My LX3 is having more and more problems. Previously, memory cards gave occasionally write errors, which were fortunately curable by reinserting the card. And since going back to shooting jpeg instead of RAW+jpeg I haven't had any problems, so this may be a software problem instead of hardware.
Also, I have noticed that the zoom is no longer smooth, there is a short of abrupt jerk somewhere in the middle of the range. This problem appeared also a couple of weeks ago.
Today new problems appeared. I was out at a playground with the chilren, and took a few photographs of the foggy landscape. But when shutting the camera, the lens didn't retract properlly all the way but instead stuck about 3 mm outside the barrel. I switched the camera on again, and then off, and the same thing happened. Then when I switched the camera on again, it didn't start at all but instead gave instructions to switch the camera off and on again. After a few cycles of this, the camera finally agreed to retract the lens.
At home, when I tried the camera again, it worked as it used to, including that small jerk in the zoom when extending the lens.
But later today I ran into another problem. When switching on the camera, the lens extended, retracted, extended again, and there was a notice on the screen: "system error (zoom)". After shutting the camera (the lens retracted ok) and switching it on again, there was a similar kind of extent-retract cycle, but then the camera started to function properly once again.
The LX3 has been showing problems almost daily now, so I'm afraid it soon needs repair. I have taken slightly under 29,000 photographs with it, so perhaps 30,000 photographs is a kind of limit in the durability. (As in cars, 3 years or 150,000 kilometers...) But fortunately I should be covered by the warranty if the camera soon breaks.
I have been thinking whether I should buy another camera to supplement the LX3. My Ixus 400 is broken (E18 error, stuck lens) and I'm not willing to start shooting film with the Minolta XG-1. And my Nokia E90 cameraphone is probably one of the worst cameras ever in terms of usability.
But what choices are there? The G10 is a possibility, but it is bigger, and there is an f/2.8 lens instead of f/2.0 and more noise that on the LX3. The new Fuji F200 EXR has an interesting sensor, but no manual focusing, and typical Fuji usability problems, such as no histogram display.
Another choice would be the Panasonic G1, but I'm not interested in bigger cameras. Also, I would need several lenses to cover my needs, and currently there are limited choices in the selection. And of course there is no lens giving the same capabilities as on the LX3, from 1 cm macro photography to 24 mm wide landscape photography.
So, buy another LX3 just in case? This seems to be the best choice at the moment, although I would need to pay more that I paid originally for the LX3. (The discount price of 399 euro was a great deal.)
The photographs are from today, showing the wet and foggy/clouded landscape.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Lens problems with the Panasonic LX3 - should I buy another just in case?
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21 comments:
It sounds like you've pushed this camera way past its intended use threshold! :-) 29,000 images! Dang!
I'm afraid so. End of life seems to be close for the little LX3.
Yesterday I had a close look at the Canon G10 specs, and it doesn't sound too bad as an alternative, although it is larger and especially much heavier (405 g vs. 265 g with battery). And the price of the G10 is the same as of the LX3 here in Finland.
What I got me interested in the G10 again was reading a report on the durability of equipment on a two week long photographic expedition to Antarctica at Luminous Landscape. There were a lot of G10 cameras on the expedition, and none had problems, although some professional-grade DSLRs failed, especially several of the Canon 5D MKIIs.
30,000 images for about 400 Euros (350 in Germany) that means about 1.33 Cents/image.
That's quite cheap.
@Rauchbier: I agree, the LX3 has not been an expensive investment, but nevertheless I was expecting a bit more durability of the camera.
Have you tried a new battery?
I have two batteries, both have a lot of power. On the average I can take 500-600 photos with one charge, so that shouldn't be a problem.
Have you tried resetting the camera?
1. First change settings to Default.
2. Take out the battery and press & hold the power button for 5 seconds.
3. Don't insert the other battery for at least 20mins to drain any memory.
@Anonymous: I think I'll do the reset as a last resort, before sending the camera for repairs. I have done a lot of tweaks (custom settings etc.) and wouldn't like to lose them. And my impressions is that this isn't really a software problem - but I could be wrong of course.
No problem... I fully understand on not wanting to lose your settings.
I have mine written down because I had to reset once (the lens stuck and wouldn't retract).
There was something in my settings that was playing up with the camera and it's my belief corruption fed in.
The reset and other tips I mentioned cleared the problem.
@Anonymous: Your experiences suggest that this could indeed be a software problem. Yesterday and today the camera worked without problems, so I haven't had yet need to test your recipe, but I very much appreciate your views on the problem.
No problem Juha.
I'll continue to monitor your Blog for the next week to see if you need any further assistance.
btw... I must recommend you going over to the Panasonic Talk section of DPReview.com
There you will find the largest community of the entire forum with many, many LX3 users.
You have a previous camera, an Ixus, also with a stuck lense. Could be that you carry your cameras in a dirty pocket? Dust and other things creeping in the lens assembly? Just a thought.
The Ixus 400 lens got stuck after I gave it to the children to use - the youngest one dropped the camera... She made some interesting motion-blur photographs, by pressing the shutter and whirling around.
About Dpreview: I have been following the Panasonic forum, but my message on this topic didn't provide answers, just more open questions. It is indeed a lively forum.
Hey man!
I have had both LX3 and D-LUX 4 now, the small "jerk" is normal and happens out of box with both cameras i owned. The fact that the lens does not retract is not normal.
Just put it for warranty repair and you will be good to go!
Good to know about the jerk being standard. Thus this would be just a case where you invent "symptoms" when you don't have reliable comparison point.
The camera has worked well for two days now, so I'm still hoping it works and that was just a temporary hiccup. And I'm still pondering about getting another camera to you when not having the LX3.
Did you manage to resolve this issue?
My LX3 started doing something similar. The camera thinks the lens cap is still on, even when it isnt...
@rich: The symptoms disappeared, and haven't appeared since. (I'm now at over 48,000 images taken with the LX3.) The reason was perhaps moisture, or some such temporary reason.
just a guess, maybe condensation freezing in the camera, it looks fairly cold in those pictures.
I got my LX3 3 about two weeks ago...i was not able to use it at once because of my busy schedule. When finally i got time i tried using it....excited with the results immediately attached it to my computer to check the pictures and it really was satisfying. When i was about to use the camera again, the lens keep popping in and out and was giving the "remove the lens cap and press any key" message when in fact the lens cap was no longer attached. I tried turning the unit off and on for several times but the same problem occured until such time that even my unit was in off positioin the lens was still in extended position. Then Finally i got the same message like yours..."System error(zoom)" Now after paying and using it for maybe 20 shots only, my LX3 is in the service center for Replacement (i hope) or repair
You have had bad luck with the camera. Mine works still ok, more than 82,000 images taken with it so far, and no problems during the recent months. I hope you get soon one which works ok.
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