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| Hand held auto pano LX100M2 |
The LX100M2 is a more capable camera than you might imagine given its small size and lack of promotion.
This post explores some of its capabilities.
Auto Panoramas I rated the original LX100 as the best auto panorama camera I had ever used. The Mk2 is just as capable and the extra pixels allow it to reveal a bit more detail. However the Mk2 requires a little more attention to good technique if the best possible results are to be achieved.
The camera can do very good auto panoramas in bright or dull light, indoors or outdoors, backlit or frontlit, with a variety of subjects.
As always with auto pano, architectural oblique lines cause the most stitching problems.
In the Panorama Settings I use Standard picture size and the lowest of the four direction options with the arrow pointing down.
I hold the camera in portrait orientation, handle up and swing from left to right for horizontal panoramas.
For vertical panoramas I hold the camera in landscape orientation and sweep from top to bottom.
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When handholding my practice is to:
* Pick an area of the subject on which to focus and set exposure. With the AF area in the center of the frame point the AF area at the selected subject area and half press the shutter button to lock in focus and exposure.
The final picture is a JPG so be aware that blown highlights cannot be recovered but dark shadows can be lifted.
* Swing the camera left to the start point of the pano sweep while holding the shutter half pressed.
* Fully depress the shutter and slowly and smoothly swing the camera to the right until the shutter sounds cease. It is very important to achieve and maintain the optimum speed of swing. Several, possibly many, practice runs will be required to gain familiarity with this.
* The camera can be tilted down or up (hold the same angle throughout the swing) but must be held vertical side-to-side.
On a tripod my practice is the same but the camera is easier to control when panning on the tripod.
Post capture I often run the photo through the Camera Raw Filter in Photoshop for adjustment to tonal relationships and sometimes color balance.
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| It was a very dark night. The only light sources are those you see in the frame. I could see no detail at all in the dark shadow areas as I was making the shot. LX100M2 Hand held, ISO 800, 1/15 sec F1.7. The shadows pulled up decently well in Adobe Camera Raw. |
Low light The LX100M2 can autofocus in very dark conditions so is suitable for low light work. The wide lens aperture of f1.7-2.8 helps as do the RAW files which behave well in Adobe Camera Raw. The Optical Image Stabiliser is a bonus, allowing moderate ISO settings to be used even in very low light.
Obsessional photographers seeking grainless pictures at high ISO settings should look elsewhere.
Those with the more practical aim of making good photos will be well pleased I think.
Some contributors to online forums appear to spend more time pixel peeping at 100% on a large monitor screen than they spend making and displaying actual photos.
I realised years ago that a bit of grain is no impediment at all to the creation of good prints.
Moving subjects In AFC and Burst Mode M the LX100M2 can readily follow focus on moving subjects. It can readily manage children running about at play.
On my tests it can reliably hold focus on motor vehicles approaching or moving away from the camera.
Indoor sports I have used the original LX100 for boys basketball with reasonable success. I find it best to lock focus at a suitable distance with AF Lock on the AF/AE Lock button and AF Lock hold ON.
With focus locked and the shutter speed on Shutter Priority at 1/500 second I hang about near one end of the playing area and start shooting when the players come within range.
I have managed some decent shots this way.