LX100 II review

[earleygallery]

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On 11/8/2018 at 7:57 PM, carbon_dragon said:

Ok, I see. The Lumix has a grip in front and a slightly different shape for the thumbrest in back and all the buttons are a different shape. 

The LX100 II has a touchscreen and more resolution but is basically the same camera otherwise. Since Leica seems to have discontinued the X1 and X2, I'm guessing there will be a later version of the D-Lux based on the new LX100 II ... eventually. This kind of reminds me of the old Leica/Minolta CL. Basically a Minolta camera with Leica design influence and a Leica lens mount and Leica designed lenses. This is a Panasonic camera with Leica design influence with a Leica designed fixed lens. Pretty close to the same size too. The control layout seems very Leica like, which is why it works as a Leica.

Looks like a great camera, in any of the three versions (I, II, or 109).

The Leica and Panasoninc versions of the 'same' camera are essentially the same, apart from some differences in the body styling and - some say - differences in the jpeg output.

The lens is the same on both cameras. How much input Leica have into the lens design is another matter. It's made by Panasonic. It might be a Leica design but given the price point of these cameras it's doubtful. It's more likely a Panasonic design that Leica have looked at and said yes, that's fine.

The lens on the Digilux 1 was used on the Panasonic version of that camera, as well as appearing on Olympus and Canon models of the time. Strange that!

I once bought a new Panasonic C Lux 2 version for £99, which also had a Leica lens. Sure, a real Leica lens plus the camera and battery and charger etc for £99......

However, for the price they are fine cameras and capable of excellent results, which is what matters.

[carbon_dragon]

Might be worth thinking about what Leica contributes to a camera that makes us like it and want to shoot with it. Looks? Feeling of quality? Ergonomics? Menu design? Lens design? The ability to empty our bank accounts?

I guess the equation gets complicated in joint ventures. Other companies are obviously capable of most of these too, so what separates the Leica part of a joint venture? I'm guessing that even the Panasonic version has profited from Leica ergonomics and lens design for instance -- AND the Leica side has benefited from cost and performance features from Panasonic. Essentially both cameras are combinations of both companies.

I wonder if anyone would like to comment on their repair experiences when they needed to get it fixed (both the leica version and the panasonic version). Did you have a good experience?

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[lct]

Differences can be important for jpeg users: Aesthetics, ergonomics, OOC image quality. For raw users it's mainly ergonomics i suspect. This is at least the reason why i preferred the LX100 to the DL109 personally. But when i preferred the Digilux 1 to the LC5 in 2002 it was aesthetics and image quality then since ergonomics were very close and the raw format was not available on those cameras. BTW do you know why earleygallery says "some say - differences in the jpeg output" above? Because he bought an LC5 if memory serves and he was jealous of my Digilux 1! Just kidding but sooo true .

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[carbon_dragon]

That's a weird looking little camera. I often wonder how much lenses labelled Leica (and Zeiss too) really are what Zeiss and Leica would use on their own cameras. Does it generally mean that it's actually a Leica design (and/or build) or does it just mean a brand name? I used to wonder the same thing about the original Leica CL with it's 40/2 Summicron C. I have that lens and it's great, but is it Minolta or Leica that I should really thank?

The 109/LX100's zoom lens doesn't seem to physically resemble Leica's previous zoom lenses either. Is it an actual Leica lens design, or a Panasonic lens design, or a joint venture?

[Le Chef]

Does any of it matter? It becomes a little like dissecting a joke: it stops being funny. Dissecting the origins of individual components misses the point about how nice it is to shoot pictures with it. At the end of the day accept it’s a joint venture with blurred join lines.

More importantly it’s a compact camera with a good lens, and easy functionality that encourages you to take it everywhere and be prepared to shoot something on the off-chance. The images for a crop sensor are not bad at all. Enjoy it for what it is and not worry about what it’s not.

Edited November 20, 2018 by Le Chef

[lct]

Will be interesting to check if the new D-Lux 7 has the same IQ as the LX100-II. Never been the case in jpeg mode so far. In raw mode i would like more acutance than the LX100-II but i don't hold my breath.

[earleygallery]

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6 hours ago, lct said:

BTW do you know why earleygallery says "some say - differences in the jpeg output" above? Because he bought an LC5 if memory serves and he was jealous of my Digilux 1! Just kidding but sooo true .

 

You have a good memory LCT! Yes I bought an LC5 - I still have it somewhere but haven't used it for years, I think I mis-placed the battery charger too. I was jealous though, I still love the look of that Digilux 1!

I remember seeing some comparisons between the two cameras and it did appear that the Leica jpegs were less saturated in colour. I think there was even reference to a Leica bod who said they had set their own parameters in the Digilux 1.

I'm not sure that they ever said that about any of the other cameras that followed however. As an aside I also remember that someone here owned several Digilux 2 cameras at the same time and posted the same scene taken with each camera to show how there were slight variations between them in how they rendered the jpeg files (same settings). Of course any differences could be replicated in post processing and further with RAW files in the later cameras it was irrelevant anyway.

Another thing to remember about the 'PanaLeica' cameras were that they pretty much saved the company at a time when they were the only digital offerings Leica had. The brought in far more money that the M and R lines at the time. They were affordable and sold very well no doubt in part due to the Leica being attached to them (Leica branded lenses also appear on other Panasonic models such as their video cameras).

