[JohnR]

Here are six shots from the Panasonic DMC-LX2, Nikon D40, and Olympus E-410. White balance is set on auto for all, matrix metering. Noise reduction is set Low, Off, and Low respectively. ISO is to base ISO for the camera i.e. 100, 200, 100 respectively.

Notes:

• All shots were taken within a few minutes of other. I didn't stop to correct the horizon tilt 
• I've resized the images to all have the same pixel count, so you can see the effect of the different aspect ratios.
• No manipulation in Photoshop other than resizing. As I didn't do any sharpening after resizing to web size the images may be a touch softer than usual.
• The E-410 seems to under-expose slightly compared to the other two. Since this was supposed to be an "out of the box" test I didn't adjust in Photoshop.
• The "tele" on the LX2 was not full tele, I was trying to guess an equivalent 85mm.

Wide. All cameras at max wide (approx 27-28mm equiv).

LX2


D40


E-410

Tele. Cameras at approx 85mm equiv.

LX2


D40


E-410

Conclusions? I dunno...

[JohnR]

Here are 500x500 pixel crops from the center of the "tele" images above.

LX2


D40


E-410

OK, I think I'm done with camera testing for this year...