D-Lux 3 Movies/Video sample?

[dvdmon]

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Hello,

 

I've been looking at both the D-Lux 3 and it's sister the Panasonic DMC-LX2 for a few weeks now as my next point and shoot. I understand the differences for the most part, and most of them are not enough to make me want to pay an extra $200.

 

I've been reading copious amounts of posts comparing the two cameras and about the only thing at this point that still concerns me in a big way is an alledged fault in the video resolution for the LX2. It was suggested that the D-LUX 3 does not have this issue. The reason this is important to me is that I like to use my compact camera for videos rather than lugging around a seperate camcorder - same idea as having a compact camera. I have a DSLR, but I'm not likely to take that with me to most places due to its size.

 

I've been able to find a couple of sample videos from the LX2 online, but for the life of me I cannot find a sample video from the D-LUX 3. I was wondering if anyone here might post or email such a sample? Or point me to one that's already online that I haven't been able to find?

 

Thanks so much,

 

Levi

[lesh]

Don't believe there's much to be said - it can capture at 30fps in 16x9 mode and you can zoom in/out, although not whilst recording. The quality seems pretty good, given the size of the camera and the fact that moviemaking is not it's prime purpose. But clearly the results aren't going to take any prizes at any film festival.

But don't let that put you off - it's a great wee camera.

[dvdmon]

Don't believe there's much to be said - it can capture at 30fps in 16x9 mode and you can zoom in/out, although not whilst recording. The quality seems pretty good, given the size of the camera and the fact that moviemaking is not it's prime purpose. But clearly the results aren't going to take any prizes at any film festival.

But don't let that put you off - it's a great wee camera.

 

Yes, I really like the camera and that's why I'm planning on getting it or the LX2. What I'm trying to confirm is whether the video quality on the D-Lux 3 is significantly better than the LX2, since I do like to take videos with these compacts and if the Leica doesn't have as much of the artifacting that is visible on the Panasonic model, then it might be worth the additional $200 in order to avoid such issues.

 

Unfortunately so far I've had no luck in getting a sample video from the D-Lux 3...

[dvdmon]

Well, I finally went to the camera store with my SD card, shot some movies in various formats, brought the card home loaded them on my computer. They looked fine to me, no artifacting. Effectively they seem to have significantly more resolution than the Panasonic ones I've seen on the net. It boggles my mind as to why Panasonic, who made the sensor in the first place, decided to chop away a lot of the resolution on their own camera. I wonder if they thought that people wouldn't buy their camcorders if they had decent video quality from their cameras? But couldn't you call this false advertizing? I wonder what the legal ramifications of this are...

 

I did find out that 4GB SD (non-HCSD) cards won't work in the D-LUX 3, so I'll have to sell my 4GB along with my Canon S80 and buy a 4 or 8GB HCSD card when I buy the Leica. Speaking of which, has anyone compared the various classes of SD cards to see if they make any kind of discernible difference when shooting? I'm wondering whether it makes any sense to spend the extra money for a class 6 card or just get a class 2 one...