Leica D-lux 8

[nickss]

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Hi!

I’m considering buying the Leica D-lux 8 and would love to hear your thoughts. For context: I’ve been a hobby photographer for about 10 years, previously using Canon DSLRs and Sony mirrorless cameras, but I’ve never owned a Leica.

What I’m looking for is a minimal setup (I don’t want a bunch of lenses), a camera I can use to photograph my family (I have two kids, ages 3 and 1) and take occasional landscapes for Instagram. Ideally, I want to be able to use the photos straight out of the camera without heavy editing.

Here are my questions:

Does the d-lux 8 8 support Leica Looks filters from the app? I remember this being mentioned as a future feature when the camera was first released, but none of the YouTube reviews mention it.

Do you think the low burst rate or contrast-detect autofocus will be a big issue when photographing small children?

Is there any way to add film-style effects (like grain or vignetting) in-camera for jps?

Thanks!

[jaapv]

As to your last question: yes. Shoot DNG and do so in postprocessing.  

[Pelu2010]

If there is a Leica store near by, I would test the d-lux. Or maybe the Q3. 
I would just invest some time in exploring the camera. Then sleep 😴 > then maybe check again? 
I can also recommend workshops, where the equipment is provided as a tool to see if you like the cameras. 

[PhotoCruiser]

I checked the Leica Website and there is no reference to Leica Looks for the D-Lux. The only as compatible cameras listed are SL3 and the Q3 series.
No it will not be a problem, but there may be better and less expensive cameras for photographing small children
There is many software creating old school film grain, DxO FilmPack for example and it's on Black Friday sale now

Do a search for D-Lux 8 here, there are many treads, critiques and images what may help you with getting more informations about this camera.
A good thing for decision finding is to rent a camera for a weekend to test it throughly, but consider that you would need to study the settings to get best out of it.
Chris

Edited 8 hours ago by PhotoCruiser

[jaapv]

Basically - and that goes for just about any camera - your problem is that you want your photography straight out of the camera without any processing. No camera produces its best that way, and whilst the result from Leica is pretty decent as they have a very high basic image quality,  to get full "Leica" quality, postprocessing is inevitable. 

This goes for any camera, but the difference is less pronounced with for instance Fuji, which is slanted to jpg output.

[JCF]

Your context, was same as mine. D-Lux 8 is my first Leica. And my most immediate realization when I used the D-Lux is the pleasant color rendition vs. Canon and Sony.

Leica looks is supported via the Leica Fotos app as a JPG post process event, once the photo has been imported.

I have recently been embracing zone (manual) focusing post the M EV1 release, and find I get more keepers.

Auto-focus is hit or miss. I once took a series of my kid in the playground and found the focus to be all over the place (on the neck, ears, etc.) and rarely the eyes!

Also, if you can accept the fact that this is a m4/3 sensor and not a full frame, and the detail it produces is quite limited (I say this pixel peeping on a 27" screen)... but good enough for web forums, social media, and sharing with family... then you should be fine.

If you shoot DNG and don't mind the repeatedly large sizes, the files are very malleable and clean very well with noise reduction software despite high ISO.

Happy shooting!