Definitely a P&S on Steroids-Not for the Non-Post-Processor Types for Sure!

In my ongoing search for the perfect little carry-it-with-me 2nd camera, I've finally settled on this one (reluctantly) after going through Sony's N2 and Canon's SD900 (both of which were decent but without adequate manual controls).
I was really needing RAW capability, image stabilization & complete manual over-ridability.
This solid little box pretty much does all that but surely has its share of image noise. I was getting far smoother results with both the other cameras!
If you're willing to always shoot at ISO 100 or 200 at the max, use RAW mode exclusively, tweak each image extensively & individually with Panasonic's included SilkyPix RAW developer software (which is really awesome for sure), Then take the image back into Photoshop for the functions that SilkyPix can't do, you can end up with a pretty incredible picture. I even sometimes run the final edited PhotoShop image through yet another good noise reduction program called Neat Image using a specific noise reduction profile created specifically for the LX2 to really polish it! If you're a real tech weenie with lots of time to tweak, you can make this little camera look good! It's definitely "high-maintenance" though!