Leica c-lux 2
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- JamesBoynton
I'm buying a new camera today and was thinking about the leica c-lux 2 - http://www.leica-camera.co.uk/ph…
I just need a nice easy to use point and shoot that should give decent results... anyone own one or know much about them?
Cheers
- kelpie0
if you aren't a leica junky and aren't bothered about having the badge on the front of your camera then get this instead:
http://www.panasonic.co.uk/compa…
its basically the same as, I think, the D-lux which is the next gen of the one above, but at a fraction of the price
- the leica compacts are built on panasonic bodies, they team up every year to produce a new camerakelpie
- Studiospooky0
I use a Leica C-Lux 2 and I also have a Lumix DMC-1 and I have to say that Leica haven't really cut it in terms of quality with their digital compacts. Both cameras produce noisy images with badly defined edge details. I have come to the conclusion that the best digital comapct cameras are the ones produced by more 'domestic' brands aimed at domestic use. My partner's digital Ixus takes much much better P&S shots than either of my compacts. Her dad has a really cheap Kyocera digital but it takes amazingly crisp and clear photographs in all conditions.
- kelpie0
what would you suggest then? I'm thinking of buying a compact that takes really good pictures (preferably with RAW) and was going to go for the Leica cos I'm a total wankpot and want the badge on the front to look cool with arty lassies, but I'd consider something else if the quality was demonstrably higher
- JamesBoynton0
Cool, cheers guys, thanks for the comments... think i need to spend a bit more time looking into this.
- Studiospooky0
Re:Kelpie's point... The Lumix and the Leica are the exact same camera. The actual camera is manufactured by Panasonic in either case, and all the behind-the-lens apparatus is Panasonic. The lens unit is branded as Leica but I'm fairly certain Leica are just buying the glass off a Japanese manufacturer anyway and dropping it into a Panasonic designed lens brace. So really, none of this camera is Leica at all... so buying the Leica badged version is a bit like paying premium car prices for a Toyota Avensis with Porsche badges on.
- Studiospooky0
what would you suggest then?
I think its a case of trying out a few in dark, in light, close range and distance shots and checking out the lag between the button press and the grab. The autofocussing on compacts is the biggest problem becuase it can whither and thither and cause three or four second delays when shooting in a dynamic moving environment.
I am a sucker for a badge myself and undertsand the allure of the Leica dot but I would really spend a good deal of time checking out the less desirable, standard nobby P&S units in most high street retailers if I was lookign to buy a camera that performs well ratehr than looks good in my hand.
- Studiospooky0
"what I have really fallen in love with is the M series rangefinder. I want it so bad my testes ache."
Ah, a classic case in point... have you heard about all the really major fuck ups with that thing? It has an OTT infra-red pick-up that makes any reflective synthetic go purple. Buyers have been going nuts about it and Leica have had to issue free filters to correct it which means nobody can shoot with any other filter on. There's a load of mechanical issues too.
- really?! thank you. Who else does something similar?kelpie
- Epson R-D1... the world's first digital Rangefinder. Hard to find though.Studiospooky
- that one sounds bonkers, you actually have to wind on the 'film' to take the next shot :Dkelpie
- kelpie0
(by the way, my mum used to own an old film Leica rangefinder back when she was chair of a photographic club thingy and developed/printed all her own stuff, some beautiful shots, hence my interest in the digital versions)
- Studiospooky0
Re: The R-D1... I have one. The entire camera is mechanical so you wind on. The only digital bit is the pickup. That means it hardly uses any power, so I can take shots on my R-D1 even when the battery has run down, as long as there's a trace charge left... which there always is in a battery anyway... you can keep shooting. Its a great camera. Don't be put off by the 6mp CCD. It can be switched for a 10mp unit if you send it off to the states and besides that it uses Leica M-Lens' so the picture quality is totally amazing. They are hard to find as they only produced a limited number and the Japanese are mad for them so they're all over there. They crop up on ebay from time to time.
