TimeOut

Hi guys,

and I love both. I have tried also some other brands like Canon but nothing comes close to Leica.

I am waitiing for the D Lux 6 which may land in summer.

But I will keep my D Lux 4. It has been and still is a trustful companion, with which I took a bit more than 40 000 pics in 4 years.

Best,

Nicolas

I like that it's a Leica.  The red dot gives lots of "brand prestige" and cred (if and when I care about that...)

The pictures can be very good, but so can pictures from Canon and Nikon and Oly and ... and... and...

The guts and lenses are supposed to be the same between the Panasonic and Leica, except (supposedly) the algorithms and default settings for color balance, contrast, etc. (prev may be PRECISELY correct but something like that) - suffice it to say, same user settings, same conditions, ceterus paribus, except for the logo on the camera, pictures look a little tiny bit different.  I've also seen where the pictures were post processed to look identical (as far as I could tell)

Is it worth the $300 difference? How important is the logo to you? If more than nothing, yes, it probably is worth the difference.

If a logo sometimes works OPPOSITE the conventional wisdom (think Rolex; Mercedes-Benz or BMW or Ferrari; Louis Vuitton) or if you are REALLY a purely "show me the real differences" sort of guy, then no, get the Panasonic. Lots of people say they are, but not really...

The one thing that bugs the holy shit out of me about the 4 (not sure about the 5) is the wide angle distortion - uncorrectible in post, and gave me pictures that were unusable and because I thought they looked ok on the LCD screen, lost opportunities on critical shots, forever. SHIT! (solution - zoom in a bit so you are not shooting at widest angle focal length, or don't fill your shot at widest focal length, and just crop, the distortion is exaggerated at the outsides of the frame) How bad? Think circus fun mirrors...

For this alone I've thought about throwing the damned thing away, but haven't yet.

Otherwise a very nice camera indeed and if the 5 corrects this, I'd consider it again.

Context: 

my other systems are

Leica DMR and R/9

Canon 1D Mark 1, 2, and 3, including Ds models pro body DSLR's

Olympus E1, E3

Nikon D2x and D3

Lenses auto:

Canon (including the 50/1.0 and 200/1.8)

Oly

Nikon (including 200/2.0 and 400/2.8)

Lenses manual through adaptors:

Canon, Oly Zuiko, Nikon

Contax Zeiss (including the 21/2.8, 28/2.0, 85/1.2 and 300/2.8)

Leica R

various exotica including Angenieux

so my eyes have seen what can come out of various camera bodies and lenses...

The PuristS Photography forum This message has been edited by ThomasM on 2012-03-17 15:50:35

That was fast, thanks guys.

I too tried to find a solution, in vain.

Will it be better with the D Lux 6, we'll have to check that.

Best,

Nicolas

Just to understand!

Thanks!

Fx

.... so you'll be fine, FX. ;-)

A

Mrsnak very useful comparison!!

The Leica DLux5 versus the Panasonic LX5 debate has its champions on each side. There are many similarities.  There are some differences in aesthetics, functionality and performance which only you can decide are important or not.  It is best to do a side by side comparison in store if you can.

The software with the LX5 is adequate but unintuitive and after a few tentative fumblings I've passed onto better things.

The LX5 is more than adequate for what we use it for (high-end snaps) and the wide apperture (the main reason for getting it) is excellent.  Image quality is more than adequate and exposure generally spot on.  There are two many modes and levels of menu as in most cameras and it lives in IA  mode apart from occasional forays into macro etc.

nick

I meant to say:So the equation (to me) is Panasonic versus Leica/Adobe. At retail level the price difference to the consumer between the Panasonic camera and the Leica camera is now about $100.  

A appreciate these details very much.

Leica lens and Panasonic electronics. I think it's a fabulous bargain for the quality of the photo I use it for all my quickie macros: This message has been edited by mrsnak on 2012-03-18 17:21:24

... Sure, Leica version boasts its special firmware to differentiate and I am sure it must be superb, but I am happy with my Panny 5, especially after firmware upgrade.  And the price difference is what I really don't get....  Pick whichever makes you happy, photography wise and self-satisfaction wise

Ken

Especially the low light performance is really good for the size of camera (just pocketable). But I am an amateur on cameras, and cannot offer comparative notes against Leica, Pan, Canon or other cams in the current market...

What are you not impressed with about the macro function of the s95?

Nikolaj

Yes, there's always a but.

I picked the Panny LX5 basically because there really isn't much difference in the photo quality to justify the $300 difference in retail. The red dot is tempting, and if they do come out with a D-Lux 6 with significant lens improvement this year, I may as well upgrade to the red dot version.

As RJW pointed out, of the $300 difference, you do get Adobe Lightroom which is an amazing tool to have.

Also not mentioned is that a Leica have much better resale value than a Panny, even though they are essentially the same thing rebadged. So you may pay more, but when you sell down the track, you'll get more back, which sort of compensates for the greater initial outlay.

In any case, looking forward to middle of the year... and see if Panny announces any LX6, which would be an indication for a DLux6 a couple months later.

I will wait for the 6 model of both, check them out,  and live with my Canon for now.

so does the Leica keep a higher percentage of original purchase price,

of original retail,

sells for a higher nominal (local currency) amount

or?

Ive never really understood how that works.

cheers,

TM

The DLux range have a more stable retail/street price than the LX range over time, so for example, by now the LX5 is selling for as little as $360 at that auction site. It's MSRP was $500 when announced. Which means now those who bought it almost 2 years ago (like me) would most likely get not much more than $300 back (roughly 40% loss).

the only difference between the 2 is the price. Leica are owned by Panasonic so you have to ask the question 'is it worth paying the extra for the Leica name' ?

Bim has the same camera as i do and he does some great pics, Nicolas has the same in all but name and does superb pics, its only me that does crap ones

in all of them the macro is superb, but its often better to take the pic further away and crop on photoshop so you eliminate shadow. i wish i'd remember this when i actually used the damn thing.

go for either, they are all great.

G

.. it that with the LX, you can shoot in RAW mode and have better manual shooting controls. The ZS shoots only in hi-res jpegs, but has a higher optical zoom andvery good HD video recording. This message has been edited by mrsnak on 2012-03-21 08:53:46

Panasonic for sure.