Lecia digilux 2 best settings

[gilmourjh]

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Hi everyone,

I recently purchased a second-hand D-lux 2, and was wondering if anyone had any help around best colour settings and B&W. I am aware that switching the WB to B&W works for the latter, however I am wondering if anyone changes the contrast/sharpness/saturation, for example from STD to low and high and so forth when switching colour and B&W. Just really looking for anyone's tips on this camera

 

Best    

[wda]

Do you have the manual? If not, check online. I presume you have some experience with digital cameras?

Settings are very personal. Since you start with a question on white balance relative to black and white, I presume you do not intend to capture images as raw files. Nothing wrong with that choice. Many users prefer it that way. I would simply work your way through the various options until you find a set which appeals to you. I would work with ISO 100 as much as possible and do not feel obliged to stop the lens down from full aperture. It gains little by stopping down.

This is a link to my website which talks a little about the Digilux 2. https://www.davidaskham.com/leica-digilux-2

I would be pleased to help with specific operational questions, but remember that we all have our own preferences when considering desired output. Enjoy your Digilux 2.

Finally, welcome to the forum!

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[gilmourjh]

Thank you for the reply David.

I am basically just using the picture adjustments contrast/sharpness/saturation to get an idea of preference. For colour, I am dropping all adjustments to low, and B&W contrast-high, sharpness - std, and saturation - low, results below.. I have scanned youtube, but I cannot find anything --- only how good the camera still is to possess. I shoot in Jpeg, as prior researching suggests the Jpegs are pretty good overall.    

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[wda]

When you have finished playing with the controls for jpegs, try using Raw. I process in Lightroom 6.4. You can forget about the settings you are playsing with, because they are ignored in a Raw file.  I have taken one of your pictures and processed in LR, adjusting eight sliders in the Black and White Mix panel. It gives you endless opportunities to obtain a mono version to suit your tastes.

I have copied your JPEG file and converted it in LR6, just to show one, of many examples, of what you can do in post-processing. A raw file would increase the scope for further work. I don't know whether the subtle differences will show in this transfer.

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[farnz]

3 hours ago, gilmourjh said:

I recently purchased a second-hand D-lux 2,

Hi, Gilmourjh,

Welcome to the forum!

First can we clear up a little confusion please?  The title says "Digilux 2" although in your first post you wrote "D-Lux 2" but these are two very different cameras so would you confirm which camera we're talking about please?

Until you tell us other wise I'll assume the title's correct and we're talking about a Digilux 2.  Just so you know, on this forum usually the abbreviation for the Digilux 2 is "D2" and the abbreviation for the D-Lux 2 is "DL2" or "DL-2" (but sometimes members get them muddled up).

The D2 has an excellent reputation for its colour jpegs straight out of the camera and despite it being 17 years old it still beats most other cameras fairly easily although subjective 'taste' needs to be considered when comparing.

If you do decide to shoot raw as David wisely suggests then be aware that the D2 is very slow to write the raw file to the 2 GB card; I typically find that it's something like 6 or 7 seconds before the camera's ready to shoot again and that can be a really long time if the action in front of you is changing quickly.  I know many D2 shooters, myself included, who stick to jpeg only, which writes much more quickly - less than a second usually.

With respect to settings I leave all of the jpeg settings at zero and that seems to work pretty well.  If I do need to boost the contrast or saturation and provide a very little light sharpening (the Vario-Summicron lens is so good that it needs very little I've found) then I pull it into LAB colour space and do it there because it offers far more control than RGB colour space.

Happy shooting!

Pete.

 

[NigelG]

+1

When I had a D2 (and I still regret selling my mint copy) I found shooting raw to be a painfully slow process so went with unadjusted jpg settings or the lovely contrasty B+W if I was sure that was the “look” I wanted.

I haven’t revisited the files but suspect that Topaz denoise/sharpen might be a revelation...🤔

 

[Bobitybob]

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You may also wish to consider shooting in both RAW and jpg which the camera is capable of. This is how I usually use mine with the White Balance set to B&W you get a colour RAW tiff file and a B&W jpg, so the best of both worlds.  
 

Looking forward to seeing some more of your images in the dedicated image thread

[wda]

10 hours ago, NigelG said:

+1

When I had a D2 (and I still regret selling my mint copy) I found shooting raw to be a painfully slow process so went with unadjusted jpg settings or the lovely contrasty B+W if I was sure that was the “look” I wanted.

I haven’t revisited the files but suspect that Topaz denoise/sharpen might be a revelation...🤔

 

Nigel, it is easy to forget that while camera technology has moved on, in the past 15 years, so has the performance of memory cards. I don't think anyone would regard the D2 as a fast shooter, even when new. But that doesn't render the camera unsuitable for considered photography.  I remember setting off with a roll of twelve exposures in my camera and making them last all day, if not longer. 

[gilmourjh]

16 hours ago, wda said:

Thank you for the replies everyone.

Sorry for the confusion, it is a digilux 2 and not a d-lux. I will remember the short-hand D2, as getting used to the forum. I have another query in regards to the Jpeg settings as there are three choices. To me, they look like stacked squares with and arrow pointing upwards. Currently, I have it set at the lowest stacked squares, but I probably should source the field manual from somewhere. 

Best

[wda]

54 minutes ago, gilmourjh said:

Thank you for the replies everyone.

Sorry for the confusion, it is a digilux 2 and not a d-lux. I will remember the short-hand D2, as getting used to the forum. I have another query in regards to the Jpeg settings as there are three choices. To me, they look like stacked squares with and arrow pointing upwards. Currently, I have it set at the lowest stacked squares, but I probably should source the field manual from somewhere. 

Best

How about this https://en.leica-camera.com/Corposite/Service-Support/Support/Downloads?category=93787&subcategory=&type=&language=93871

A simple search of the Leica site.

Lowest stacked squares = lowest quality compression.

Download is bi-lingual. Goto p.98 for start of English version.

Edited October 3, 2021 by wda

[farnz]

1 hour ago, gilmourjh said:

Thank you for the replies everyone.

Sorry for the confusion, it is a digilux 2 and not a d-lux. I will remember the short-hand D2, as getting used to the forum. I have another query in regards to the Jpeg settings as there are three choices. To me, they look like stacked squares with and arrow pointing upwards. Currently, I have it set at the lowest stacked squares, but I probably should source the field manual from somewhere. 

Best

Hi Gilmourjh here is a weblink to a site where you can view (and I believe download) "The Digilux 2 Field Guide", which was produced by a body calling itself The Center For Digital Imaging Inc. in 2004.  Its a hands-on user guide for the Digilux 2 that should provide most of the information and guidance you're looking for.  It goes well beyond Leica's instruction manual because it was written by a photographer who understands what's important to other photographers.

Pete.

[jrethorst]

+1 for the Field Guide. Excellent reference.

John R.

[jrethorst]

See https://www.overgaard.dk/leica_digilux2.html for Thorsten von Overgaard's very informative pages on the D2.

Another download link to the Field Guide is http://www.overgaard.dk/pdf/Digilux_Field_Guide.pdf

John R.

Edited October 4, 2021 by jrethorst

[farnz]

25 minutes ago, jrethorst said:

Another download link to the Field Guide is http://www.overgaard.dk/pdf/Digilux_Field_Guide.pdf

John R.

Unfortunately Safari and Chrome browsers wouldn't allow that webpage to open because of "unsafe privacy issues" so it sounds like Thorsten Overgaard's security certificate is out of date, which is the reason I posted the alternate link.  Firefox opened the webpage okay.

Pete.