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A recent online review of the D-Lux 8 brought up two major issues with the performance of the camera. First, the lens is not really sharp compared to some of its competitors? It is an older design (10 years?), I assume made by Panasonic. Is it a quality control issue, not with the lens, but with final assembly? Have D-Lux 8 users made any objective comparisons with newer 4/3rds cameras? Second, the sensor is dated, several years behind the competition, and does not make full use of the sensors capability - which is a must in a compact camera. Both of the above are deal-breakers for me. I would buy an up to date D-Lux with the 25Mp sensor of the recent Panasonic line of 4/3rds cameras and a re-designed lens that would be sharp across the entire 4/3rds sensor. Forget the silly variable aspect ratios and just get the most out of the sensor. Reviewers have also lamented the loss of the step zoom function, but I would prefer a zoom ring on the lens instead of the variable aspect selector ring (the toggle zoom lever described as problematically slow in use, similar to my 10-year old Typ 112). Positives (from the review) are the new Q-like body, the upgraded OLED finder and native DNG image recording, among others. The camera was described as great in concept, but outdated as presented, especially at the price being asked. I hope that Leica does not give up on the D-Lux line, but updates the 8 to at least match the competition, even if at a (slightly) higher price.

Hallo, was nutzt ihr so für Taschen für eure D-LUX 8? Mir wäre eine am liebsten, die ich am Gürtel befestigen könnte, habt ihr da Vorschläge? Es sollte die Kamera plus Handschlaufe (Peak Design) reingehen. viele Grüße Claus

Prior to purchase, I pretty much devoured everything about this camera that I could find online. As a basis for comparison, I had owned a Lumix LX100 back a few years back, so at least the lens was a known quantity. I was looking for good performing compact a camera for travel -- plus all those other shooting situations that that just pop up. For more serious work I still have a pair of Fujifilm X-T5s, an X-E-3, and a bunch of Fuji lenses. In the past, I’ve used combination of Fuji X100 cameras (X100, X100S, and X100F) and the Fuji X10/20/30 series for travel. Back in the day, I used rangefinder film cameras for travel, starting with the first (guess focus) Cosina/Voigtlander Bessa LTMs, to their M-mount RFs, and finally to a pair of M6s. The move to RF digital was via an M8, and then an M9 which was superseded by the RF-styled Fuji X-Pro1. Recently, as I began considering the D-Lux 8, I realized that it could replace both the X100F and the X30 (the X-E3 had already made the X-100F a bit redundant). A nice outcome of that decision was that sale of the X100F and X-30 paid for 84% of the D-Lux 8. The D-Lux 8, combined with my trusty Olympus TG-6 for backup and monsoon duty, significantly reduced my carry-on’s weight and space needs. In mid-March, I started running the D-Lux 8 through a series of trials, trying to figure out its boundaries. The results so far are in a Flickr album. No great art here – just poking around and seeing what the camera can do. https://www.flickr.com/photos/38649302@N04/albums/72177720324597838 Issues: Step Zoom: For some reason, this is a subject to debate here. That puzzles me because it isn’t an either/or situation – at least it wasn’t for the LX100 and the D-Lux 7. From the D-Lux 7 manual: “You can set that zooming operates in steps, stopping at (equivalent) focal lengths familiar from 35mm film cameras. Using [Step Zoom] is as easy as normal zoom operation. “• By default you can use Step Zoom by rotating the control ring in the following exposure control modes: Snapshot mode, Program mode, and Aperture-Priority mode. “• If you change the [Control Ring] setting in the [Custom] ([Operation]) menu to [Step Zoom], Step Zoom becomes available for other modes as well. “You can use Step Zoom by setting [Zoom lever] in the [Custom] ([Operation]) menu to [Step Zoom].” I have a fair amount of RF experience (and I also have decades of non-zoom interchangeable lens camera experience). With rangefinder cameras my favorite lenses were: 25mm (Zeiss), 28mm (various Voigtlander), 35mm (Voigtlander Skopar f/2.5 or Leica ASPH Summicron f/2), 50mm (Leica pre ASPH Summilux f/1.4), and 75mm (Voigtlander Heliar f/1.8). What the step zoom option provides is the equivalent of five favorite prime lenses that I can change without opening a camera bag…And I’ll still have the option for continuous zoom. How could any D-Lux 8 user find a problem with that? Even if the camera always starts at 24mm, finger taps on the zoom lever can have the right focal length selected before the camera is even up to eye level. (With step zoom, the changes in focal length can be (or should be?) much faster that with continuous zoom.) Come on Leica… File Naming: I’d like to see the first four characters editable for alpha-numeric characters and hyphen. I do this for all my other cameras. I’m not sure why this is something Leica can’t accommodate, but perhaps the P&S origin of the Panasonic versions is still haunting the menu design. Panoramic: I’d love to see a 65:24 (X-Pan) panoramic mode added, but that would require a hardware change. Add-ons/Stuff: Soft round woven shoulder strap (I prefer soft nylon over cotton). Square Hood mini (7mm) soft shutter button: I’ve never been a fan of the big “soft release buttons” and I’m not sure the large diameter ones are actually a good idea. This one is nice and presents a different touch feel. Haoge Thumb Up: Gives better access to top dial than the JJC, although not quite as firm in the hotshoe as the JJC. iWoodStore Leica DLux9 Grip Wood YW design: The YW’s bottom front of the grip mount is at an angle so your hand (or pinkie) doesn’t have to deal the right-angle front edge such as the JJC and every other base plate/grip I’ve seen. NiteCore UL109 dual battery charger: This is a 3-pin charger which has one pin for thermal information from the battery. I don’t buy 2-pin chargers unless there is no option. This model has been discontinued and they are increasingly hard to find. I got mine on eBay from China. Packaging and printed material look the same as NiteCore items I have purchased directly from NiteCore and domestic online stores. Post Processing: When Adobe moved to a subscription model for PhotoShop I began looking for an alternative. I tried Paintshop Pro, but they seemed to be lagging a bit behind the rest of the market. PhotoShop continued to be my go-to, but it finally became a bit stale. During this time, I tried DXO PhotoLab and liked it, though initially I had to rewire my brain a little bit and jump through some hoops to make it run Fujifilm X-Trans files. I’m now using DXO PureRAW5 for demosaicing, noise reduction, camera/lens correction, and sharpening (all are selectable) and output conversion to whatever file format I choose to use in my primary post processing software; DNG, TIFF (16-bit, 8-bit, or 8-bit compressed), and JPEG (adjustable). I’ve used PureRAW from versions 2 through 5, and the capabilities have increased. I’m using DXO PhotoLab 8.5 to finish the files, do B&W conversions, etc. Bottom Line: The D-Lux 8 is not perfect, but it’s a very good camera for my intended uses. I like the way that Leica developed a rational, slimmed-down menu system – perhaps recognizing that the intended users would prefer to handle adjustments in post-processing instead of in the camera. As I recalled from my LX100, the lens is usually happier no wider than f/4. When I had my M8 and M9, their DNG files were the easiest ever to work with, and DNGs from the D-Lux 8 are also nice. The sensor has a few years on it, but has performed better than I expected, no doubt benefiting from more sophisticated post-processing software. This is good, because I really like night work.