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Any comments on the new D-Lux 3 ?


intex

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I am thinking of picking up a D-Lux3 to use on trips, at times I do not want to take the M8. Does anyone have any experience with these, I thought it would be the best compact P/Shoot I could get.

I hope this is not considered as "heresy" on this digital forum.

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I am thinking of picking up a D-Lux3 to use on trips, at times I do not want to take the M8. Does anyone have any experience with these, I thought it would be the best compact P/Shoot I could get.

I hope this is not considered as "heresy" on this digital forum.

 

 

I have one and like it. It will accompany me on a trip (with my M8). It has excellent optics, a nice 16 x 9 aspect ratio, and a good set of controls to override the auto settings. It also saves in RAW. And it is small enough to stick in a pocket. All of this was important to me, and overrode the lack of a viewfinder and the comparably poor noise performance at ISO 200 and above, which I consider to be negatives. But Noise Ninja does well on the noise and composing on the screen is something I can deal with. These issues may be resolved differently by others, and you'll have to decide fior yourself.

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Thanks for the input. My main concern was lack of viewfinder. As I begin to need reading glasses, it is harder to use a LCD screen to compose, unless I move it father away. This will be the first camera w/o viewfinder, so I hope it works out, especially in sunny conditions

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I've decided to sell mine; the M8 is small enough to carry around with me in my bag. Don't get me wrong, it is a nice point and shoot, but I am hardly using it and would rather get a new lens for the M :D . I have the nice cognac fitted case; it is certainly the sexiest point and shoot and camera case available on the market. Color and white balance is quite good, as seen with other panasonic/leica cameras, but the noise gets quite bad over 200 ISO.

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I have the Lumix version and love it. I use it in addition to my M8's and D200.

 

One caveat: I have not made large prints from it - largest I made was 20 inches wide and I was happy with it.

 

Danni

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I finally bit the bullet on one yesterday after a few months of looking around. After yesterday afternoon playing aound with it, I have to say that I am damned happy with the little thing. I have made some beautiful 19" prints from the RAW files (up to ISO400) with little to no post processing (only basic levels etc).

 

I bought it as a pocket sized backup for my big and bulky DSLR. I was after something better than a basic point and shoot with RAW, good manual controls, and a nice lens - a point and shoot plus if you will. For that purpose, I am really happy with it.

 

The menus are clear and easy to navigate. Interaction with the camera through the manual controls are the best I have come across on this type of camera. In Aperture priority mode for example, the joystick button on the back is very easy to use. I guess you just have to be prepared to adjust your shooting style given the lack of an optical viewfinder. I have found the screen is very bright and use in bright sunlight was not a problem.

 

The ONLY problem for me is the lack of RAW support in OS X...

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Guest malland

Yes, you can use Lightroom.

 

On the lack of viewfinder: although many people grouse about this, I find it no problem. In fact, I have two small sensor cameras, the Ricoh GR-D and the D-Lux 3, and prefer using the LCD for framing because it leads to a more fluid and looser shooting style. I look at the scene directly and only use the LCD to establish where the edges of the picture fall, the framing, if you will: when I press the shutter my eyes are looking at the scene itself, not at the LCD display. BTW, I also need reading glasses. My GR-D has a flash shoe and I thought that I would be using my VC28 and Leica 21 viewfinder, but find I never uyse them.

 

If you do a search for "D-Lux 3" on this forum you'lll find a good number of threads, including the following:

 

http://www.leica-camera-user.com/digital-forum/16946-when-i-hear-iq-i-reach.html

http://www.leica-camera-user.com/digital-forum/19370-d-lux-3-usable-iso3200-judge.html

 

...and here's another one from another forum:

 

Leica and Rangefinders Forum: Some D-Lux-3 images

 

You can also find some D-Lux 3 photos on my Flickr site below.

 

—Mitch/Lubumbashi

Flickr: Photos from Mitch Alland

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The only drama is that as a convenience camera it is not waterproof shockproof and...doesnt have an alarm clock. Got the panasonic badge, but someone is going to pick up the olympus holiday proof because it can go in a kyak or go for a swim across a river and it can get dropped out of a pocket scrambling over the rocks. You want the stunning files then you use the M8?

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Ohh..and by the way, about half the files from the LX from recent trip show soft focus from moisure inside a lens or something. The camera was used hiking through Kiwi ranges in hot cold some rain and fog. Not by me, it never got wet. So, no I cant see it as being much of a travel camera unless you are purely hotel type. I think the files are great in RAW low ISO. Really happy, but, soft camera.

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I have a dodgy connection at the moment and this place is loading the english forum using the german template...or is it happening to everyone. Any ideas? I am having to guess all the 'uploadenzie' instruction thingies. Keeps telling me guten tag and antworden and stuff...

 

..... [ATTACH]30157[/ATTACH]

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I'm very pleased with mine, it's always in my bag... I've recently bought Lightroom, which I love to use by the way, and it works great with D-LUX3 images. I first convert my images to DNG, reducing my rwa file by half, then the Developper is wonderful, I feel like being in my darkroom making prints like in the old times :o)

My dlux3 pictures are here :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thual/sets/72157594487182835/

Regards

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