Next week Panasonic will introduce a successor to the LX7 (sold by Leica as the D-Lux 6) and it could turn out to be a lot more than a simple upgrade. It is rumoured to pack a 4/3 sensor which is 3.3 times the size of the 1/7 sensor in the LX7.
Hints are that the new LX7 will be called the LX100 which is more evidence that Sony is in Panasonic’s sights (get it….RX100, LX100?). If true, the LX100 will have a sensor twice as big as that in the Sony. A dethronement of the current compact king is likely.
The rest of the rumoured specification is just as exciting: A 24-75mm f/1.7-2.8 ASPH Leica zoom and a 2.8Mp electronic viewfinder. It will have built-in wifi and near-field communication, a maximum ISO of 25,600 and will be capable of recording 4k video.
Panasonic has already shown how to cram a 4/3 sensor into the tiny GM1 body so it is likely that the new camera, with its fixed lens, could be slightly smaller than the current LX7. The built-in viewfinder is intriguing and some commentators are hoping that it will be a tilting design similar to that in the Panasonic GX7.
The new Panasonic will be launched on Monday, the day before the opening of Photokina on the 16th. If I am right and this is indeed the replacement for the LX7 (and not a higher model in the range), could it be possible that there will be a Leica version to come? The D-Lux 6 is certainly ripe for upgrade.
Hope you are right on this….. I’ve owned an RX100 and it was a great camera but I didn’t like the handling and the Sony menus. The one inch sensor was the big attraction so if I can have a camera of similar size with four thirds sensor and viewfinder i am definitely interested. This could set new benchmarks for compact cameras.