Digilux 2 vs E400 vs ...

[j_w_davies]

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As is the way my Digilux 2 has gone off to Solms to be repaired, and I was quoted a period of 7 weeks by Milton Keynes. I fully intend to carry on using the camera when it returns but I will really need something in the mean time.

 

In the UK the Olympus E400 is available for £300, which seems very reasonable. Has anyone got experience of using both cameras. I know the Olympus is a bit plasticy, and has completely different ergonomics, but what about the quality of the photographs from the kit lens? I thought about a Nikon D40 but I'm aware that the kit lens is pretty dire wide open.

 

Another alternative would be the Panasonic L1 at £600. The concern here is that it's twice the price of the E400, and virtually twice the size/weight.

 

Anybody?

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[spylaw4]

If you get the L1 you get the really rather good - arguably superb - 14-50 Vario-Elmarit lens! Worth the extra perhaps?

[j_w_davies]

Brian

The pros for the L1 are that I like the interface and the quality of the lens. To me the cons are the size and that I'd like to make the leap to 10mp if I were to buy a permanent and not temporary replacement for the Digilux 2. I might have to venture to the West End of London to have a hands-on look at one.

Also, Leica offered to replace the Digilux 2 with a Digilux 3 for £899, which given the current price of the L1 doesn't make any sense.

[elansprint72]

Panasonic FZ-50? £325 if you shop around.

 

Broadly similar to the Leica V-Lux1. I use D2 and V-Lux, son uses FZ-50.

[goodbokeh]

Brian

The pros for the L1 are that I like the interface and the quality of the lens. To me the cons are the size and that I'd like to make the leap to 10mp if I were to buy a permanent and not temporary replacement for the Digilux 2. I might have to venture to the West End of London to have a hands-on look at one.

Also, Leica offered to replace the Digilux 2 with a Digilux 3 for £899, which given the current price of the L1 doesn't make any sense.

 

Maybe it does make sense in that the D3 will have a far better warranty and higher resale. Who knows, if the D3 malfunctions in a few years Leica could then offer you a discount price on the D4 or D5....I received my D3 last month. I am very pleased with its operation and performance. Just remember with either the D3 or L1 on JPEGs to turn the sharpness up one or two settings and contrast neutral or up one setting and you are good to go.

[rliamo]

Sorry to hear about your D2,but I've heard they give them a clean up in the factory as well as replacing the sensor and you know it's worth the wait...I have a D2 which I love also an Oly e-330 and the D2 glass is superior to the kit lens on the Oly although the e-330 is faster to shoot and is in itself a nice camera.Anyway,if you're going to buy somthing to tide you over have a look at the Ricoh gr-d,which is a decent little cam with a good lens and shoots Raw at D2 like speeds.I saw one off Oxford st a few weeks ago,but it was the last one but it was 299 which is a figure you mentioned for the E-400.I think you would probably be pleased with the Olympus camera but in the end the kit-lens would start to look shabby next to the Summicron on the D2....Good luck...Liam

[dugby]

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JW, your D2 repair and dilemma to acquire an interim camera whilst waiting for your D2 to return repaired was exactly my situation 10 months ago.

 

Under duress as I had planned to take a D2 (and backup DL2) on a Tokyo-Paris-London family holiday, i was without my prime camera the D2, which died 3 weeks before the above trip....... I bought an L1 for "FULL PRICE" (which was UKP1200) for the trip.

 

Now with both a working D2 and wonderful L1, I find that I cannot give up either camera.

 

The L1 outshoots, out performs almost every aspect of the D2 ....but one.....silence.

 

Almost every time I leave home with a camera, it's always the L1. However I do take my D2 to special occasions where I need shooting silence.... when my daughter is performing on stage for Classical Music performances. Another time I took the D2 on a Forrest walk where I didn't want to attract the killer-roos or man-eating crocs we get down here in OZ (Australia)....sometimes we need the silence when approaching baby-taking dingoes.

 

The two cameras are very very different tools and I find that the D2 has become a gap-filler for my photo-shooting needs.

 

Be under no doubts...... the L1 RAW images are sharper, more detailed, higher resolution and much lower noise than those RAW from my D2. Don't get me wrong, the D2 images are superb, but the L1 images are even better. The jpeg images from both look similar and hard to tell (apart from dof) which is which. So don't judge the two by the images you see on the web.

 

I think if the L1's liveview was a silent shooter, i'd give up the D2. If the designers could have found a way to to make NO mirror movements for liveview, then this camera would have truly deserved the title as the D2 replacement.

 

So for now I have my D2 as my backup to my L1. (I gave the DL2 to my daughter).

[j_w_davies]

@ Liam. I've already thought about replacing my D-Lux 2 with a GR-D, but when I compared photographs taken on both cameras I preferred the Leica. Also the RAW speed was a pain. I might consider a GR-D 2 when/if it arrives.

 

I'm off to the West End tomorrow so I'll try and find an L1 to try out. Still not convinced about the size but I'm willing to give it a look.

[ajthornbury]

My D2 went back to Solms in June, came back within 7 weeks. I bought an Oly E410, which uses the same lens as the E400. have had excellent results from it. The E400/E410 my seem plasticky, but in fact is quite solid and well made. having got my D2 back, I still use both cameras. The D2 is quiet and useful for candids etc, but the E410 has got interchangeable lens', and has got excellent low noise at ISO up to 1600, and so is useful in low light and macro. Currently the E410 single lens kit is now going for £350 in some retailers, and picture quality is very near D2 standard.

Alan:)

[j_w_davies]

Alan

Thanks for your input. You say that the E410 is "very near D2 quality". How would you say it was lacking? I usually shoot with the Digilux 2 at f5.6, I have seen tests which state that the Olympus kit lens works best at f6-f8, given the better low iso capabilities this wouldn't be a problem for me. The thing that does concern me is sharpness at the centre of the lens, what is your opinion?

[ajthornbury]

Well I am not a 'techy' but I can't detect any problem by Eye. The only difference is that the Zuiko lens is f3.5 as against Sumicron's f2 at wide angle. The point about the E 410 is that it is a four thirds system like the D3. therefore lenses are are interchangeable between E system and D system. This will future proof, should you buy additional lenses. There are some cracking lenses in the Zuiko range that will equal Sumicron, Olympus is very big in the medical optics world.

Try this web site for more 4/3rds info.

 

Four Thirds User

 

Alan