Sometimes we get buried in Leica hype on YouTube

[mdrips]

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I strongly like my D Lux 8, but in attempting to learn more about it, I've found there is a wee bit of too much hype on YouTube.

We have two competing Leica enthusiasts on YouTube who promote the D Lux 8, yet manage to only recite its features without any examples of setting the menu parameters or even operating the camera itself.

Mr. Overgaard at least bought the camera, while Mr. Brownstone just used a loaner.

Hugh Brownstone

Leica D-Lux 8 Defies Expectations, Including My Own

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEjFW3GECY8&t=969s

Thorsten Overgaard

Leica D-Lux 8 Review vs Leica D-Lux 7 by Leica Expert Thorsten Overgaard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPdxqLox1Ao&t=2s

[Chris W]

One is irritating, the other seems to spend more time making lovey-dovey Leica videos than taking meaningful photographs.

It's hard to find any camera reviews of value on Youtube, most influencers make promo videos for a living, and aren't actually hard working photographers.

[Delboy72]

 

[spydrxx]

You Tube videos should be taken with a grain salt. Most influencers merely rehash what somebody told them without thoroughly checking it out...sort of like a poorly trained newscaster.

[mdrips]

I saw the Australian guy's D Lux 8 settings video and while it was interesting, he is VERY opinionated, as in "RAW rules, JPEG drools". In other words he just skips any discussion about JPEG, as he believes that DNG (RAW) is the only way to go. I appreciate JPEG and DNG, but I am interested in knowledge, not one man's "let's use DNG so that we can fix ALL of our photos in post!!" opinion.

Yes, most of these influencers have absolutely no actual technical depth.

[rsolomon]

Thorsten Overgaard is well known in leica circles , he offers a lot of very  good materials, I find his website very informative 

[mdrips]

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fsolomon:

If you watch the above listed video by Mr. Overgaard, you will find it has no useable content. He just gushes over what a nice camera the D Lux 8 is. It's just valueless hype.

[Bronski]

After having seen some of his videos I unsubscribed his feed, since he only is about pushing his own commercial content. And his presentation makes me sleepy.

[platti]

Honestly, what do you expect to learn about the D-Lux 8?

It is a Point & Shoot-Camera with an uncomplicated, very well performing system and a really low learningcurve.

[ljclark]

On 5/13/2025 at 7:56 AM, mdrips said:

I saw the Australian guy's D Lux 8 settings video and while it was interesting, he is VERY opinionated, as in "RAW rules, JPEG drools". In other words he just skips any discussion about JPEG, as he believes that DNG (RAW) is the only way to go. I appreciate JPEG and DNG, but I am interested in knowledge, not one man's "let's use DNG so that we can fix ALL of our photos in post!!" opinion.

Yes, most of these influencers have absolutely no actual technical depth.

Actually, I found Nick Rains' setting suggestions useful and to the point.  And he gave me enough information that I could decide when not to use some of his suggestions.

As for his emphasis on DNG -- I can't fault him on that.  Taking a DNG (instead of a JPEG) into post-processing is not a crutch.  It is how you ensure that your post-processing settings are your choice, not something that some camera company decided.  Could we compare, from back in the old days, a Polaroid shot with a negative you'd work with in the darkroom?

Leica made an interesting decision when they changed the user interface and options for the D-Lux 8.  I had the original LX100 for a few years, and it really did feel like a P&S -- though a very nice one.  With the D-Lux 8, Leica seems to straddling the fence by shifting part of the workflow from a lot of setting options in the camera to more basic options, with the understanding that many experienced photographers intend to utilize the many post-processing resources we now have available. 

[mdrips]

1 hour ago, ljclark said:

Actually, I found Nick Rains' setting suggestions useful and to the point.  And he gave me enough information that I could decide when not to use some of his suggestions.

As for his emphasis on DNG -- I can't fault him on that.  Taking a DNG (instead of a JPEG) into post-processing is not a crutch.  It is how you ensure that your post-processing settings are your choice, not something that some camera company decided.  Could we compare, from back in the old days, a Polaroid shot with a negative you'd work with in the darkroom?

Leica made an interesting decision when they changed the user interface and options for the D-Lux 8.  I had the original LX100 for a few years, and it really did feel like a P&S -- though a very nice one.  With the D-Lux 8, Leica seems to straddling the fence by shifting part of the workflow from a lot of setting options in the camera to more basic options, with the understanding that many experienced photographers intend to utilize the many post-processing resources we now have available. 

A minute spent in “post” is a minute you didn’t spend being a better photographer.

Before digital, some extra lab time might be spent improving a photo, but there’s no comparison to today’s tools that offer dozens of tools and the capability of scrolling through hundreds of photos in a single session. JPEG files can be altered in “post”, so shooting in DNG (which encapsulates RAW) might allow additional processing alterations, but then what are you, an actual photographer or an image manipulator?

[ceflynn]

2 hours ago, ljclark said:

Actually, I found Nick Rains' setting suggestions useful and to the point.  And he gave me enough information that I could decide when not to use some of his suggestions.

As for his emphasis on DNG -- I can't fault him on that.  Taking a DNG (instead of a JPEG) into post-processing is not a crutch.  It is how you ensure that your post-processing settings are your choice, not something that some camera company decided.  Could we compare, from back in the old days, a Polaroid shot with a negative you'd work with in the darkroom?

Leica made an interesting decision when they changed the user interface and options for the D-Lux 8.  I had the original LX100 for a few years, and it really did feel like a P&S -- though a very nice one.  With the D-Lux 8, Leica seems to straddling the fence by shifting part of the workflow from a lot of setting options in the camera to more basic options, with the understanding that many experienced photographers intend to utilize the many post-processing resources we now have available. 

I think Nick Rains is a very talented presenter of new Leica cameras and suggested settings for their use. I did find it a bit frustrating to have to watch the video several times while making notes about all the settings he suggested, but I learned a lot. I have been following his videos for years, and I think that his suggested settings should be documented in a text file, and stored as a preset in the camera, in case someone who approves of his approach buys a new camera and needs to start using it immediately. 

Edited May 14 by ceflynn

[ceflynn]

On 5/13/2025 at 4:12 AM, Chris W said:

One is irritating, the other seems to spend more time making lovey-dovey Leica videos than taking meaningful photographs.

It's hard to find any camera reviews of value on Youtube, most influencers make promo videos for a living, and aren't actually hard working photographers.

The really important part of Thorsten Overgaard's review is the story of how he and his stepdaughter (a Parson's School of Design student) found the Leica D-Lux 7 to be unusably complicated. Here is the URL with the beginning of this part of his story:

 

 

 

Edited May 14 by ceflynn

[oldwino]

Never trust anyone who refers to himself as "Leica Expert".