jojoen,

Good point about i.Dynamic being not grayed out in M mode. I just checked my camera with the dial set to M; the i.Dynamic was NOT grayed out but it was off. However, I should have mentioned that customized my M mode to C2-2. I just left the dial at C2 and never need to change it to anywhere because I set C2-1 to A mode, C2-2 to M mode, and C2-3 to manul video mode. However, when I am in C2-2 (M), the i.Dynamic is grayed out but shows "off". I will look into it some more.

Thanks.

This looks like a total loss. Possibly it could be repaired but the cost will likely exceed the purchase of a new one.

The service manual will get you part numbers for the camera. At the minimum you will need the lens unit, pn VXW1506, at a cost of $164. There may also be damage to the aperture ring, the sensor, and anything else that was broken.

You can find the parts costs in the US here: http://www.pasc.panasonic.com/Epartr/PartsListChoice.asp

Once you have the lens unit it has to be installed. That will include removing the MOS imaging sensor from the old unit. Unless it it also damaged in that case you have to buy another expensive part. Aligning and calibrating everything after the parts replacement requires special tools and software.

There was a post that the website shopping cart didn't work but they called and completed a transaction over the phone.

You can try ebay for a LX7 with broken viewscreen. Usually cameras for parts on ebay have unrealisticlly high asking prices. An LX7 with only a broken viewscreen can be repaired pretty easilly. The above website shows the display unit cost at $154.72.

As you can see the economics of repair is pretty poor. Despite having a service manual I do not think Panasonic ever repairs these cameras.

Glad he was not seriously hurt in the accident.!

@jojoen: "trigger connection" Is it an electronic/electric connection or something mechanic?

Earlier in this thread, it was mentioned that we need an official firmware upgrade before there can be a hack, so we need to look for issues that may make Panasonic release an upgrade. Here's 2 things I have noticed:

1. The camera consistently overexposes. This cannot be worked around adequately because the overexposure seems to be less than 1/3EV, but the minimum you can comp is 1/3EV... so you always end up overexposing or underexposing and there is no workaround.
2. The live histogram does not match the histogram of the final shot by some way at the top end (in particular, it shows clipped highlights as within range). The live histogram is thus useless in preventing blown highlights, meaning it is not fit for purpose.

There is thus an overexposure issue with the camera, and the means to compensate or detect this situation enough to work around it is also broken. I know the issue is less than 1/3 stop, but it has ruined a lot of my shots through overexposure. In fact, until I realised it was poor default exposure, I assumed it was low sensor dynamic range, because the camera seemed so prone to overexposed pixels in highlights!

If enough people complain about this we may get our firmware upgrade...

@stevens37y

May be, but you'll need to make some very high quality custom cable.

Is is possible to read out and save the existing firmware from the LX7?

Thanks, -dennis

I like butterflies. Here is a butterfly: Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes). It's about 1min long.

HH

LX7 60fps 60frames burst mode 3,5M +50% twixtor, playback at 30fps = 4x slow motion, weird transitions due to twixtor, actually the original frames from the burst mode are only half as sharp as single photo 3,5M jpeg, probably due processor limitations

Hmmm... it is now back up to US$279, but that is still a crazy good price for a new high end premium compact. Kinda tempted by it, though the old secondhand RX100 mk1 models are starting to drop down to be nearly as cheap! hmmm.. which to pick, which to pick

but it isn't as small or as cheap (especially once you factor in lens cost)