I received my gorgeous new Panasonic Lumix LX3 yesterday and took a little trip to downtown Pomona to shoot a few test shots.  You can see the small set HERE.  While  I was there, I also stopped by the studio of my friend Father Bill Moore, but I’ll save that for another post.  Back to the LX3.  I’ve just barely gotten it out of the box, but this camera is simply brilliant.  Fantastic exposure, vivid, realistic colors and macros that are sharp as a tack (as you can see above).  I’ll have more as I spend more time shooting with it, but for now I am just thrilled with it.

Last Saturday, I dropped by the studio of my friend Father Bill Moore.  As usual, his studio was filled with brilliant new work.  As we were looking through the new pieces, I asked him about the state of the art market in light of the recent financial meltdown and if he had been affected by it.  “Not at all”, he responded.  “The last several months have been great.”  He paused for a moment, then turned to me.  “Now is the time you should be doing your best work”, he said.  “Now is when art is more important than ever.”  As we continued looking at his paintings, he went on to explain that with so much of their lives upside down, people want to connect with something real, something beautiful, something that brings them joy, happiness, or comfort. Art allows that connection.  Art creates silence so that we can connect, if only for a moment, to color, texture, form, to our own memories and experiences.  Discussing art allows us to connect with others who may have a wholly different reaction to a given piece, which in turn builds a new experience.

I so appreciate Father Bill and our conversations.  The visits never seem long enough, yet each time I leave his studio, his words linger with me for days and fill me with inspiration.  Father Bill was one of the first people I showed my own work to, when I started painting again a little more than a year ago.  He is wonderfully supportive and engaging, while offering insightful, constructive criticism that (hopefully) makes me a better painter.   I spent several days thinking about what he said and have gone in a different direction with some new work, which is shaping up to be some of my best so far.

I should have photographs of at least one of the new pieces up this week, but that is really in FedEx’s hands now since I am still waiting for my LX3.  Regarless, do yourself a favor…go visit some of your local galleries.  If possible, go on the opening night of the show, when you can talk to the artists who are exhibiting, as well as the cadre of local artists who often come to support their friends or just to mingle in “the scene”.  In my experience, the artistic community is a wonderfully supportive group and is filled with some of the most genuinely interesting people you are likely to meet.

A while back, I decided that I really didn’t need a DSLR as my “walking around camera”, but instead wanted something smaller and more discreet, which would fit the more urban/street photography that I am really drawn to. I was having a tough time finding a camera with “point and shoot stealth”, while still providing quality that could approach or even rival a DSLR. Enter the Panasonic LX3. Now, before you start sending me angry emails, I am in no way suggesting that the LX3 is in the same ball park as the Canon 5D MkII, or the Nikon D300. But, with a 24mm f/2.0 Leica lens, 10 megapixel sensor, image stabilization, the ability to shoot HD video and ultra-cool retro styling, it’s certainly no slouch either! Still, as is my process with these types of things, I read every review I could, not only from the usual sites like dcresource.com, imaging-resource.com and luminous-landscape.com, but also (and perhaps with more interest) the reviews of actual users. The “pro” reviews are important, especially when they use terms like “stunning” or “publication quality” to describe the image quality. But, for me the real reviews are from people without dedicated studios and calibration equipment, preoccupied with accurately measuring barrel distortion and start up times. Granted these things should be important parts of the equation, but they are not the ONLY parts. I want to see photos from people using the camera…and fortunately there are several flickr users (in particular PermanentTraveller and cocoip) who have purchased the LX3 and are sharing some wonderful photos. These users, along with the fantastic LX3-based images on Finnish photographer Juha Haataja’s blog, helped me to determine that the LX3 was the perfect camera for my type of shooting. So, if you are in the market for a new camera, and are not sure if a DSLR is right for you, you would do well to check out the LX3.

I bought mine HERE