LX5 and 10BAR housing review

[Puffer Fish]

I did a couple of images without the strobe (remember once raised the strobe is on) by setting it in automatic, and then using setting where the strobe did not fire...

Was not happy with the white balance correction after the fact, but that may be due to the blue water, and all the junk floating in it.. not sure, need to take some where I know what the results will be.

 

[Puffer Fish]

This is a non-stobe image taken in about 70 ft, using the 24mm equv. lens setting.... wish the color was better, but the effect is rather interesting...almost looks 3D

 

[Puffer Fish]

A quick comment about shooting in macro mode... the camera can (not always) take longer to focus.. it depends on where the lens was focused..if it has to make a long travel, it takes longer.. if it was just focused around the same distance, it was pretty fast.. but during the travel, one can take an out of focus picture...which I did on several occations.

 

[Puffer Fish]

On the 4th day, I finally got all the setting to work well, and found I could easily hold the camera with one hand and take pictures... every one would be in focus (if I just waited some of the time) and every one was exposed correctly...

 

[Puffer Fish]

Image quality wise, it is better that my S90... and very, very close to my G10 (if the G10 is set to iso 80).

Am very happy with the results:

 

[Puffer Fish]

There is one other interesting aspect to this camera... it uses a multi-aspect sensor. Unlike other cameras, the LX-5 (and the GH series) have a larger sensor and use different parts of it for different aspects settings.

So if you switch from the normal 4 x 3 to 16 x 9, the camera actually has a wider view. That allows you to recover some of the area lost by going thru a flat port. How much? Well it widens the image by just under 10%. Roughly speaking you loose (if I remember correctly) something over 30% and going to 16 x9, you get back around 10% or that.

Not real wide angle, but far better than any other P&S can do.

 

[Ryan]

Is the second image just the lens at full wide behind a flat port (no accessory lens)?

 

[cardog]

This is the LX5 housing that needs to come to north america.
UWdigitalcamera.com :: Compact camera housing :: High Grade housings :: RecSea Panasonic LX-5 housing

 

[Puffer Fish]

Is the second image just the lens at full wide behind a flat port (no accessory lens)?

Hi, Ryan. Yes, but it was not set at 16 x 9, so it could have been another 10% wider. Vis was around 25 ft at best.. at a depth of around 70.

Oddly there, all the bottom growth is pretty much ugly browns and grey colors, with some fire coral (with is sort of orange/yellow, but under the very blue water is now green)

I have several wideangle lens (which I got from your store), but did not bring them (as learning a new camera usually takes me some time). Not sure how they will work, as the lens, from the 24mm position begins to retract as you zoom out.. and then moves back out. Looks like somethingh around 35 - 50 mm is the most pulled back.

 

[Puffer Fish]

This is the LX5 housing that needs to come to north america.
UWdigitalcamera.com :: Compact camera housing :: High Grade housings :: RecSea Panasonic LX-5 housing

Nice looking housing... but don't know a thing about it.

My housing needs are pretty simple:

1. The case must not damage the camera (anyone at ike listening?)

2. It does not leak if I do the right things.

3. I can hold onto the camera with one hand and shoot - part setup balance and part shape.

4. The shutter is sensitive enough to allow a half depress.

5. It works if you take it deep (like 140 ft or so).

6. The fiber optic system works..

Pretty much anything else I can deal with...but miss any of the above and I am not a happy person... the 10Bar setup does all of the above really well.