The PanaLeica's - whichever flavour you choose - have always been regarded as very good cameras.

 

 

[carbon_dragon]

4 hours ago, Le Chef said:

Does any of it matter? It becomes a little like dissecting a joke: it stops being funny. Dissecting the origins of individual components misses the point about how nice it is to shoot pictures with it. At the end of the day accept it’s a joint venture with blurred join lines.

More importantly it’s a compact camera with a good lens, and easy functionality that encourages you to take it everywhere and be prepared to shoot something on the off-chance. The images for a crop sensor are not bad at all. Enjoy it for what it is and not worry about what it’s not.

It matters to me because I'm trying to decide what to buy. 109? LX100? LX100 II? X2? X 114? X Vario? It seems reasonable to try to do my research and ask questions before sinking something like a grand into a purchase. In the old days I could have gone to my local store and played with the various options. Alas I don't live in New York.

[lct]

 

46 minutes ago, earleygallery said:

[...] I remember seeing some comparisons between the two cameras and it did appear that the Leica jpegs were less saturated in colour. I think there was even reference to a Leica bod who said they had set their own parameters in the Digilux 1. [...]

Just for fun, LC5 vs Digilux 1 jpegs below.

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[Le Chef]

2 hours ago, carbon_dragon said:

It matters to me because I'm trying to decide what to buy. 109? LX100? LX100 II? X2? X 114? X Vario? It seems reasonable to try to do my research and ask questions before sinking something like a grand into a purchase. In the old days I could have gone to my local store and played with the various options. Alas I don't live in New York.

The LX100 II/DL-7 have more pixels than the X's, have a faster maximum aperture, a built in EVF, and better support technology in FOTO.

[djinn415]

Love the IQ of the Lumix LX ii!  But I am returning it, because of the announcement of the Leica D-Lux 7 which is essentially the same camera but better aesthetics. Couple photos from Lumix LX 100ii

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Edited November 21, 2018 by djinn415

[Simon]

I’m not seeing much or any difference in noise in those comparisons at ISO 1600.  What I am seeing is a bit less aliasing (possibly due to upscaling) and chromatic abberation in the higher resolution sensor and a softer look overall.

I’d like to see the comparison made by reducing the LX100 II’s resultion rather than the other way around, or at least have both methods.

[lct]

Acutance and noise at 1600 iso. LX100 pic upsized to match the LX100-II's resolution. I don't like downsizing sorry.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Dt5sXkH/0/8247df47/O/i-Dt5sXkH.jpg

[Simon]

1 hour ago, lct said:

Acutance and noise at 1600 iso. LX100 pic upsized to match the LX100-II's resolution. I don't like downsizing sorry.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Dt5sXkH/0/8247df47/O/i-Dt5sXkH.jpg

New version looks better to me!

[magixaxeman]

19 hours ago, Le Chef said:

The LX100 II/DL-7 have more pixels than the X's, have a faster maximum aperture, a built in EVF, and better support technology in FOTO.

They're both identical, identical lens apertures, identical sensors/sizes, built in EVF and the Panasonic app is as good as if not better than FOTO!

Why is FOTO crap? cos you can't use it in landscape view and it no longer zooms in when manually focusing, I still use the Leica M app as it still has both those features.

 

So please listen, Panasonic OWN a license to use the leica brand name, this is what allows them to make Leica branded lenses for their products and make Leica branded camera's for Leica, the only thing different between Leica and Panasonic branded compact camera's is the styling and the Leica logo.

 

 

[lct]

14 minutes ago, magixaxeman said:

[...] the only thing different between Leica and Panasonic branded compact camera's is the styling and the Leica logo.

As far as Digilux 1/LC5, Digilux 2/LC1 and DL109/LX100 are concerned, the jpeg outputs are different. 

[Le Chef]

2 hours ago, magixaxeman said:

They're both identical, identical lens apertures, identical sensors/sizes, built in EVF and the Panasonic app is as good as if not better than FOTO!

Why is FOTO crap? cos you can't use it in landscape view and it no longer zooms in when manually focusing, I still use the Leica M app as it still has both those features.

 

So please listen, Panasonic OWN a license to use the leica brand name, this is what allows them to make Leica branded lenses for their products and make Leica branded camera's for Leica, the only thing different between Leica and Panasonic branded compact camera's is the styling and the Leica logo.

 

 

LXII/DL 7 have 17MP vs 16 for the X’s, have a f1.7 lens vs 2.8 or 3.5 max aperture. I don’t know what your data source is but they are not equivalent. And let’s not forget the built in EVF of the LX/DL7 that the X’s do not have. Seems straightforward to me.

Edited November 21, 2018 by Le Chef

[lct]

[lct]

X, DL7 and LX100-II have f/1.7 or f/1.7-2.8 lenses but the X is an APS-C camera having nothing to do with Panasonic AFAIK. Could be compared to TL or CL cameras i guess but DL7 and LX100-II don't play in the same league IMHO.

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[carbon_dragon]

I've been leaning toward the X's, like an X2 or an X 113 (I really like the look of the brown and chrome version) but since it's looking like my M9 may have sensor corrosion, I'm wondering if I might be better off with the DL7. No more expensive really, very capable, and newer. 

Does anyone know if Leica/Panasonic cameras get repaired at Panasonic or Leica? Or can you do either? Anyone have their 109 repaired? How did that go as far as cost?