Panasonic LF1 replacement
Oct 20, 2015
I bought a Panasonic LF1 soon after it came out, about 2 years ago, and it has been a decent camera for me until now.
I love its
- physical form factor: is small enough to actually fit comfortably in a pants pocket
- image quality; is just good enough for my needs
- zoom range: I like at least 4X optical zoom
Unfortunately, I recently started seeing a hair-like smudge in the bottom right of all of my images. Here is an example:
Hair-like smudge comes up from the bottom edge, on the right half
I have had similar smudges develop in my last 2 cameras over time. I have been told by camera repair shops that dust eventually gets inside the lens and causes this. The last time this happened, the shop (in Bangkok) attempted to fix it, but ended up ruining the camera...
So, unless one of you knows of a reputable camera repair shop, it looks like I am going to have to replace my LF1.
What are your favorite models in the premium compact class?
Glancing thru dpreviews just now, here are a few candidates that I have found, along with my quick thoughts:
- Canon PowerShot G7 X : love these huge BSI CMOS sensors; has decent zoom; is a bit thicker than I would like
- Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV : compared to the G7 X, has worse zoom but better video; same bit too thick size
- Olympus Tough TG-4 : best in class tough camera, surely worse image quality than the others above, but maybe it will actually keep dust out of the lens (plus has lots of other cool features)
I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.
By the way, I need to get this new replacement camera by 2015-12-20, as I will start doing major traveling again then.