Camera Labs

Hey guys!

I ended up purchasing a Nikon D40 a while back over the LX3, and now I'm second guessing my decision. I can still sell the D40 and pick up an LX3, but don't want to do that and then be cursing my decision, lol. So I have a couple of questions for LX3 users:

1. How fast is the shutter response on the LX3? A large contention I've had with compacts is that when I press the shutter, it takes long enough for the picture to actually be taken that I lose the candid moment I'm aiming for.

2. How limiting do you feel its limited zoom range is? I find myself zooming pretty often, but am not sure if I use it enough to make the LX3's more limited zoom seem cumbersome.

3. If you bought yours in person, where did you buy it from? I'm having a really difficult time finding retailers who have a model I can test.

My concerns are that, right now, I feel really limited by the size of my D40 (it's too big to really be portable). I enjoy being able to take both normal and telephoto shots, I love the picture quality and I love the responsiveness of the camera. I am not a serious photographer, though, and I mainly use my camera for taking family/social gathering photos, with occatioanl dabbling in some more artistic photos from time to time. I also don't feel like I could travel with the D40, and I am planning on doing quite a bit of travelling over the next year.

Since I can only have one or the other, I would love your opinions on the LX3 and whether it is satisfying enough to take the place of a DSLR

Thank you in advance!

Sorry, no LX3 user here, but I am/was playing with the thought of getting one.

To find out how long your personal zoom should be I would recommend the free little software "exposureplot".

It told me - after analyzing my own photos on the harddrive - that I use in 85% of all photos a range under 70mm. That information was enough for me to really consider the LX3.

It also can tell which ISOs one prefers to use, btw.

You might want to give it a try.

regards,
HTG