D-LUX 3 movie quality

[dhoun]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi all,

 

Recently purchased a D-LUX 3 but the movie quality from it so far is very, very poor. Full of jagged perpendiculars etc. Results don't come close to my Canon IXUS 750.

 

Anyone else have this problem with the D-LUX 3 or is it the norm

 

Thanks ...

[Harrington]

Use the IXUS 750 then.

[ckthual]

Use it at full resolution 15fps, the quality is OK

Under that resolution called large, the image quality is bad...

[Delfi_r]

I have used it at full resolution and the only problems are my poor performance on handling a camera like a video camera.

[dhoun]

Thanks for the replies guys, especially smartypants Harrington ... now why didn't I think of that!

[mampito]

Hi,

 

unfortunately, the D-Lux 3 has very poor video performance compared to the Canon cameras.

I can only compare my Canon Ixus 30 with the D-Lux, and even though the images of the Leica are far better, the video is really bad.

I don't know how Canon did this, but the video is nearly good enough to replace a standard video camera.

 

So far I have not found a way to improve this.

I find the same flaws that you did.

 

All the best

 

Martin

[digitalis]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

i respectfully disagree with the comments relating to performance ...

 

the video for the d-lux 3 is very good for a *digital camera* ... significantly, the software/firmware currently in place could be much improved but therein lies one major issue ... it is also why i never use digital zoom & take video in multiple settings when possible to get a feel when i have time ...

 

not to oversimplify, the video setting cannot be optimized against as wide a range of settings as for pictures -- motion estimation is more difficult at lower computation/battery savings ... and the d-lux is stuck with seriously-dated quicktime

 

i have d-lux, d-lux 2 and d-lux 3 (several contax to compare zeiss as well as an older sony miniDV DCR-PC1) ... considering the size and optics, colors in any range of settings (concerts, county fairs, beach picnics, indoor parties, and even macro-settings) is quite good ...

 

imho it is almost too camera-like -- the "perpendiculars" appear in particular lightning/situations which sometimes appear quite natural -- but may relate to the challenge of matching the optics to any compression that is used when you capture your material to a PC -- and when i compare settings or other cameras i still have the effect sans the color richness/depth of the d-lux

 

another advantage -- the leica d-lux 3 has excellent audio capture ... something that has become more apparent with use ...

 

... i am hopeful better (perhaps upgradeable or more software friendly given advances in software dsp) processors are considered ... even a graphics processing unit ("gpu") to grab more data in parallel to deal with motion estimation by brute force (especially now that these are standard in PCs & gaming units) ... or probably more difficult to consider on a value basis a foveon chip ...

 

the digital zoom is horrible ... see above on compression used as one reason (if anyone from leica is listening -- look at graphicconverter from thorsten lemke and try and imagine a camera with firmware that can be optimized to handle video for given use instead of relying on least common denominator quicktime -- a dated and computationally expensive memory hog -- even look at the advances in compression for any number of platforms with varying computational requirements -- iPhone versus a high-end Alienware PC)

 

i've found that testing not only the (1080 x 720) 15 fps setting against 30 fps in a wide range of lighting gives me a much better feel for the capabilities ... but considerations for settings, for me at least, take far more time than still image on a digital camera ...

 

thanks for providing great insight ... ive been a camera fanatic since i was 4 years old ... had to build that pinhole camera (alas using a cigarette box was not the best design decision) ...