Panasonic Lumix DMC-LF1 review

IMAGE QUALITY – CLICK SAMPLE IMAGES TO ENLARGE

The video mode is good rather than great. Autofocus and zooming was smooth and virtually silent, and clips looked rich and detailed. It couldn’t match the razor-sharp details of the Nikon P330’s videos, though (review coming soon). Recording options include AVCHD at 1080-50i or MPEG-4 at 1080-25p, but it lacks the LX7’s 50p mode, slow motion capture and manual exposure control for videos. The camera can take photos while it’s recording videos, but these look suspiciously like 1080p video frames that have been up-scaled to 9-megapixels.

Otherwise, photo quality was extremely high. Brightly lit shots were packed with detail, with superb handling of subtle textures that’s rare to see from a compact camera. Comparing JPEG and raw output processed in Lightroom 5, there was very little to choose between them for fine detail. Focus wasn’t always as sharp into the corners of frames as it was from the LX7, but this was rarely a concern in practice. It’s annoying that Panasonic insists on enabling a digital zoom function in its Intelligent Auto mode – subjects appeared bigger but crisp details were replaced by blocky smudges. You’re better off cropping the photos on a PC later.

Smooth skin tones and crisp fine details are qualities we’d normally only expect from a much bigger sensor

Details in JPEGs pretty much match Lightroom 5’s handling of raw files – an astounding achievement

Details in this dense, dark foliage are exceptionally sharp, but focus deteriorates towards the edges at this focal length

Focus remains sharp at the full 200mm zoom extension…

…but extending into Panasonic’s inappropriately named Intelligent Zoom (left) makes subjects bigger but no less detailed. We got far better results by taking a photo without this digital zoom enabled and then enlarging in Photoshop (right)

Low-light shooting couldn’t live up to the LX7’s standards but it still fared well, especially when we kept to the wide end of the zoom. ISO 3200 photos looked grainy and vague under close inspection but looked great when resized to fit a computer screen or HD TV. We particularly like how the Auto mode used a faster shutter speed to avoid blur when it detected a moving subject. The sensor was still able to capture attractive photos that hadn’t succumbed to excessive noise.

We used shutter-priority mode at 1/400s to freeze motion, and this has pushed the ISO speed up to 1600. Image quality still looks pretty good though, with a light grain and plenty of detail

Details are looking a bit scruffy by ISO 3200, but it’s fine for posting online

The LX7 sets an extremely high standard, and although the LF1 isn’t as consistently impressive, it has its own set of strengths. On balance we prefer the LX7’s brighter, sharper lens and better video specifications, but the LF1’s bigger zoom, slimmer design, Wi-Fi and integrated viewfinder will no doubt be to others’ tastes. Other cameras offer bigger zooms or better low-light performance, but there’s a lot to be said for a camera that strikes a practical balance.