L1

[peterb]

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I got the Digilux 2 when it came out and much as I liked the performance, personally, stylistically speaking, I felt the Pansonic skin was inifinitely better. The Digilux 2 simply looked like a big clunky Leica. While the LC1 I felt was less conspicuous and attention grabbing. Leica never offered any versions in black. Personally, until I get my hands on the thing, the L1 looks as nice as its predecessor. But, as they say, holding is believing. And any awkwardness could be disasterous. For the moment I'm enthused and looking forward to it.

 

As to the L1, I would agree the biggest selling point will be it's glass (this is afterall the Leica users forum right?) whether held by a polycarbonate tube or one made of brass and aluminum. The Digilux 2 optic was highly praised and I suspect this one will be no different (although f2 Summi on the Digilux 2 was mighty tasty, with the larger chip on the L1, however, I am assuming that with a smaller chip designing and f2.0 summicron zoom was doable, whereas for this larger, 4/3 chip, it was out of the question which is why we're seeing a f2.8 instead).

 

Noise will be interesting. Yes Panasonic has been plagued in the past with their noise. I recall the howls on these boards from the anti-noise brigade regarding the Digilux 2. (RAW was a salvation to some a point, if you didn't mind the agonizingly long write times...another issue I hope is addressed in the L1). Their latest models due to arrive in September (the SLR-like FZ50 and the LX-2, which could herald the way for a D Lux 2 II or is that D Lux Tutu? Or a special Desmond Tutu Edition??) may still have problems despite the improved (and highly vaunted) Venus image processing engine. Pansonic, succombing to their marketing department no doubt increased the pixel count by 2 million on the same square millimeter-age (more pixels = more sales according to current imaging MBA thinking) and is hoping the latest Venus chip will bail them out. I think the laws of physics will get the best of them whatever gains the new Venus III afforded them will be neutralized by the added pixel noise. Net Net = 0.

 

The L1, on the other hand will be a new camera with a SUBSTANTIALLY larger chip, the 4/3 APS size chip. A chip that measures 18mm by 13.5mm. The LX1 (and it's replacement) is 1/1.65" which is around 8.2259mm by 6.097mm. The previous Digilux 2 and LC1 packed all their 5 million pixels on a 1/2.5" chip that was no more than 5.76mm by 4.29mm. So upping the pixel count on a chip that's substantial larger (and, ergo, more surface area to collect light) indicates that the individual pixels, while more in number may actually be larger, too to collect more light. And THAT additional size NOW coupled with the improved Venus image processor would suggest a camera that would have signifcantly greater resolution with substantially (I hope) lower noise. (Remember the original Digilux 2 and Panasonic LC-1 utilized what may have been the first generation image processor at the time and this beast will be using a third generation processor. And from what I can tell the user will have a signifcant say as to how much image processing the processor will be allowed to meddle with on images.

 

Oh, and one more thing, I found 5 million pixels on the Digilux to be MORE than adequate for my needs (I'm not shooting anything that will be on any billboards in New York's Times Square if that's what you're wondering). With today's post production software and amazing interpolation algorithms, producing anything substantially huge with 7.6 million pixels I feel is certainly going to be possible. So I don't feel that even though there are 8 meg and 10.2 meg machines around (I suspect the M8 will be in the 10 plus range on the standard sized APS chip which means it will have respectable pixels of respectable size for, hopefully, respectfully very low noise even up to ASA 1600.) I don't feel handicapped by the 7.6 pixel count. And in fact, as I mentioned, I'm actually encouraged that the laws of physics will be obeyed and we may find a camera with higher resolution and lower noise than we'd experienced from earlier Panasonic efforts.

 

As far as the Live View goes, I agree, it's useless and I could care less, personally. And while I did peer into the Olympus model which has the porro reflex system (I guess reminiscent of the old Olympus Pen FT--remember those old half frame 'reflex' cameras that offered TTL viewing but with no pentaprism in sight?) while it's certainly dim, autofocus takes the mickey out some issues although brighter would be better but ,asyou reported, some users got used to the dimmer view after a week, I am most concerned with how fast the entire mechanism gets out of the way at the point of snapping. One of the things that totally infuriated me about the Digilux 2 was the fact that (and I observed this) even when manually focusing and setting aperature, after the button was pushed, it took nearly a half a second for the aperture to stop down before the shutter would snap. That was waaaaaaay to slow for my tastes. And it placed a greater emphasis on anticipating the moment which made it a total crap shoot (pun intended) for me a lot of the time. Panasonic in the their newest models claims that shutter lag is now down to a minute .0009 seconds. Man if that's even half true for the L1 I'll be one happy camper. I for one am looking forward to it.

 

I'm also looking forward to seeing what Leitz unveils finally at Photokina. To my way of thinking the Digilux 2 would be the equivalent of Leitz' first foray into 35mm relfex with their clumsy SL1 and 2 before the R series started coming out. And, hopefully, with the experience gleaned from their experiements with the Digital Modul R and seeing what a printing company could come up with for a digital rangefinder(when Leitz claimed a digital M was technologically infeasible), must have inspired them to bet the ranch on this one. But we'll see. One thing is for sure. In this day and age any stumbles can be quiet costly. And I'm afraid Solms can't afford to blow this one.

 

So my guess is, judging from the our-lips-are-sealed attitude eminating from the Leicawerkes, that may suggest we are in for one big delightful unveiling. But at $4500 US a pop for the body, I find the L1, if it lives up to the possibilities really really enticing for mois.

 

Peter

[Guest stnami]

..that's how it goes with the L1 sounds like another maybe