Leica D-Lux 4 Digital Camera (Black)

Compact Camera
Customer Review: Great Camera - Excellent Images - Miserable LCD Viewfinder
Unbelievable photographic tool. Image quality is superb, shadow detail, colour, B&W plus the ability to bracket multiple film types are just the beginning. User controls are a bit small but highly functional & intuitive. ISO is highly usable up to 400 beyond which the usual compromises begin to take hold. The speed of the lens at f2.0-f2.8 combined with the image stabilization system makes for the BEST low light camera I have had the pleasure of using. The focal length 24-60mm is quite usable-- need 10x this is not the camera for you - use your feet get up move around compose, try different viewpoints - its called photography -- experiment let the limits nudge you into your more creative side. Multi- Format 4:3 3:4, 16:9 allow for a lot of creative possibilities and experimentation. I don't understand some of the complaints from other users and reviewers about barrel distortion - I have not seen it as a problem - unless you are more interested in technicalities of the device rather than the outcomes and the pleasure of a well composed photograph. The grid line option in the viewfinder is a god send for properly aligning and composing. Now the only complaint and it is a major one is the LCD VIEWFINDER IS Useless in most daylight situations. It totally defeats the ability of carefully composing and constructing a well taken photo. The LCD is more like a mirror rather than a viewfinder. I realize Lieca had to make some compromises in terms of size and all BUT this is ridiculous. I tried the 24mm hot shoe viewfinder - very useful if all you shot is 24mm otherwise at half the cost of the camera hardly worth it. The only acceptable although somewhat kludgy solution comes from The Hoodman - product name is the HoodLoupe3.0 with the cinema strap option for attaching the Loupe. Actually works quite well once I figured out how to attach with minimum interference on the cameras miniature controls. Obviously increases the size of the kit quite a bit but it essentially turns the d-lux 4 into a mini digital view camera !!! So given the obvious compromises I still give the D-Lux 4 a 5 Star rating- why because life is full of compromises even if you had unlimited resources - we as consumers need to stop looking for perfection in things and focus on whats important in life - whatever your choices - Enjoy and stop fusing over meaningless specs and measurements in the end the photo is what matters. Capture the light and the moment.
Customer Review: Don't believe the hype
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.


Kohler Sinks