Compact Leica D-Lux 4

Evening, Richie! I've moved your thread here to the fixed-lens digital forum, which is the right place for discussion related to the excellent D-Lux 4.
 
richie, I don't have one of these cameras but have just recently been reading about them. If you have the time, it would be great to hear your views on the camera - why you chose it, and how you see it in conjunction to your GH1, among any other aspects you'd feel are important to getting a good understanding of this particular camera.
 
Hi everyone
I have had the Dlux-4 for quite some time now and have been shooting using Dynamic color and Dynamic B&W jpg. Beautiful color and black and white with little to no correction needed.
 
Michael, thanks for adding to this. I'd love to see some of your photos when you have time. Dynamic Color and Dynamic B&W - I'm taking it that these are in camera adjustments?
 
Dyanamic color and BW are "film settings".

And to Richie, yea I do much the same. I've process some RAW and while its true you can often tweak a little bit more out of them, I usually don't bother. I'm pretty happy 95% of the time with the jpgs, so long as you get the camera set up to your liking ahead of time.
 
Thank you Michael, so these film settings try to mimic what we used to get with our cameras. This camera and its future incarnation seems like a really nice one. I'll be looking around for more photos and reading about what it's all about. I'd love to see some examples of this camera doing its thing - in those film settings and otherwise. Glad to hear that you feel the jpegs work pretty well most of the time, too. That said, I see Aperture 3 supports the camera's RAW, which is a nice big plus for me.:)
 
Hi

I agree with sonomichele. I used to shoot RAW all the time but then I switched to JPG. As long as you have your settings before, the camera really does a fantastic job at rendering beautiful colors. I especially love the Dynamic B&W setting. I hope the links work, just some examples of the in-camera film settings.


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I am speechless - those black and whites are outstanding. Where have I been all this time? I like your color too, but I am blown away by the black and whites - these were done without post processing or very little?

That seascape is out of this world - what a great wide shot and the depth of tone in that sky, along with those reflections - wow! Love the goat - I have a fondness for goats, as crazy as that might sound...it's those eyes, in part. Super detail again on his fur and your hand. The classic car - who doesn't love that chrome and glass? It's great in black and white.

Thank you so much for posting these Michael...and I should know if that's the Throg's Neck or the Whitestone, maybe?;)
 
Hi BBW
Yes all in-camera jpg with Dynamic B&W setting. I tweak the contrast in the film mode. I import in LR, make some local contrast adjustments, slight burning, crop and finished. The bridge is the Verrazzano Bridge, but good guess :)
Thanks
Michael
 
Aw shucks, I knew that bridge was familiar! It's a beauty. I love NY's bridges.

Again, thank you for your feedback and photographs. I'm very interested in this camera and think it will be interesting to see if they bring out a new one or not, and what changes. I'll be looking forward to people's reactions, too.

I really need to get into the city to see one of these in real life. I wish one could rent a camera to try it out, and I'd rent the Leica X1, too.
 
Sorry for the delay, really appreciate some of the posts here and I can say after having a quick play around I have scrapped the idea of shooting RAW as it gives little benefit. I have also tried some of the scene modes which are quite interesting and effective.

First one is fairly crap but gives an idea of colour on an overcast day

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2nd one was taken using the sunset mode and was 1/8 of a second, bit of a crop but I reckon its ok

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The only gripe so far is that I do wish the lens was a bit longer but hey, cant win them all!
 
compacts are really not suitable for playing with depth of field except when you focus close. If you really want to play with bokeh for portraits and such you need to look at other types of cameras. On the other hand it can be fun playing with what approaches infinite dof
 
compacts are really not suitable for playing with depth of field except when you focus close. If you really want to play with bokeh for portraits and such you need to look at other types of cameras. On the other hand it can be fun playing with what approaches infinite dof

I think you are right. I am going to try out the Leica at this tomorrow, should be a really good test of colour!

Mirazozo
 
Richie, thanks for your post and photos. I'm interested in seeing how a portrait might look focussed close, as Michael has mentioned.

Which Leica are you going to try out, Richie? Mirazozo looks wild!
 
The D-Lux 4 will be a great camera for something small. But if you have the GH1 with you why aren't you using that? Especially for portraits you will have much greater control over the DOF. You will still need to get in closer than you would with a FF, but it should have lots of potential. Borrow a model and play with both cameras, then you can see what you can do with each one and how they differ.
 
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