Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/04/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The DLUX 4 is sharp, seems flare tolerant, doesn't have an accessory for putting on filters though. It does macro down to 1 cm which is insane. The image stabilaisation is great although I can imagine the "discussions" over the choice of words because Panasonic call it Mega-O-I-S Leica has dropped the "Mega" but I reckon they'd have been a lot happier with "anti-shake". I have the accessory viewfinder for it so that I can hold the camera to my eye and maintain eye contact with the subject, but I don't like it, I've just bought a GR-V1 Ricoh accessory viewfinder and that feels better. I find the leica one is just too tailored for the 24mm end of the zoom with no markings for other focal lengths, the Ricoh one has markings for 21 and 28mm but is "wrong" possibly because of sensor size differences or formats, but inside the 28mm brightline is much nearer to 35mm which at least I can "imagine" the angle. The trouble with digi-compacts is you end up holding them at arms length and your subject is looking at your "eyes" while the photos being taken two foot downwards. A major flaw with the DLUX is that the zoom is "stepless" between 24mm f2 - 60mm f2.8 (pretty much every else is f2.2 in between), I find this irritating because I want to knock the zoom to telephoto once and have it hop to the next focal length unless I ask it to otherwise (already put in comments to Leica about this), because my wife's Ricoh does this so I'd like the option in the next firmware update. Also it does not retain focal length settings when you turn the camera on and off, I prefer 28mm about 80% of the time and it hops back to 24mm, it has multiple options for custom settings which is great but it still zooms back to wide all the time, i'd like setting one to have 28mm stored etc... The lens cap is okay, it takes me longer to drop my walking stick than take off the cap, it'd be useful if it has a lens hood, I never had caps on any of my lenses except the Canadian 90mm f2 (with tripod mount superbly sharp as well as the clumsiest lens ever made IMHO), the built in hood on that lens would slide down if placed in a Domke, I had the square hooded 28mm and the 35mm f1.4 with the cuts out, some kind of clip on on the 50mm. Anyway, it would be better if the D-Lux could have a hood. I have the handgrip on order as I used to use the M6's with them, one with a grip machined in america before Leica started making them. If you haven't seen it, it is tiny, which is good for me as I can't carry an M6 any more, it 294 grams with the external viewfinder and battery. The buttons aren't that fiddly to use, there's program shift which I have biased towards f5.6, aperture priority, it has "intelligent iso" that biases the iso selected towards reducing camera shake and "ISO Auto" that seems to bias it towards quality. It's got spot metering and 9 ? segment AF but I have it jammed on the centre high speed AF and multi-zone metering, I trust it to set the exposure and trust myself to override it. A good thing is the shutter dial has a big difference in indentation between SCN (scene mode) and custom mode, so it can be used in total darkness and set to whatever settings are needed. Might sound stupid to some people but I am learning the camera by touch in the dark, which is exactly what I did with the M6's and comes in useful at the theatre or stuck in a gloomy Moroccan toilet with a load of marijuana and some jittery armed Tauregs. Because of the external viewfinder it is Leica "like", colour rendition certainly is, at the end of the day it's a small compact with a sharp fast wide lens and macro facility so it ticks all the boxes unless you like long telephoto shots. Philippe AMARD wrote: > Well, better change the title, or even better would be to start a new > thread if we don't want to get confused between two monarchies ;-) > > I agree with George. > The other shots are more of the classic framing, even though their > compositions are very clean and appeal to me. > The D-4 sems to perform well in your hands too. Rather sharp, and > excellent colour rendition on my PC at least. > I was surprised to see that it can shoot as low as ISO 80. > > Oh yes, the blur on blooms - like it too. > But I must be biased to Fuzzysomethings. :-D > > I'd be happy to see more of these when you can. > Take good care of yourself. > Bien cordialement de Metz > Phili^^e > > > > George Lottermoser wrote: > >> Hi Philip, >> >> Thank you for showing additional photographs, >> and for contributing more images to the "assignment." >> >> "Insolvent business, Pinner UK, 18th" >> struck me as the strongest of the group; >> for it's asymmetry and strong lines, >> as well as for the "different" quality of the subject. >> >> Regards, >> George Lottermoser >> george at imagist.com >> http://www.imagist.com >> http://www.imagist.com/blog >> http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist >> >> On Apr 18, 2009, at 7:47 AM, Philip Clarke wrote: >> >>> >>> So here's the funny thing, my wife's working and I'm not normally out >>> alone, so on the way to pick up some medication from Tesco Pharmacy >>> (British supermarket chain) I see the glassworks, feel the DLUX in my >>> pocket and reckon I feel well enough to take some images. (the images >>> are backwards in the portfolio and moving seems limited to between >>> albums). >>> >>> >>> Walking out of the Pharmacy and bearing in mind Daniel Ridings >>> portfolio, I find this on the postbox advertising. Lucky Yes, but if I >>> weren't looking... >>> >>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Philip+Clarke/18th_April_2009/ >>> L1010241.jpg.html >>> >>> This was taken with the camera above my head as it's quite high on the >>> wall, note the focal length is not to the full extent either way, I >>> found the image moved into position and then chose the focal length. >>> It's gracious that nervous people are always welcome but good to >>> have a >>> safety net. >>> >>> >>> >>> I walk along to the Glassworks, it's not really suitable, because >>> it is >>> a rare and beautiful sunny day in the UK, Really I need a polarising >>> filter in front of the lens to reduce the distractions in the windows, >>> but it's passable, and I'm slapbang in front of the