Doubts about V-Lux 1

[JFB]

Hello, I'm new here and I have an urgent question:
as happy owner and user of a Minolta Dimage 7hi, I somehow get attracted to the Leica V-Lux 1, but: the reviews aren't that great and the samples I've seen didn't convince me to buy this camera.

Can somebody show me some, convincing real size pics to take away my doubts. Somehow the pics on the web aren't that sharp.

[spylaw4]

I don't own a V-lux1 but from what I"ve seen here on the forum, there ain't much wrong with it in practice - this seems pretty sharp to me.
No doubt others will be able to offer you more.

[JFB]

thanks for the reply, but I need some REAL SIZE pics, the resized ones don't differ much from my camera............

[stnami]

,,,unreal!!

[JFB]

what's unreal? when I see the brochure of the V-Lux 1 is it very appealing, but the reviews aren't so positive. therefore I'm asking some good samples on max. resolution to see if the change of camera will be an improvement.

don't you start making fun of Minolta, because in the recent past Leica had several lenses of Minolta in their collection. The firms worked together for years................
Look f.i. at the resemblance of Minolta's XD7 en Leica's R4 !

[Tenor1]

I've owned a V-Lux from the first weekend it was realeased in the Los Angeles area and enjoy the features and quality of the zoom very much. The manual zoom increases the battery life tremendously over the other compact zooms on the market. We also have the Olympus 550, which sports an 18x zoom. That camera requires a pocket-full of AA batteries for an afternoon's use.

My recommendation for you is to NOT get the V-Lux. You seem set on finding fault with it. I've taken a few thousand shoots and am very pleased with the quality of them.

Sorry I don't know how to upload photos to this forum as I am just a casual member.

Regards
Carlos Marques

[bill]

I think the "unreal" bit is that you are planning to base a buying decision on "real-size" (???) images displayed on a monitor at 72dpi.

If you are determined to to this, search Flickr using V-Lux 1 as a tag.

Good luck.

Regards.

Bill.

[JFB]

there's nothing unreal about it,

for starters: I'm not determined to find faults, I'm looking for another camera, and am very attracted by this Leica.

second: I wanna compare good shots from the V-Lux with my own camera on my own monitor.

third: if these shots don't convince me, the Leica gets out of the picture since 99,50 percent of the time we watch pictures on the screen.

in the end: isn't image quality what it's all about?

[bill]

If "99.50%" of your photography is destined only to be viewed on a monitor, you may well be better off with a cameraphone.

Regards,

Bill

[andybarton]

Originally Posted by JFB

in the end: isn't image quality what it's all about?

Yes, but as Bill says, you'll never judge it on a computer monitor. You need to see big prints, made by someone who knows what they are doing.

Or slides, projected through a good projector.

And if it's ultimate image quality that you want, you need to spend a bit more than V-Lux money (no offence to V-Lux owners )

And no one has made fun of Minolta here. I own an R4 and it's a fine camera.

[JFB]

Somehow we're getting way off topic............

Is it so hard to understand that I'm just wondering if the image quality of the V-Lux is better than the one of my Minolta?

To my humble opinion is it a good way of judging image quality if you see a picture at max. resolution and at 100%, I don't need prints for that. I've taken thousand of slides over more than twenty years so I know a little what I'm talking about............

Back to the question: has anyone some fine pictures for me at max. resolution?

[Tenor1]

I have V-Lux pictures but don't know how to post them here. If someone can share where those instructions are located I could share some pictures.

Regards,
Carlos Marques

[dugby]

Try this site <http://www.pixel-peeper.com/digicams/?camera=387>

[adan]

If you want a bunch of full-resolution samples, try dpreview.com's review of the Panasonic FZ-50 here: Panasonic DMC-FZ50 Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review. Lots of full 3648 x 2736 files to download.

You can even save them off and make your own prints.

Personally, I think there are other factors far more imporant that any IQ difference you will ultimately see, such as lens range (35-420 equivalent on the V-Lux, 28-200 on your 7hi) Crop from your Minolta for a "420mm" equivalent and you end up with a 1.2-megapixel image. Then you really WILL see a difference.

