Exceptional photo and video quality, nippy performance and lots of creative control – as close to perfect as we've seen from a compact camera

Is the Panasonic LX7 the best pocket-sized compact for enthusiasts? We find out in the What Digital Camera Panasonic LX7 review

Polished and refined design; excellent lens with ultra-fast aperture; plenty of features; option to add an EVF

Good screen but needs to be even better to match rivals

This was a very tough review-a case where the lab scores don't tell the full story. Judging by our test results you'd think this camera rivals the Sony RX100, or the Canon S100. And in technical terms the LX7 does look great.

Bright F1.4 lens; Very accurate color representation

Sensor is only 1/1.7-inch; Disappointing overall image quality

On paper, you'd expect the Panasonic LX7 to perform as well as or better than its vaunted rivals, the Sony RX100 and Canon S110. With a Leica-branded f/1.4 lens, a 1/1.7-inch image sensor, and the processing power to shoot 12 frames per second and 1080/60p video, this should've been a winner.

The pocket-sized compact camera market, a crowded field where convenience and the almighty megapixel have long come at the sacrifice of photographer-driven adjustability, just added something for the budding enthusiast.

From macro and shallow depth of field shots to playing around with the art filters and 1080p video, there's nothing the LX7 doesn't do well. Tons of manual controls and fantastic image quality make this a trusty second camera.

Sometimes you don't want to carry a big SLR to get quality images, and that's why cameras like the Panasonic LX7 were born. Small enough to fit into a biggish pocket, the Lumix LX7 has an excellent lens and a good quality image sensor, both tuned to capture good images even in reasonably low light.

Fast lens; one stop faster than predecessor; Lens sharp corner to corner; Image stabilization is rock-solid; Very close Macro mode; Very wide lens at 24mm; The lens is "the stuff of camera-lover dreams; Fast autofocus and shutter lag; Very fast burst modes; Mechanical switch for aspect ratio,

Short telephoto lens at 90mm; Physical aperture ring can confuse; as maximum aperture changes when you zoom; Sluggish startup; Slow buffer clearing; does not appear to be UHS-I compliant; Battery life not as good as predecessor; Slightly below average hue accuracy in JPEGs; Aspect ratio or focus

Panasonic has updated its expert compact-like it has every even-numbered year since 2006. The LX7 therefore replaces the LX5, with a few changes to design and handling and-most importantly-a new lens that's record-breakingly fast, with wide-angle aperture...

Good build quality; handles well; good balance between simplicity and advanced functions; Very fast lens at all focal lengths (telephoto aperture at f/2.3!; Excellent responsiveness; even when shooting RAW+Jpeg; Lens quality very good from f/2.8; sensor gives good results up to 800 ISO

Lens ring can only be used to control aperture-only useful in A and M modes; Not many customisable controls; High sensitivity settings aren't handled as well as in the Sony RX100; Colours are a little cold in video mode

are serious compact cameras, with a similar set of features, such as 3 inch LCD screen, full 1080p HD video recording and full manual controls. They have slightly different resolution sensors and optical zoom.

Longer battery life; More optical zoom; Larger maximum aperture at telephoto length; Faster continuous shooting; Quicker focusing; Higher resolution screen; Better image quality at the higher ISO settings; Built-in Wi-Fi; More megapixels; More detail in panoramas; Slightly better image quality

The Panasonic Lumix LX7 is a premium compact camera aimed at enthusiasts. With a larger sensor than most point-and-shoots and sensible 10.1 Megapixel resolution, a bright 3.7x zoom lens and 3in screen, it offers manual exposure control and full HD 1080p50/60 video.

Very bright f1.4-2.3 zoom lens; Dedicated aperture control ring; 11fps full-resolution burst shooting; Close 1cm macro focus; Shallow depth of field for macro shots

Cap obsctructs lens on power up; Limited Creative Control effects; Aperture ring redundant in some modes; No Wifi; GPS or touch-screen