Tenor1 Posted November 17, 2008 Share #1 Posted November 17, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) After reading Thorsten Overgaard's fantastic site and such positive feedback here I decided on the D2 over the D Lux-4. I bid during the VERY last few seconds and won. I'm sorry to the other high bidder if he/she frequents these forums. My local camera shop hasn't had a D2 available for some time and yesterday I went in ready to purchase the D Lux-4 and came out with the Canon G-10. It is a very fine camera and will suit my needs for aquarium shots having an aquarium scene mode. I did a little night shooting at the Long Beach symphony last night and found anything over 400 ISO to be quite grainy. Yesterday at the camera shop I compared the Canon G-10 and D Lux-4 quite extensively. The Canon color is not quite as natural as the Leica, IMO. But overall seemed to suit my needs for aquarium photography due to the ergonomics and the scene mode. The D Lux-4 has a Kelvin adjustment, which is THE perfect thing for aquarium shooting and it was a tough but fun comparison. I don't know why I'm even writing this except that winning the D2 really makes me excited. My first Leica was a Mini, film P&S. It looks like a toy camera but it was love at fist site after seeing my first set of prints. Enough rambling, here are my questions. 1. Does the D2 have a Kelvin adjustment? I may not need the G-10 if it does. 2. Has anyone here shot aquariums using a D2? I regret not purchasing a D2 from my local shop but who knows if or when they would ever get one. My only concern is not knowing the person from eBay. Regards, Carlos Marques Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 17, 2008 Posted November 17, 2008 Hi Tenor1, Take a look here JUST Won a D2 on EBay. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
audidudi Posted November 17, 2008 Share #2 Posted November 17, 2008 Fairs fair and even if you bid at the last possible instant, you need not feel badly for the others bidders as they could have bid higher when they placed their bids had they so desired. Enjoy your camera with a clear conscience! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucek Posted November 17, 2008 Share #3 Posted November 17, 2008 No, the Digilux 2 doesn't have a Kelvin adjust for white balance, but it will allow you to set the white balance by shooting, for instance, a white piece of paper. Probably not of much help at the aquarium, I fear... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
meng8123 Posted November 17, 2008 Share #4 Posted November 17, 2008 congratulation on your new camera!!! you will have a lot fun with it. I am sure you can take a piece paper and put on the other side of the aquarium and set the white balance then take the shot should be fine (I did this before and people think I am crazy:rolleyes: maybe I am a little). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikonk Posted November 17, 2008 Share #5 Posted November 17, 2008 hard to find them anymore. I do wish to own 1 of them, 2/3" CCD & 28mm f2 are still hard to come by these days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spylaw4 Posted November 17, 2008 Share #6 Posted November 17, 2008 You'll love it - it does great jpegs. Has it had a replacement sensor? Stick to ISO 100 and single point autofocus (for real speed use manual focus), give it time to work and all will be fine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bernd Banken Posted November 17, 2008 Share #7 Posted November 17, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) here is a link with pics out of the Digilux2: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/digital-forum/20265-do-digilux-2-photos-have-distinctive.html When you accept the limits (which every cam has) you get pics with a very special phantastic "look". Enjoy this gem! Bernd Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenor1 Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share #8 Posted November 17, 2008 Yes Brian, the sensor was replaced very recently. The aquarium shots I take are at institutions and I cannot put a paper behind them to adjust the white balance. I will learn how to make the white balance adjustments needed. Thanks for the link Bernd, it makes me more anxious to start! Regards, Carlos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted November 17, 2008 Share #9 Posted November 17, 2008 Yes Brian, the sensor was replaced very recently. The aquarium shots I take are at institutions and I cannot put a paper behind them to adjust the white balance. I will learn how to make the white balance adjustments needed. Thanks for the link Bernd, it makes me more anxious to start! Regards, Carlos Carlos, I do not shoot aquariums but I do have thoughts on white balance. I use a WhiBal calibrated grey card for all my serious shooting with my D2. Then, in Lightroom, I point at the shot with the card incorporated and click on it to neutralize the colour balance. It has made a fantastic difference to my work. Previously I used grey artist card but you will find that it is seldom spectrally neutral nor are two samples identical. A white or black card runs the risk of running into 'clipping' and thus nullifying your effort. The WhiBal is calibrated to be spectrally neutral and only material which falls within the tight spec is used in manufacture. (Google WhiBal and study Michael Tapes excellent videos). I have no connection with Michael Tapes other than being a very satisfied customer. I would doubt that any inbuilt aquarium mode on any camera would match the above technique because I guess it makes too many assumptions about internal and ambient lighting. There has to be a compromise somewhere in its algoriths. One last comment. You have more control over white balance if you shoot raw. It will work with jpegs but already those files have received automatic white balance correction and erased some data. I hope this helps you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajthornbury Posted November 18, 2008 Share #10 Posted November 18, 2008 Welcome to the happy D2 band Carlos. Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vicaf Posted November 18, 2008 Share #11 Posted November 18, 2008 Hey Carlos - Congratulations, I am one of the folks you outbid! Enjoy the camera, and I look forward to seeing your pictures. To everyone else - any D2s for sale? Vic Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
