New Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 confirmed

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 Black
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 White

Panasonic has leaked details of the Lumix DMC-LX5. This is the much anticipated replacement of the Lumix DMC-LX3.

Like the LX3, the new LX5 features a larger than average sensor (8x6mm rather than the standard 6x4mm), a very wide aperture of f/2.0 and 720p HD video (now with AVCHD).

The LX5 has a few key improvements:

  • More zoom: 3.8x (24-90mm) vs 2.5x (24-60mm)
  • Faster burst (6fps with some limitations vs 2.5fps, even up to 10fps at lower resolutions)
  • Uses the new AVCHD codec (in addition to Motion JPEG)
  • ISO up to 12,800 (vs 6,400) which hopefully indicates some image quality improvements in the new sensor

I expect it will retail initially for about USD $500, and will be available in both black and white in the US. See Panasonic’s specs page for more details.

Here are some preliminary details about the LX5 at Snapsort:

Also, you can browse other pro digicams at Snapsort. This may mean we’ll see a D-LUX 5 from Leica, since the D-LUX 4 is Leica’s version of the LX3.