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While SLRs are getting incredible, the whole compact end is stagnant. Even with a 14 megapixel sensor, the small size means they are noisy and getting a decent shot at ISO 400 is nearly impossible. That plus slow lenses means I really don’t like the quality. This is a semi-professional camera much like the Yashica T-3 in 35mm or the various attempts like the Ricoh RX and GX series. That is slightly bigger with way better image quality. It competes with the Canon Powershot G9, Nikon P6000, Ricoh GR and GX and the Sigma DP1 (way too slow). Photokina at the end of September should see a wave of announcements, so wait if you can to buy a high quality compact.

It is available for preorder for $400 according to 1001 Noisy Cameras

The Panasonic DMC-LX3 might be a breakthrough. Photographyblog.com Rather than more megapixels you can’t see, this decently small camera has:

• F2.0/F2.8 lense. This is a big deal, it means you gain a whole stop (think ISO 200 is really ISO 400 in this camera)
• 10 megapizel 1/1.63 inch CCD sensor (why do vendors have such a wierd way of writing this. I think it is because it fools buyers. Makes a 1/3 sensor seem better than a 1/2 when in fact one is 0.33 inches and the other is 0.5, in this case, in a dSLR, you have a 24mm or about 1 inch wide sensor and this camera is 0.61 inches or 15mm).
• It is a wide screen camera. So it shoots in 16:9 in addition to the conventional 3:2 that is the 35MM format.
• Actually shoots in RAW and JPEG so you can process further.
• Records 720p video at 24fps, so serves as a video camera (1280×720) although this is quite fat. Only 10 minutes in a 2GB SD card, but heck, it is great for the short stuff.
• It’s pretty big, but not outrageous at 4.3×2.3×1.1in (109×60x27mm) compared with an older Canon PowerShot SD550 at 90×57 x 27 mm (3.5×2.2×1.1in) although the lense is huge and sticks out (how they make it fast, there is no free lunch).

• 24-60mm lense equivalent. Not really a zoom, but the 24mm wide angle is way more useful and it has accessories like being able to go to 18mm and an optical viewfinder.

  Decent speed with the fast lense, but more importantly in broad daylight, you get decent shots to ISO 400 with prints up to 12”x8”and in the dark up to ISO 200 which means lots more available light shooting like the Fuji F10 and F11 that I have because of the fast lense. So kudos! Most of these el cheapo camaras can’t really do ISO 200 that well because the sensors are so small and the lense distortion is essentially nil. Reviews says in camera things are a little soft, so you might want to turn up the default a notch if you are not futher processing. Like most consumer cameras, it pushes red and orange too hard, but that’s true with the whole low-end.