So, you remember the LX3? Popular camera, broke a lot of ideas as to what a high end compact digicam should be? Was stuck on our allocation list for like years? Well, it’s finally getting its long due update, the LX5.

Of special note is the fact that despite identical numbers, the sensor is all new, and talking up a wider dynamic range than the already well-received LX3. Combined with the newest incarnation of the Venus engine, which features 3 processing cores and can analyze chroma and luminance noise both separately as well as in relation to each other, the LX5 is promising a leap forward in image processing ability.

The LCD is now backlit with High Color Range Index LEDs. The movie mode is better now, too, adding AVHCD Lite to the codec options as well as manual exposure, color modes, and optical zoom during recording.

And it supports SDXC now, natch. It should go without saying there are a lot of expectations riding on this model, since the LX3 broke down so many walls and outperformed in so many ways. We’ll wait and see if this camera does too. It’ll be available in the pictured white, or black (so stop worrying, Jody), and it’s available for pre-order allocation right now over on our site.