I admit the news is already a few days old, but I was busy with living the past few days 😉

Panasonic recently self-leaked their new top-level prosumer compact, the LX5, which will be the successor to the legendary LX3 and direct competitor to Samsung’s new EX1. The LX5 stays true to the LX series’ original design, but ups the ante a bit compared to its predecessor in having a longer 3.8x zoom (LX3: 2.5x), support for an electronic viewfinder, a dedicated movie recording button and – no, no more megapixels! It sounds unbelievable, and I would’ve made any bet that it will have at least 12 MP, but it keeps the 10 MP from the LX3 with a hopefully improved sensor.

The LX5 will be available in black and white and will probably be announced at Photokina later this year.

For further reading:
http://43rumors.com/ft5-panasonic-lx5-leaked/
http://43rumors.com/ft5-white-lx5-leaked/
http://photorumors.com/2010/07/17/a-much-better-panasonic-lx5-leak-directly-from-the-mothership/
http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/digitalcameras/0,39005881,45272251p,00.htm#mainreview (With much larger images!)