only improve handling and operations performance. Of course it can also add features but still within the limits of the hardware. Perhaps they can add one more 1x on the digital zoom? Thats doable. But it'll have to strain the noise reduction capabilities. Guess they would have to improve on that first.

Personally I'm more concerned with the white balance and AF speed. The v2.0 seem to be more consistent now.

Here's more resources to read up on why CCD sensors have that effect. Its called sensor blooming and it is a known issue only with CCD sensors. CMOS do not exhibit these properties.

http://www.awaiba.com/en/technology/
http://www.photonfocus.com/html/eng/cmos/c...chnologyEng.pdf
http://www.engineeringtalk.com/news/mlt/mlt106.html

So that basically concludes my explanation. CMOS sensors just don't bloom. Since LX3 uses CCD, we have this problem. It is important to note that this isn't really a big problem but rather an inconvenience during photo framing. And yes it ruins the experience.

Here are more documents which explains why CMOS is a better choice (depending on application) for fast cameras and live-view.

http://www.dvxuser.com/jason/CMOS-CCD/
http://www.turnkey-solutions.com.au/cam_%2..._technology.htm

Now we do know that a camera with live-view will have to operate the sensor at full time. This is where CMOS is a good choice because it is energy efficient. And because it does not require a lot of power to operate them, they operate cooler. If it operates cooler, noise is usually lesser. Imagine a full time CCD, you're gonna need a lot of 'cooling circuits'. Also CMOS scans and deposits information faster so it is very useful for highspeed cameras. And by high speed cameras, I don't mean those 1D, 1Ds, D3, D3x and the likes. I mean slow-mo cameras where they capture thousands of frames in a second.

This post has been edited by davidmak: Oct 7 2009, 11:03 AM

I think the LX3's Venus engine is unable to handle the processing power required to encode in AVCHD. So far I see only Venus HD processors with AVCHD capability. Venus 4 only Motion JPEG at HD resolutions (720).

Check back a few pages. Hint: Metz 36AF-4 something someting. Hint2: Key Color, Midvalley.

I would say more than enough for the camera. Just one weakness, no swivel. Another brand call Falcon Eye has it. The rest is similar. But among all 3rd party flashes, I trust Metz more.

Most flashes work with the LX3 because their triggering pins are same. But the rest of the pins are not, so you don't get TTL and other compensations specific to your own camera model. Also some flashes have different trigger voltage and you don't want to spoil your cam or the flash.

Don't worry, firmware updates are not incremental but includes all updates done previously. Firmware updates are not software updates when they patches certain files while leaving some other files intact. Firmware updates are usually entirely due to the way things work. So ya, you can definitely skip numbers here.

The Metz 36 is indeed 'over simplified' with only an on/off switch, pilot LED and a test button. However, most of its function can be set from the camera's menu system. Which is exactly Metz's way of lowering the price for its products. Yes, it does make things more troublesome but it works.

The ultimate disadvantage the Metz 36 has is the missing swivel function. That more or less kills it. The 48 AF-1 is perhaps too big and more expensive. I hope they will upgrade the Metz 36 to include swivel function. That'll be great.

Have you tried KeyColor midvalley?

Me is a good example . Got lured into that shxt. Hahahaha... keep buying and buying. The first few weeks of owning a DSLR is dangerous. Every weekend you'll buy something.

You may want to try a different browser?

The Panasonic camera firmware update mechanism detects during boot up whether there's a firmware file on the root directory. Picture files are put in a separate sub-directory or folder. The camera will not initiate a firmware update if the firmware file is within the picture folder because it has got to be in the root directory. Otherwise the criteria is not satisfied and it won't go initiate the firmware upgrade procedure.

During firmware upgrade, the camera will read from the firmware file as it re-programs its own internal ROM replacing old code. It will not do anything with whatever files in the picture folder so the pictures will be safe. However, it is a good idea to backup or transfer all files to PC. Just in case.

This post has been edited by davidmak: Dec 4 2009, 05:07 PM

I wouldn't say same image quality as A200 or any DSLR for that matter but its close. At the most ideal conditions, you'll get comparable image quality. But DSLR is more versatile on the 2 ends of of the said condition. That is high contrast conditions and low light conditions. The LX3's dynamic range isn't as wide as a DSLR due to the smaller sensor size (a lot smaller) while low light performance isn't too good unless you nail the exposure just right or has a flash with you. The LX3 does have its limit. After all it is a compact camera but with DSLR controls. So use it intelligently.

In terms of portability, the LX3 is really handy and it can take HD videos provided you have a large enough memory card. I would say, the LX3 is damn fine instrument for publishing photos on the web. For other more serious works, you'll need a DSLR.

Long time already. But I find it a little annoying because it always show the message. I think there's a setting to disable it I think.

Maybe should set to manual (M) mode? Whatever position the flash head is, it'll compensate. If not bright enough can still play with the flash compensation. Bounce light better right?

Where did you buy this? I'm using the hard type too and its really troublesome since I had to manage the straps too while zipping.

Yes, like Hico have just said. You need to start the camera in Pictures Playback/Review mode. Meaning to say, before you switch the camera from OFF to ON state... you need to switch the other switch from CAMERA to PLAYBACK state. This will set the camera to access the appropriate folders prior to booting up. If it finds an appropriate firmware file, it will prompt for your decision.