Panasonic has been on a roll in recent months with the successful release of the Lumix ZS3 & ZS5 point & shoots with Leica optics & 16x intelligent zoom (That's a ZS5 below in our self portrait post!) and their G series EVIL cameras. The logical next step would be to update their flagship point & shoot, the LX3 which rivaled the Canon G11 in popularity & performance the last year or so. And this morning, Panasonic did just that by introducing their LUMIX LX5, which they hope to ship by late next month. The Panasonic LUMIX LX5 will be a unique compact digital camera in that it offers superb image quality along with a super-bright lens and increased creative modes.  The F2.0 lens is twice as bright as a F2.8 lens (similar to Canon's S90) , making it easy to produce beautiful photos with a soft-focused background thanks to the shallow depth of field provided by the extra light. In addition to the newly-designed lens, the LUMIX LX5 features an image processing engine that combines technologies resulting in professional-quality photos, especially in low-light situations.  Like its predecessor, the LUMIX LX5 features the highly-acclaimed 10.1-megapixel CCD, but it has an expanded dynamic range by increasing the sensitivity and the saturation. In addition to capturing high-quality still photos (JPEG as well as RAW), the LUMIX LX5 can record HD videos in AVCHD Lite, a format that allows almost doubling the recording time in HD quality compared with the conventional Motion JPEG format. Creative video shooting modes include Creative Movie mode, where users can set shutter speed and aperture manually to make even more impressive movies. My Color mode and Film mode are available for more extended expression not only in photography but also in videography. The LUMIX LX5 has also been redesigned externally – with a thicker grip making it easier to hold and a newly-incorporated turn-and-push jog dial achieves various selection and setting more quickly. The LUMIX LX5 also features a hot shoe, which allows for the attachment of a wide-variety of accessories, such as an optional Live View Finder which helps shooting under strong daylight with high visibility or an external flash. The LX5 will be available in Black (as shown-photo courtesy of Panasonic) & White and we are accepting preorders for $499.95. Please call us @ 203-357-0467 or 877ECAMERA. For more info on the camera, please click onto the following link from PDN Magazine: http://starturl.com/ktpyw We're pleased also to announce that our professional photo educator Garrison Gunter is part of a group exhibition opening tomorrow night in NYC. Called "UnBound: A Group Exhibition", it will be at the Coleman Burke Gallery which is at 638 West 28th St. in Chelsea. The opening reception will be tomorrow night from 6-8 PM & the exhibit will run until August 28th. Congrats, Garrison! Basic DSLR basics class tomorrow at 7PM at the store. If you have an hour, we promise you better photos with your camera! See you then!

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