door to stop my >>> reflection being there. I'm using a 24mm equivalent and pointing the >>> camera dead centre to avoid perspective shift (some of the floor and >>> flat windows above have been cropped) although not 100% successful as >>> can be seen by the slight divergent parallel line to the top right. >>> >>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Philip+Clarke/18th_April_2009/ >>> L1010243.jpg.html >>> >>> >>> As I walk back along Pinner Green (you can do a google maps search), I >>> shoot the advertising sign for window blinds on a wall without windows >>> that I saw when walking to the glasworks. The camera is above my head >>> this time to avoid divergent bricks. This is at the 60mm setting >>> standing on someone's lawn and has been cropped slighty to reduce >>> the to >>> the sign and wall, any different composition leads to the guttering >>> above the sign being shown. >>> >>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Philip+Clarke/18th_April_2009/ >>> L1010245.jpg.html >>> >>> >>> Walking back towards the pharmacy I now shoot another insolvent >>> business, this one has a big sign by the bailiffs in the window but >>> that's too obvious. The piled up letters is a better picture, I use >>> the >>> diagonals and the cameras on 4:3, I'm continually having to use >>> program >>> shift because the camera wants a wider aperture. The reason the >>> opening >>> times sign stands out so much is because of an internal shadow in the >>> shop, that was intentional it doesn't show from the other side. I did >>> consider cropping this but then it doesn't show the emptiness of the >>> shop. You'll notice the word closed appears distinct, I've joined >>> it to >>> an envelope but used the shadow and blank space on the floor to >>> make it >>> more apparent. None of these pictures have been "printed" btw, they >>> have >>> been adjusted for contrast and color balance slightly and had some >>> reduction in saturation levels. >>> >>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Philip+Clarke/18th_April_2009/ >>> L1010246.jpg.html >>> >>> >>> The next one is just outside the Tesco and my back would have been >>> to it >>> when I walked out. I like the irony. This "new way" to shop on a old >>> sign with an advert for "nearly new" clothes beneath, on an old wall >>> with the shadow of a barbed fence (thereby making it impossible to >>> shop), is just my subtle sense of humour. The image was taken from a >>> bush that I had to climb into. I have three different shots, one of >>> just >>> the signs, one taken from over the barbed wire after this one (I >>> gained >>> access through the car park) and this one. The exposure is correct but >>> looks wrong because the wall isn't white, this has had some burning in >>> to reduce the patchiness of the paint. The tree framing the top and >>> the >>> bush at the bottom are deliberate to keep the eye in the frame. >>> Viewing >>> the EXIF data, you'll note that I'm not going to the extremes of the >>> telephoto end (nor the wide), any further right and the tree trunk >>> bisects the sign, any further left and edge of the spiked fence goes, >>> there are some divergent lines, I could have tried holding the >>> camera up >>> a little higher if my arms were working after this walk. >>> >>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Philip+Clarke/18th_April_2009/ >>> L1010251.jpg.html >>> >>> >>> I got myself home and thought bugger it, I haven't done a flower >>> photo. >>> And about 50 metres from the house is a cherry blossom tree. It rained >>> last night and the blossoms on the ground are past their prime, >>> shooting >>> the tree would have a view of a road and quite probably an H12 bus. We >>> already know it's blue skies and 1/250 at f5.6 ISO 80 so I find the >>> blossoms in the shade, hoping that I'm going to get a slow enough >>> speed >>> to let the wind add some movement and I fail to get a slow enough >>> speed >>> it's got even brighter and is now 1/250 at f8 ISO 80 in the shade >>> and I >>> have to underexpose by a stop to keep the picture dark as it's an >>> entirely shaded area and start shaking the camera and you can see from >>> the frame numbers that something's gone wrong because I've skipped >>> from >>> 10251 to 10263 for the last picture, I am shaking the camera at the >>> longest telephoto setting and I'm not getting enough blur and then I >>> work out that I've left the Image stabilisation on and I'm only moving >>> the camera in one plane. Lots of fiddling with the menu and it gets >>> turned off and I get the shot I want. The picture gets colour balanced >>> in photoshop and then flipped horizontally because upwards moving >>> lines >>> are move attractive. >>> >>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Philip+Clarke/18th_April_2009/ >>> L1010263.jpg.html >>> >>> >>> I have Chronic Pain Syndrome level 8 complication by Complex Referred >>> Pain Syndrome, so I feel the pain from my legs in my left arm and >>> my arm >>> in my tongue, which is something you really don't want to have. I >>> can't >>> lift my elbows up now from that little jaunt and my left shoulder will >>> dislocate inside the next 24 hours. I'll be partially paralysed for 3 >>> days now which makes me pretty useless as a professional. That area is >>> one that I have never walked along, I visit the pharmacy every >>> month so >>> that's ten times maximum. We (as in me and some other professionals) >>> used to play a game when we were young when we met up off-assignment, >>> about going to an unknown place and fulfilling a brief, it kept the >>> competition between us fierce and kept us sharp. Could I go to a >>> bar in >>> Barcelona and practice what I preach. I believe so. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> George Lottermoser wrote: >>> >>>> May we see some examples of your waiting and moving, Philip? >>>> >>>> Regards, >>>> George Lottermoser >>>> george at imagist.com >>>> http://www.imagist.com >>>> http://www.imagist.com/blog >>>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist >>>> >>>> On Apr 17, 2009, at 7:54 PM, Philip Clarke wrote: >>>> >>>>> All of these pictures could be improve by waiting or moving. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Leica Users Group. >>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information