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X1 vs D-lux 5


Lamooney

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Hi - I'm interested in buying either a Leica X1 or D-lux 5. I already own a Canon 5D MkII and Sony Nex 5, I'm happy with both I'm looking for a general purpose compact camera that I can carry around with me & use on a daily basis. I know the X1 has better IQ but is it really worth the price and would the fixed focal length of the lens be a big disadvantage? I'd really love to own a leica made in Germany but I'm not so sure if it is as versatile as the D-lux 5. Any help on making my decision would be appreciated. Thanks Yvonne

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Lamooney, welcome to the forum!

I have both cameras and use them for different purposes. The DL5 is used more for social family pictures. But if I think there might be scope for a serious shot, the X1 is my first choice. As often said, your legs become an effective zoom lens in most cases. So a fixed lens is no real handicap for most normal pictures.

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I've had both. X1 has superb image quality even at high ISOs. You can get excellent enlargements to A3 plus. As has been frequently noted, focusing is slow and that can be an issue. The 35mm fixed lens can be limiting. I no longer have it (traded towards an M9). The D-Lux 5 is surprisingly good. Image quality is best at lower ISOs although fine for gritty street shots at high speed. The 24mm wide angle is very useful. Focusing is fast. It is quick and easy to use and Made in Japan build quality is excellent.

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Thank you everyone for your comments. It was extremely hard to chose between the 2 but I came home with an x1...Not only am I astounded by the quality of the images but I think I've just stepped on the slippery slope into the world of Leica. I'm still considering buying the d.lux 5 for it's macro.

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Yvonne, Congratulations on your purchase of the X1 and welcome to the "owners club." I too began my search by looking at the DLux 5, but when I closely examined the IQ of the X1 I realized it was the camera for me (then all I had to do was persuade my wife)icon10.gif There are lots of informative discussions and good advice on this forum, helpful for a new owner such as myself.

Regards,

Ian

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Thanks guys. I've spent the day doing side by side comparisons wiht my nex 5 and I've encountered what appears to be a problem with the AF in low light...not sure if I'm doing something wrong....when focusing (beyond 30cm) the green light comes on but the photo is out of focus. I'd appreciate your comments.

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Buy X1 first and then D-lux 5 later. I think we can give you many good reasons do so....:D (but if you really get X1 for a PQ reason, I think D-lux 5 may not be counted... even if you sometimes want to to a closed-up/macro.. you can do it with X1 and crop)

 

In my case, I bought X1 and sold it for funding of M9 in the early of this year. Now I bought X1 back to my collection again to justify daily use without compromising with the PQ of small camera :cool:

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With the x1 you will get slightly better IQ than with your Nex.

 

I think you need to ask yourself if you prefer the user interface and better IQ of the x1 (specially higher ISO, but also dynamic range at all ISO) plus more room to play with shallow DOF or if a flexible focal length of the D-Lux 5 and smaller size of the camera is more important to you.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I admit that I have a lot to learn but surely if the green light comes on the image should be in focus no? Just to clarify, I'm outside of the 30 cm and I'm using the AF, not the AF Macro.:o

 

Did you ever get an answer to your question? If I understand it correctly, you are having problems with the auto focus in low light conditions at distances greater than the 30 cm minimum focus distance.

 

Pastor_Chuck

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Thanks guys. I've spent the day doing side by side comparisons wiht my nex 5 and I've encountered what appears to be a problem with the AF in low light...not sure if I'm doing something wrong....when focusing (beyond 30cm) the green light comes on but the photo is out of focus. I'd appreciate your comments.

 

I have my X1 only since a week and am not an expert in the settings so far. Comming from my M9 I try to shoot fixed ISO as low as possible using fast Summilux lenses. So I tried to shoot at 2.8 with a low ISO's (200) and experienced the same issue - green light out of focus. When I switched for some tests to Auto-ISO with an upper limit of 800 I had no issues in low light. I guess I need to accommodate for the 2.8 aperture with higher ISOs as it might be me causing the issue while pressing the shutter button.

 

Is that the situation you are in?

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