Panasonic's 2010 enthusiast compact — an LX3 successor and sibling of the Leica D-Lux 5.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5, announced in July 2010, succeeded the influential LX3 at the top of Panasonic's compact range and is the sibling of the Leica D-Lux 5.
A 10.1MP 1/1.63-inch CCD with a fast Leica DC Vario-Summicron 24-90mm equivalent f/2.0-3.3 zoom, raw capture, full manual control, a lens-barrel aspect switch and a hot shoe taking the DMW-LVF1 clip-on EVF - hence the viewfinder kits in UK listings.
One of the definitive pre-RX100 enthusiast compacts, swept up in the digicam revival where its CCD rendering is now a selling point; the D-Lux 5 relationship props up prices.
Used buying: check the rear click-push thumb dial first - the LX5's best-known failure; look for dust between elements against a bright surface; if a viewfinder kit, confirm the LVF1 powers up (it alone trades for a meaningful sum); genuine batteries matter as firmware rejects many clones.