A little gem, when it works.

[offertonhatter]

Yes, the title is a tad contentious, but this is due to a major design flaw - the control wheel.

After a few months or a couple of years of use, the wheel no longer responds. you end up with a camera with you cannot control, it sits at one aperture and exposure compensation.

I have found on here a fix that hopefully will work, which sorts out the issue of the wheel. I have been advised that it will work without sending the camera back and spending a lot of money for no reason, if Panasonic got their act together and admit the issue.

Having got that off my chest, the camera when it works is a little gem. I have always liked the LX series of Panasonics and this is no exception. Images are sharp due to the fast Leica designed lens, with wonderful colours and contrast.

Having a hot shoe as well is a boon, shame my Pentax MX-1 does not, as shooting with an external flash works beautifully, even my Pentax strobes in manual mode.

The feature set of aspect ratio, filters and reasonable control of DOF (remember this IS a small sensor) is very good.

It is a shame in many ways that the camera of this ilk has been replaced by newer and far more expensive 1" sensor models, as even now I am still very impressed with tiny powerful cameras like this that don't cost that much in relation to aformentioned 1" compacts, which even now are light years ahead of your smartphone.

Shame about the control wheel.

 

[Jon_R]

There is a thread in the LX-5 forum here in the Panasonic Compact Camera Talk about how to fix this problem, inexpensively and fast. Basically, it involves spraying an electrical contact cleaner inside - more properly, AT the wheel, letting it dry, then blowing some air inside to dislodge any residual dirt and to spread the liquid contact cleaner onto the wheel's contacts. More information in that thread.

Don' t give up on your LX-5 or LX-7 because the wheel stops working - if there's nothing physically broken inside, it can be fixed easily in about a minute!

 

[Erik Ohlson]

There is a thread in the LX-5 forum here in the Panasonic Compact Camera Talk about how to fix this problem, inexpensively and fast. Basically, it involves spraying an electrical contact cleaner inside - more properly, AT the wheel, letting it dry, then blowing some air inside to dislodge any residual dirt and to spread the liquid contact cleaner onto the wheel's contacts. More information in that thread.

Don' t give up on your LX-5 or LX-7 because the wheel stops working - if there's nothing physically broken inside, it can be fixed easily in about a minute!

Just curious - could you be more specific, or perhaps a link to the thread you are referring to?

That might be very helpful, thanks !



EDIT: Turns out the old post was nearby on the forum. Here it is:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3471559



--
"Measure wealth not by things you have but by things for which you would not take money"
www.flickr.com/ohlsonmh/ [email protected]

 

[telefunk]

There is a thread in the LX-5 forum here in the Panasonic Compact Camera Talk about how to fix this problem, inexpensively and fast. Basically, it involves spraying an electrical contact cleaner inside - more properly, AT the wheel, letting it dry, then blowing some air inside to dislodge any residual dirt and to spread the liquid contact cleaner onto the wheel's contacts. More information in that thread.

Don' t give up on your LX-5 or LX-7 because the wheel stops working - if there's nothing physically broken inside, it can be fixed easily in about a minute!

Just curious - could you be more specific, or perhaps a link to the thread you are referring to?

That might be very helpful, thanks !

Probably the rear thumb dial that you press for different functions; A crazy practical feature! I have 0 issues with mine, but I use ContactSpray to get bad contacts working again. Works great on amplifier dials or Casio cameras.

 

[telefunk]

There is a thread in the LX-5 forum here in the Panasonic Compact Camera Talk about how to fix this problem, inexpensively and fast. Basically, it involves spraying an electrical contact cleaner inside - more properly, AT the wheel, letting it dry, then blowing some air inside to dislodge any residual dirt and to spread the liquid contact cleaner onto the wheel's contacts. More information in that thread.

Don' t give up on your LX-5 or LX-7 because the wheel stops working - if there's nothing physically broken inside, it can be fixed easily in about a minute!

Just curious - could you be more specific, or perhaps a link to the thread you are referring to?

That might be very helpful, thanks !

Probably the rear thumb dial that you press for different functions; A crazy practical feature! I have 0 issues with mine, but I use ContactSpray to get bad contacts working again. Works great on amplifier dials or Casio cameras.

See this post:

Loading…

www.dpreview.com

 

[offertonhatter]

Thanks for this, I will give it a try

 

[MDGColorado]

My LX5 never developed this problem but my GM5 did. I know of several other GM5 owners who have had the same failure, and at least one GX85 owner as well.

Panasonic certainly DOES have a problem with these.

 

[telefunk]

Thanks for this, I will give it a try

My pleasure. My LX5 fortunately always functioned impeccably!