Leica DC Vario-Summicron 3x optical zoom lens, 8 elements in 7 groups (2 aspherical elements), f=7-21mm (35mm equiv. is 33-100mm), F2.0 - 2.5 maximum aperture, 2x Variable Zoom.

Focus range: Normal: 11.8" (30 cm) - infinity.
Macro: Wide: 2.4" (6 cm) / Tele: 7.9" (20 cm) - 19.7" (50 cm)

With the optional DMW-LA1 conversion lens adapter you can attach the DMW-LW52 Wide Conversion lens, the DMW-LT52 Tele Conversion lens or the DMW-LC52 Closeup lens.

The eyelevel optical real-image zoom viewfinder has a field of view of approx. 82% of the captured image. It has diopter adjustment for those of us with less than perfect eyesight. Two LEDs are used to indicate focus and flash status, they also indicate Movie recording is active or the camera is writing to the memory card.

The built-in flash pops out from the side and has modes for Auto flash, Auto flash with red-eye Reduction, Fill-flash, Fill-flash with red-eye Reduction or Flash Cancel and slow shutter synchronization flash with red-eye.

The flash range in Wide-angle is approx. 0.1 m (3.9") - 4.5m (14.7'); Telephoto approx. 0.2 m (7.9") - 3.5m (11.4') (ISO 100)

The Mode Dial has positions for:

• "A"utomatic: The "point and shoot" mode
• P/A/S - "P"rogram AE, "A"perture priority AE, "S"hutter priority AE
• Macro closeup mode
• Portrait mode
• Landscape mode
• Sports mode
• Night scene
• Spot metering
• MOVIE mode

Above the Mode Dial is the shutter release, surrounding it is the Zoom control switch which doubles as the display's "Zoom-In / Index" control during playback mode.

Next to the Mode Dial is the Flash control button.

Controls on the back: At the top is the Power switch. The DISPLAY button turns the color LCD on and off and controls the overlay information displayed. The MENU button calls up the on-screen menu system. The 4-way selector lets you navigate through the menus. It is also used for changing shutter speeds, aperture values, exposure compensation, selftimer, AE bracketing and in playback zoomed mode it allows you to move around in a zoomed-in image to check focus etc. The "REVIEW / SET" button is used to accept menu selections or toggle from record to review the last image. The four holes at the bottom are for the speaker.

The I/O ports are found behind a door on the side and include a USB 1.1 port for transferring images to the computer.

The A / V out handles both audio and video (NTSC or PAL selectable) for connection to a TV set.

On the bottom is the DC INput jack for charging the battery or powering the camera from AC.

The LC40 is equipped with a Secure Digital / MultiMedia Card (SD/MMC) card slot and comes with a 16MB SD card. It's compatible with any size SD or MMC card. SD cards up to 512MB will be available in the near future.

Power is supplied by a long-life 1400mAH 7.2V lithium rechargeable battery pack (part # CGR-S602A/1B). A combination charger and 110-240V AC power supply is included. The battery is charged in-camera and takes a maximum of 2 hours if fully depleted. Panasonic claims a battery life of 150 minutes (300 still images) with the LCD turned on or 180 minutes (360 still images) with the LCD off.