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- Name
- Andy
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Just doing a bit of idle daydreaming (which usually turns into an expensive purchase of one sort or another 
) about getting hold of a really portable, but top notch digital camera for travel and day-to-day use.
I love my Nikon DSLRs
, but they only go with me if I am planning to take pictures. Typically, a lot of the best shots are seen when I have no camera with me :| (sound familiar to anyone else 
?). The problem has always been that I have never seen an alternative to a small DSLR, which had the right levels of pure image quality and portability. Sure, Panasonic make some nice small cameras now (GF1, GF10 etc.), but those all need either a variety of prime lenses, or a zoom lens that is too big to make them truly 'pocket sized'. My feeling is that if I bought one of those, I would probably still end up leaving it behind most of the time, not to mention getting into buying loads of new lenses :|.
The Leica appeals, partly because of the implied build quality that comes with the brand name, largely because it only has the one built-in zoom lens (which disappears into the body, making the dimensions very small) and partially because of the variable format selector (which lets you choose the frame proportions in the camera - could be a slight aid to creativity, methinks).
Here it is:
http://en.leica-camera.com/photography/compact_cameras/d-lux_5/
But, I couldn't help noticing that Panasonic have a model, which appears to be very closely related to this, the Lumix LX5 ...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-Lumix-10-1MP-Digital-Camera/dp/B003WOKUVK/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1292424500&sr=1-10
The thing is, I would really like to hear from the people here who have used/owned either one of these models, to try and establish just how close to 'DSLR standards' the images can be :shrug:!?
One concern is shallow DOF (or lack of). I believe that the smaller sensors in these kind of cameras are less able to render shallow DOF than the larger sensors (which are projected onto by larger glass). Despite this camera's lens having an "f/2" aperture, does that really translate into creamy bokeh
?
Another thing that the brochure doesn't really show is how easy this camera is to operate like an SLR. For instance, can one select the individual AF point to be used and is ISO adjustment easily controllable (or do you have to hunt through screen menus for it)? I'm curious too about how the electronic viewfinder works on this model and whether or not you can see the AF points and other info through it!?
Last question would be, "How do the two models compare to each other"?
I'm not expecting much of a response on this, as I did a search on the word "Leica" and there were only a couple of posts relating to the D-Lux models. Anyway, all informed opinions are welcome
....
) about getting hold of a really portable, but top notch digital camera for travel and day-to-day use.I love my Nikon DSLRs
, but they only go with me if I am planning to take pictures. Typically, a lot of the best shots are seen when I have no camera with me :| (sound familiar to anyone else ?). The problem has always been that I have never seen an alternative to a small DSLR, which had the right levels of pure image quality and portability. Sure, Panasonic make some nice small cameras now (GF1, GF10 etc.), but those all need either a variety of prime lenses, or a zoom lens that is too big to make them truly 'pocket sized'. My feeling is that if I bought one of those, I would probably still end up leaving it behind most of the time, not to mention getting into buying loads of new lenses :|.The Leica appeals, partly because of the implied build quality that comes with the brand name, largely because it only has the one built-in zoom lens (which disappears into the body, making the dimensions very small) and partially because of the variable format selector (which lets you choose the frame proportions in the camera - could be a slight aid to creativity, methinks
).Here it is:
http://en.leica-camera.com/photography/compact_cameras/d-lux_5/
But, I couldn't help noticing that Panasonic have a model, which appears to be very closely related to this, the Lumix LX5 ...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-Lumix-10-1MP-Digital-Camera/dp/B003WOKUVK/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1292424500&sr=1-10
The thing is, I would really like to hear from the people here who have used/owned either one of these models, to try and establish just how close to 'DSLR standards' the images can be :shrug:!?
One concern is shallow DOF (or lack of). I believe that the smaller sensors in these kind of cameras are less able to render shallow DOF than the larger sensors (which are projected onto by larger glass). Despite this camera's lens having an "f/2" aperture, does that really translate into creamy bokeh
?Another thing that the brochure doesn't really show is how easy this camera is to operate like an SLR. For instance, can one select the individual AF point to be used and is ISO adjustment easily controllable (or do you have to hunt through screen menus for it)? I'm curious too about how the electronic viewfinder works on this model and whether or not you can see the AF points and other info through it!?
Last question would be, "How do the two models compare to each other"?
I'm not expecting much of a response on this, as I did a search on the word "Leica" and there were only a couple of posts relating to the D-Lux models. Anyway, all informed opinions are welcome
....
.
!
Me too!
), got put straight back onto their little magnetic holders, as the controls were fiddly/illogical/already broken off 