Recently I acquired a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 digital camera (birthday present to myself). This camera is a high quality device disguised as a compact point-and-shoot.

When I’m backpacking, I’m often in the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever experienced and strongly wish I had my DSLR along, but I’m not going to haul it for long trips. So a few months ago I started looking for a ‘professional’ compact (meaning flexibility via manual controls) with a good wide lens. Not surprisingly, the market for this type of camera is pretty small – someone who cares that much about the lens and control is probably going to go for an SLR (especially at that price point) – and choices are somewhat limited. But us backpackers – well, we’re really good and compromising and balancing function, weight, price, and convenience, and a small camera that’s going to get me as close to the SLR quality and experience as possible is something I’m willing to spend some $$ and research time on.

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