Getting the best out of the C-Lux/FX01

[bill]

Hints and tips, apart from the obvious?

Regards,

Bill

[burkey]

Bill,
I have no instant cures yet as I am working throught the camera too. What have you obseved thusfar, aside from the "hot" exposure issue?

[bill]

Likes - form factor, build quality.
Dislikes - lack of viewfinder (but they seem to be an endangered species)

I have acquired it, a bit like Robert Parker, as a "slip in the suit pocket" camera. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it does have to be reliable, and capable of decent results.

I'm going to try it out over the next week set to iso100, -1/3, flash off, and possibly b/w mode and see how I get on.

Regards,

Bill

[burkey]

I often use fill-flash for family pictures and so far the overexposure problem seems to carry itself along to when the flash is used, especially outside when all I was looking for is to fill in the shadows a bit. The finish on the CLUX is very fine indeed but as you mentioned, the lack of viewfinder poses a number of problems seen particularly in bright sun. Have you ruled out using "natural" setting? It seems to render a some what soft image. On a portrait it's nice but on a group shot it really seems to over soften the picture.
Handheld with available light, however, is pretty incredible.

[sek]

I ddefinitly think it's a good for available light camera!

[burkey]

sek - I couldn't agree more. The motion control works much better than I thought it would.

[brucemcl]

I have an FX01, Panasonic's analog of the C-Lux 1. I am really enjoying the camera.

Tips:
- As everyone mentions, use negative ev to avoid overexposure.
- It appears that the camera does not use ISO 400 very much on Auto ISO. This means that in available light on Auto ISO if you get red numbers when you prefocus you can try manually setting the ISO to 400 and you might get your green numbers back again.
- Under forest canopy I find daylight WB works better than automatic WB. I prefer daylight WB over auto WB for most landscape photography.
- "Scenery" scene mode increases the contrast. You can verify this by reading the EXIF data. Use with caution if at all. I already have a lot of contrast in my landscape photos. I don't want any more added.
- The Arcsoft Panoramamaker software provided with the Panasonic FX01 actually works! I recommend giving it a try. I'm attaching a pano from earlier today, or trying to.

Gripes:
- As others have mentioned, tying saturation and sharpness together in one control is frustrating. I want medium sharpness and low ("natural") saturation. I use Standard for the Pict. Adj. setting, but it's a compromise.
- My Panasonic FZ5 has a highlighting feature that is present in the D-Lux 2 as well. In the post-exposure preview, all of the 100 percent white areas blink in black and back to white a couple of times. This is great in catching overexposed areas. It would have been real nice on the smaller camera.
- No white balance setting in High Sensitivity mode. This one bit me tonight. I was using a custom WB for indoors at ASA 400. It got darker so I switched over to Hi Sense mode and lost all control over WB. Grrrr. But I agree it is a fun camera to use in low light, much more so than any other digital camera I have owned.

[jonathangraham]

I have tried the c lux1 for about a month and sold it on +bay this weekend. (when will they let us trade Leica gear here????)

The pluses were:
-small slip in pocket size
-looong battery life!
-idiot proof

The minuses:
-no optical viewfinder
-no real user control for aperture or shutter speed
-excessive noise above 100 iso

The pictures were actually better on my old panasonic fx7 (kept that camera). I have ordered the Ricoh GRD with a voigtlander 28mm metal viewfinder as replacement for clux-1. But ANY of these cameras are better than none as a carry around in your pocket digital as well as an emergency backup for my M7.

[bill]

Interesting and useful stuff. I'm travelling to Bath tomorrow afternoon on business and hope to give it a whirl then.

Regards,

Bill

[sek]

Originally Posted by burkey

sek - I couldn't agree more. The motion control works much better than I thought it would.

I can only agree with you .. :-) . My picture is taken free hand with hi-sense, 1/8s, x2 and is unmodified from the camera (beside scaling down to 640x480).

[firoze]

Originally Posted by bill

Interesting and useful stuff. I'm travelling to Bath tomorrow afternoon on business and hope to give it a whirl then.

Bill

Looking forward to seeing the pics, Bill. Post them here soon.

Regards.

[lawrence_lee]

I have 2 FX01. Always use ISO 80 and set the Pict.Adj. to vivid.

Lawrence

[bill]

Well, my afternoon of wandering around turned into an evening against the fading light. I've posted the results in Landscape and Travel under the heading "Bath FX01"

http://www.leica-camera-user.com/sho...2719#post12719.

Regards,

Bill

[mcrae]

I am constantly using the Wide-Screen 16:9 movie mode of the C-Lux 1, and find the results more than acceptable for a 6 meg camera. What I like best is the fact that one can record in Quick Time till the memory card is empty, if need be. My NIKON only gives me one(1) minute segments and NO 16:9 version either! Then to really enjoy the movies, they are converted from QT to FLASH, by the =new= online photo group,www.phanfare.com. Those visiting my web site www.thepoint.ca then view the videos instantly instead of waiting for QT to get things together. Phanfare.com, program of photos and videos into a 'album' and then published is a real "joy" to watch. A photographer's dream come true.
As stated before, I love my C-Lux 1, and treat the 'little lady' with gentle loving care. She is always there for service, as I carry it everywhere on my pants belt. How many camera's do we wish to carry with us all the time? Not many I am sure, even our beloved LEICA's!
George.

[sek]

Originally Posted by sek

My picture is taken free hand with hi-sense, 1/8s, x2 and is unmodified from the camera.

By a check, I found the the tech. info about the picture to be wrong. Here follows the correct tech info's: hand held C-Lux 1, hi-sens, 1/30, F5.6 (16.8 mm) and ISO 800

Sorry about that - Svend