- By the way, if you buy one, make sure you get a Leica 50mm lens.. the only lens worth putting on a rangefinder IMHO.Studiospooky
- cheers for the info mate, I will begin the hunt :)kelpie
- youmustfeed0
I bought the v-lux1 - as already mentioned the picture quality (unacceptable noise being the major problem) is appalling. I emailed Leicas technical support and they told me that some of the noise is reduced during the cameras internal jpegging process - which renders the RAW feature pretty much useless.....If I had the choice again I would have never gone with the Leica.
- mimeartist0
I have this one... brilliant... http://www.leica-camera.co.uk/ph…
- Studiospooky0
I considered upgrading from my Lumix Lumix DMC-1 to the D-Lux 3 but in the end it was just a case of 2mp extra on the CCD and a few firmware upgrades which I have now added to my DMC-1 anyway. I checked it out in the shop and didn't feel convinced it would be any better than what I had. Are there any particular circumstances it works best in in your experience Mimeartist?
- small and sturdy and fits in my shorts... i'm crap at night shots... but got some good ones in naples in the summer
mimeartist - I did you a tripod mindmimeartist
- small and sturdy and fits in my shorts... i'm crap at night shots... but got some good ones in naples in the summer
- DaveO0
My Girlie just bought me the Lumix. I really wanted it and it's good for stuff outside, daytime etc. It's not got the DSLR quality to the pictures that I thought it would have and in a 'night out' picture scenario, I can't find the right way to take pictures that aren't really shit.
My canon IXUS is wicked for nights out and it's perhaps better to take that out rather than the Lumix (it's rather bulky).
If it's true what people say, then I'd get one; just learn how to use the fucking thing!
If anyone has this camera, and has good results from it, can I email you and ask you some questions?!
- Studiospooky0
I have the Lumix DMC-1 which is the same as the DMC-2 but with a smaller CCD.... There is no way I know of to take good quality pictures in anything approaching low light conditions. I have tried lowering the ISO, and also increasing the ISO just in case, and I have tried sticking to RAW. Really the only thing suitable for shooting at night or in dynamic environments on compact digital level is a domestic all-rounder camera designed for snapshotters which is specifically geared up to providing crisp clean family album photographs. They create the whole camera in such a way that it performs well in all conditions so as not to disapoint the average high street punter. The Ixus pisses all over the Lumix/Leica in my experience, as do most £100- £150 cameras made by countless far east electrical goods companies with no desirable brand value.
I think the best thing in the world is to buy a cheap crappy camera by Daiwoo or someone and heavily mask the casing and badging with DIY packging and black electrical tape so it looks like some really bizarre item, then when people ask about it say its something you've assembled yourself 'in the shed'. Maximum Kudos, Great Pictures, Self-image intact. You could even print out a Leica badge and have it peeking out subtly behind a loose cardboard flap.
- DaveO0
Studiospooky, I like that.
I think that you're right for definite. If I had a chance to buy my cameras again, I'd keep the ixus and save for a DSLR.
To be honest, I'll probably just fucking buy a DSLR anyway I'm stupid with money.
- Can you lend me a tenner then?Studiospooky
- No I fucking can't
DaveO - ha!DaveO
- Ghostschool0
Have you had a look at Ricoh GRD's? Since the GRD 2 came out you could probably pick up one relatively cheaply. I have one, and its great to use. I tend to use mine more than my DSLR as its not just a big computer it kind of feels more like a camera, unassuming and easy to take shots with. Wide angle and good in low light and RAW as well (though really really slow)
- Velly Intelesting. I'll have to check that out... cheers!Studiospooky
- Oh and... love your work btw.Studiospooky
- JamesBoynton0
ive just been to look at the leica and i saw ricoh gx100 for around the same money, the reviews ive read are good... anyone got one?
- Studiospooky0
Ricoh GX100... OH That looks like a bloody sexy camera. I want one of those. I read somewhere recently that somebody, and it may be Ricoh, are about to make the biggest leap forward in digital compacts with some new multilayer CCD that overlaps the red green and blue channels unlike regular CCDs which use seperate grids for each. Wish I'd bookmarked that article now!