If you don't need 200-400 range, or really like having 28 at the wide end (which is really almost a 24, or at least it was on the Digilux 2, if you consider the different picture shape compared to 35mm film), then the V-Lux won't offer much even with twice the pixels.

My guess is the IQ won't be much different. More pixels on a smaller sensor, but with 3 years more advanced technology (PanaLeica) vs. bigger sensor with fewer pixels and 5-year-old technology (7hi, which is/was noisy for its sensor size according to dpreview, even when new).

My impression from dpreview samples of both cameras is that at base ISO (100) the V-Lux does record somewhat more detail more cleanly. At higher ISOs Panasonic's painterly noise reduction gets in the way. The V-Lux/FZ-50 includes image stabilization.

But check out their review sample images for yourself. They are much bigger than anything we can post here.

[Shakey]

Originally Posted by JFB

Somehow we're getting way off topic............

Is it so hard to understand that I'm just wondering if the image quality of the V-Lux is better than the one of my Minolta?

To my humble opinion is it a good way of judging image quality if you see a picture at max. resolution and at 100%, I don't need prints for that. I've taken thousand of slides over more than twenty years so I know a little what I'm talking about............

Back to the question: has anyone some fine pictures for me at max. resolution?

Your best bet is to locate a dealer that has the V-Lux1 in stock and take some test photos yourself that you can then compare to your Minolta on your own computer system. Better yet find a dealer that also has camera rentals and see if they have a V-Lux1 that you could rent for a weekend and give it a real field test.

[Thomas Edwards]

[quote=JFB;558996]what's unreal? when I see the brochure of the V-Lux 1 is it very appealing, but the reviews aren't so positive.

...think the leica community here has provided you with good advice and pointed you in the right direction in terms of downloads for comparison purposes...

...on the subject of reviews, there are a plethora of extremely positive reviews on the panasonic version of the leica v-lux1 (you can even go to amazon's website to look at the user reviews for first-hand impressions)...indeed, i believe the pana version was even rated 'camera of the year' for its category by some of the publications...and, since leica's software is reputedly superior to pana's....well...hope you get the picture...

[JFB]

I wanna thank you for your kind reactions, but the V-Lux isn't the one for me: the pics are disappointing and I sincerly believe that the following has something to do with it:

"Whose sensor is it anyway?
About a week before Nikon revealed the D100, Sony announced an APS sized six megapixel sensor. Putting two and two together (and considering the specs are identical) it's been fairly easy to ascertain that Nikon is using Sony's six megapixel sensor in the D100. In the picture on the right (from Sony's press release) you can see the size of the six megapixel CCD compared to a standard consumer digital camera 1/1.8" CCD:"



The large one is from a DSLR, the small one has the size of the V-Lux CCD and it has 10 megapixels ???????????

I think I'll end up with a serious Nikon since I don't have the money for a Leica R9

Again, thanks and goodbye!

[kdemas]

Originally Posted by JFB

I wanna thank you for your kind reactions, but the V-Lux isn't the one for me: the pics are disappointing and I sincerly believe that the following has something to do with it:

"Whose sensor is it anyway?
About a week before Nikon revealed the D100, Sony announced an APS sized six megapixel sensor. Putting two and two together (and considering the specs are identical) it's been fairly easy to ascertain that Nikon is using Sony's six megapixel sensor in the D100. In the picture on the right (from Sony's press release) you can see the size of the six megapixel CCD compared to a standard consumer digital camera 1/1.8" CCD:"



The large one is from a DSLR, the small one has the size of the V-Lux CCD and it has 10 megapixels ???????????

I think I'll end up with a serious Nikon since I don't have the money for a Leica R9

Again, thanks and goodbye!

What, P&S cameras don't have APS sized sensors (ok, Sigma DP-1)???

I am truly shocked. We could compare the V-Lux to a Phase 1 back as well, I doubt it will compare well ;-)

Kent

[masjah]

"I think I'll end up with a serious Nikon since I don't have the money for a Leica R9 "

If you've got the money for a serious Nikon, then you're not far from being able to afford a good s/h R9 (or at least an R8, which is much the same thing)!

[bill]

Glad we wasted our time...

Regards,

Bill