krabat Posted November 18, 2008 Share #12 Posted November 18, 2008 ... To everyone else - any D2s for sale? Vic No... not mine... Carlos, congratulations! Enjoy the camera! Best regards, Peter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlancasterd Posted November 18, 2008 Share #13 Posted November 18, 2008 T 1. Does the D2 have a Kelvin adjustment? I may not need the G-10 if it does. Carlos Marques Carlos The D2 doesn't have Kelvin adjustment. However, if you shoot in RAW mode, it's easy to adjust the colour temperature in software such as Lightroom during post-processing. Indeed shooting this way allows fine tuning of the colour temperature to the nearest 5 degrees. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
donwhee Posted November 18, 2008 Share #14 Posted November 18, 2008 Hello Carlos, If you were the gentleman who purchased it at $660.00 on ebay, then you probably outbidded me! No worries though. I was able to purchase one at keh.com for under $600.00 at E+ condition. Looking forward to it arriving this Thursday. I already own the Panasonic version and am very curious to see how much of an image difference there is. Supposingly, the Leica version has less accurate color reindition, but looks more film-like. Can't wait to compare side-by-side! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Thawley Posted November 18, 2008 Share #15 Posted November 18, 2008 Hello Carlos, If you were the gentleman who purchased it at $660.00 on ebay, then you probably outbidded me! No worries though. I was able to purchase one at keh.com for under $600.00 at E+ condition. Looking forward to it arriving this Thursday. I already own the Panasonic version and am very curious to see how much of an image difference there is. Supposingly, the Leica version has less accurate color reindition, but looks more film-like. Can't wait to compare side-by-side! Carlos bought his from me. You were probably not bidding on my camera. I'm curious how you got one from KEH though... they haven't had any in nearly three weeks. They did have Panasonics. Regarding "less accurate color rendition"... color rendition is not like spelling... which is either accurate or not accurate. Color rendition is subjective. I happen to think the Leica is far more pleasing than my DMC LC1 was. JT Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenor1 Posted November 18, 2008 Author Share #16 Posted November 18, 2008 Hi Don, No, that is not the same auction, but you certainly caught my attention with your comparison testing. I am curious about your statement regarding the Leica color accuracy. I feel the Panasonic versions have slightly exaggerated colors comparing the Pany DMC LX1 and the D-Lux2. I own both these cameras and can see it in the blue of the sky. Keep us posted! Carlos Marques Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roguewave Posted November 18, 2008 Share #17 Posted November 18, 2008 Carlos, congrats on acquiring this jewel of a camera. I love my D2. Excellent performer. Study the manual! This camera has tremendous versatility. Acquire patience, as the time it takes to write the file to the card is not short. It forces you to compose and work on your selection & framing. Results are superb and have a unique Leica D2 signature. I have used this camera in 3 different aquariums. I found that the colors & light I wanted drove my decisions to use manual controls & settings. You can start with test frames with automatic settings, but I found that after you get to know the camera, manual control puts you in charge. If the full frame is all through the aquarium glass, the world seen will never be a "real" WB, but that's the beauty. Light in air bears little resemblance to light in water. This camera will let you choose which part of the spectrum you want to be predominate in the water. Enjoy this treasure, shoot prodigiously and post often. Enjoy, Ben Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenor1 Posted November 18, 2008 Author Share #18 Posted November 18, 2008 Carlos bought his from me. You were probably not bidding on my camera.JT Now the cat's out of the bag, lol. If I posted a bad picture from the D2 I could have said it was a bad camera. Now nobody here will believe the camera is bad and the fingers can only point to me, lol. Carlos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
donwhee Posted November 18, 2008 Share #19 Posted November 18, 2008 Carlos bought his from me. You were probably not bidding on my camera. I'm curious how you got one from KEH though... they haven't had any in nearly three weeks. They did have Panasonics. Regarding "less accurate color rendition"... color rendition is not like spelling... which is either accurate or not accurate. Color rendition is subjective. I happen to think the Leica is far more pleasing than my DMC LC1 was. JT Hello John, Thanks for pointing out my spelling error. I was in a rush and forgot to edit my post (I think I made a total of 2 or 3 spelling errors, not very academic of me). Anyhow, in regards to KEH, I was on their site late in the evening (Monday) and to my shock saw one available. I snatched it immediately. I'm assuming they just posted it. Funny thing is, that they already discounted it from $649.99 to $599.99. I am hoping that the Digilux image will be more pleasing. I do like the LC1, but something about the color makes me feel that it's missing something. It feels too digital...I don't know if that makes sense...I think plastic fantastic might be the wording. Carlos, as soon as I receive my Digilux 2, I'll take pictures and compare images. I don't pixel peep, so it won't be some scientific analysis and bemoaning how much noise suppression the images contain. I really like digital images to still look like film. Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
audidudi Posted November 18, 2008 Share #20 Posted November 18, 2008 I am hoping that the Digilux image will be more pleasing. I do like the LC1, but something about the color makes me feel that it's missing something. It feels too digital...I don't know if that makes sense...I think plastic fantastic might be the wording. If you shoot .jpgs, then based upon your tastes-and-preferences, you'll indeed be happier with the D2 than with the LC1. If you shoot RAW, however, the difference between the two (IMO, anyway) is considerably less, to the point of being non-existant in pretty much every situation where I've compared them. I keep planning to experiment with this by swapping the main circuit boards between my D2 and LC1 and photographing various scenes using both cameras (by using the same sensor and lens for each camera, this should eliminate any unit-to-unit variability in the lenses or sensors and isolate any differences between the resulting images to just the image processing pipeline) but every time I've set aside some free time to do this, something else has come up. Perhaps this weekend? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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