We decided that we needed to get a decent point and shoot camera for those times when it’s just not practical to lug around a big expensive camera AND at least 2 lenses whenever we think we might want to take a picture or two. Laaaaame. It makes me nervous to drag along the 5D MkII because let’s face it, it’s risky. Our current point and shoot camera is 4 years old and not really cutting it for my standards. So I did some research to come with our everyday camera that will pretty much stay with me everywhere we go. It’s the Panasonic Lumix LX3 and it should be arriving within a week.

I haven’t used it so I can’t speak from experience but after my obsessive compulsive research I’ve concluded that it is PERFECT. I can’t wait to play with it! It has everything you could hope for in a p+s camera (if you’re “downgrading” from a DSLR) with a super fast f2.0 Leica lens, RAW shooting mode, and an ideal 24mm up to 60mm focal length. Oh and it does shoot some okay 720p HD video. My shooting style tends to be on the wide angle end so the 24mm – 60mm focal length is not “limiting” to me in any way. The ISO goes all the way up to 3200 and with some post-processing on RAW files in Lightroom, images from the Panasonic Lumix LX3 should be not merely acceptable but outstanding.

We’ll still take the fancy camera gear with us for long vacations (unless it’s a big city trip probably) but the Panasonic Lumix LX3 will be with us 100% of the time regardless. I’ll look forward to using it when we’re out and about with the our son and carting the 5D around isn’t an option.