Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 digital compact camera - Wide angle DSLR bridg

[Debz77]

Dear All,

I'm off on a walking holiday fairly soon and i'm after a lightweight camera that's easy to bac-pac with. I'm not worried about changing lenses and was thinking perhaps a bridge camera. Ideally with raw format.

I've had a look at the Lumix DMC-LX3 digital compact with its wide angle as landscapes will definitely be order of the day. Can anyone recommend this or any others?

That will be my max budget (ie: £300).

Your thoughts and ideas will be much appreciated

Debbie

[alanS]

I wish that I could personally recommend it...I'd love an LX3. I have an LX2 and I think that the controls will be very similar and as they allow relatively easy manual control as well as the auto modes I think you'll be pleased. It'll shoot RAW too and although mine is slow to write (it records RAW and an unwanted JPEG simultaneously, no way to stop it recording JPEG on the LX2) speed is not really an issue for me.

There's no built in optical viewfinder but I think that there's an attachment and the zoom range is quite limited but all in all I want one.

BTW. There's a good review over at dpreview.

[nspur]

Have you looked at the Ricoh Caplio GX series? 24-72 lens, auto or full manual, you can get an electronic viewfinder for it. The 100 series is better than the 200 and you might find one with the viewfinder for under £300 new. I have one and I take it away every time. The LX3 looks identical spec though lens a bit shorter and price higher.

[alanS]

Best check the reviews though as the LX3 seems to be better received than the Ricoh Caplio, which seems to have a lot of noise, according to the reviews.

[Debz77]

Thanks everyone, that's helpful.

Debbie