Leica D-Lux 4 Digital Camera
- 10.1-megapixel resolution and 24-60 Summicron lens f2.0
- Small, compact design with 3.0-inch TFT LCD screen
- 50 MB built-in memory; capture images to SD memory card, SDHC memory card and MultiMedia cards (not included)
Product Description
Compact Camera… More >>
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Reviewers hail the Panasonic LX3 (of which this is only a rebranded version) as a low-noise camera. I bought one, wasn’t impressed with the lens and horrified with the noise as early as ISO 320, and returned it to get a Sigma DP2 instead.
Rating: 2 / 5
I was disappointed to discover that the camera is made in Japan. I’ve always associated the Leica brand with Germany and assumed they actually manufactured their own cameras.
Rating: 4 / 5
Not much of a review here — more like a report. I bought this for a foreigner who was visiting and noticed the great price from Amazon. He said it was much more expensive in his country, but the camera had a great reputation and was a highly desired item in Lower Slabovia. From the few photos he took while testing it out here, we could see it was performing far above the average digital point-and-shoot. But beyond that, I can’t say much.
Rating: 5 / 5
Update – 9/29/2009
Ok – I have had the camera for a solid 2 weeks. It is exactly what I expected. Perfect in every way. I am still trying to understand what the big deal is over the lens cap. If you really must have an electronically controlled lens cover, buy one of the plethora of other P&S cameras. I personally have to deal with this for all of my DSLR lenses and it has become almost a mechanical action that doesn’t even register in my brain as work anymore.
The picture quality on this camera is far superior to any other P&S that I have had in the past and of course this camera is more than just point and shoot given all of the creative user controlled adjustments. All I can say is build quality, picture quality, accessories and software are all superior. The only one nit I have is with the instructions. While they do explain everything (and not in Jinglish either) they are somewhat cryptic to me. Could just be the Germans. I would have preferred plain language instead of so many proprietary references to everything without much explanation of what these terms mean. I guess I am just so used the “Lantern” series of instruction manuals for the higher end DSLR’s. Other than that, you will not be disappointed. Leica lives up to it’s tradition regardless of whether made in Germany or Japan.
end update
Well I have read every review here. Let me begin by saying that once this camera arrives in a few days, I will put it through some testing and update this review. Since I had to choose how many stars to give it now, I gave it 5 and the benefit of the doubt since I am willing to live with the negative points that other reviewers have pointed out such as the lens cap issue, the viewfinder and so on. I ordered it anyway, already resigned to the idea that these problems are real and are downsides.
I consider myself a capable amateur photographer from both a technical and creative perspective. I do not earn my living with photography, but could certainly make some spare change with my skills if needed. I currently use a Canon DSLR (50D) and have an investment of well over $20K in lenses, studio flash equipment and other stuff.
Before I got into the Prosumer DSLR’s, as a kid I had a few Minolta 35mm camera’s and eventually moved towards digital P&S before DSLR’s hit the scene. I’ve had 1 Canon, 2 Sony Cybershots, 1 Olympus and an HP. As one other reviewer pointed out, to get a picture in the moment with my high end gear, it takes at least 10 minutes to choose the right lens and set it up. At least 10, usually 15. All of my lenses are “L” types, very heavy glass. Long story short, I almost always miss great shots of opportunity. That is why I wanted not just a good point and shoot, but a great point and shoot. My primary motivator is the picture quality and if the D-Lux 4 delivers as everyone here says, I will have made the right choice. Stay tuned.
Rating: 5 / 5
Hi everyone,
I was looking for a compact camera with Dslr features and after reading many highly reviewed Leica d lux4 I decided to get it. Also bought Nikon d5000 to compare and pick one of them.
Well , for me like for many of you the image quality and the color are on the first place. The Leica is the best for sharp and great colors in outdoor shooting even in auto mode. As for indoors , the images are fine if there is a good day light , though as soon as it gets darker, the pictures will start getting visible noise, but worst thing is yellow-greenish tint on the pictures. Adjusting WB and other light corrections are not much of a help – the images are still tinted with that yellow cast.
Night shots are sharp, but again the street lights and lit up streets don’t have true colors: the greenish tint is everywhere. In one word the colors in Leica are different from what you taking.
Another big minus is flash: it’s too bright that makes everything washed out and gives a “dead” look.
LCD gives a very bright, too saturated images and in sunny days you need to put some shields over it to see what you are shooting.
There are other minor negatives but you can, probably, get used to them: slippery body, small to hold, even for my little woman’s hands, some of the menu features are awkward comparatively my Sony’s.
Such a disappointment. My old P/S sony cybershot gives far better colors in lcd , pc and prints. The only problem is it doesn’t have an image stabilizer.
As for D5000, the colors are great: what you see, that you get in the camera and prints. However, the sharpness is not as in the Leica dlux4 unless you use tripod or other support. Indoor pictures are very pleasing without any effort even in quite dark rooms. Manual mode gives even better results. White balance has a wide range, plus color correction which Leica lacks .
Great images with flash.
Easy to use menu not mentioning flexible LCD .
A little bit big for me even though it’s lighter and smaller than Canon DSLRs .
Now I am thinking to go back to Sony but with image stabilizer and decent sensor size for compact cameras.
Ema
Rating: 2 / 5