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February 05, 2009
[REVIEW-LEICA D-LUX 4 compact camera]
Price: $1650
Seriously good, but…
The low-down: This is a 10 megapixel camera with a 24–60mm (film equivalent) fast (f2 to f2.8) zoom lens. It has effective optical stabilisation. Construction quality is outstanding, with most important controls accessible on the camera body. Two ring selectors around the lens set aspect ratios – 3:4, 2:3 and 16:9 – and focus mode – auto, macro and manual. The 75mm LCD is clear and sharp but not totally truthful to the tone and colour of the captured picture. Capture in RAW is provided and conversion software is supplied, and the latest version of Adobe Camera RAW handles these images. There is an optional optical viewfinder, which has only one angle of view – 24mm -- and is very expensive.
Like: Image quality at low ISO speeds is exceptionally fine. At ISO400 a little noise is apparent, but we found that shooting RAW and applying a small amount of noise reduction in Adobe Camera RAW removed the grain. Response times are very fast. The Leica branded lens, with its modest zoom range, is superbly sharp with insignificant distortion at 24mm.
Dislike: The lack of an integrated optical viewfinder is a disappointment. We would have settled for a smaller LCD and an in-body viewfinder coupled to the lens zoom.
Verdict: Eagle-eyed readers will have noted that all the forgoing is the same as for the Panasonic Lumix LX-3. They are virtually identical cameras. Only the body shape is different. Oh, and the price! $829 for the Panasonic and $1650 for the Leica. There is a nice leather case supplied with the Leica but apart from that you are paying a lot of money for the little red badge. Still, if you are prepared to pay for the red badge bragging rights you are getting an excellent camera – probably the best compact camera currently on sale. Panasonic/Leica have dropped out of the megapixel race, which bodes well for the future of compact cameras.
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Posted by terry at February 5, 2009 08:55 AM
Worth Checking Out
Digital Cameras SydneyComments
DLUX 4 not worth 2 x the LX3 price here
Leica Via Panasonic simply cannot extract 2 X image quality, its laws of Physics not Leica magic
in the DLUX 4
Posted by: John Smith at February 6, 2009 03:46 PM
There are a few other technical dfferences between the LX3 and D-LUX 4. The Leica has a better lens coating as well as different firmware which effectively lets the camera take photos at a lower ISO speed. From what I've read, this give the Leica photos slightly better color saturation... But ya, even still, these camera are more similar than not.
Posted by: Kevitivity at September 30, 2009 09:59 AM