Beautiful camera. Such a pretty looking thing, and I guess it's looks are pretty
much the only thing that separates it from it's MUCH cheaper Panasonic
genetic clone.
(there reputedly are SLIGHT differences in the the image settings for both
cameras, but the difference as far as I can see is tiny).
I love the 16:9 widescreen option and love the images at 100 ISO. The lens is
great and the IS works well. It's great camera for a bright sunny day.
However at higher ISOs, particularly 400 and above, the well documented
image smearing spoils the results significantly. Which is a crying shame, as I'd
have much preferred a grainy image with low noise reduction.
At high ISO, I usually switch to black&white, as the pixel smearing bothers me
much less. I'm reasonably content to shoot at 800 ISO in B&W.
Operation is pretty good, although there are better cameras out there for ease-
of-use. The joystick is neat, although I wish the exposure meter was constantly
on in manual mode, instead of being visible only after a half press.
The zoom and focusing is smooth and quiet. There's only a tiny amount of
shutter noise after all the beeps have been turned off which makes this Leica
wonderfully unobtrusive.
I found the camera rather 'slippery' to handle due to it's slim smooth shape
and lack of handgrip. This made one-hand operation always a nervous affair.
Whilst it doesn't suffer from the shutter lag that I've experienced with some
other compact cameras (nikon and olympus), the DLux3 isn't the fastest either
and I've found myself missing shots when shooting my children.
Unless you absolutely love the Red Dot looks (and I do, particularly when
dressed in the splendid Leica leather case), I can't see a logical
reason why one would buy the Leica over the Panasonic version especially as
it's so much cheaper now.
Problems:
Nothing major really. The buttons are a bit cramped, and I'm often pressing
the AF/AE lock button by accident.
much the only thing that separates it from it's MUCH cheaper Panasonic
genetic clone.
(there reputedly are SLIGHT differences in the the image settings for both
cameras, but the difference as far as I can see is tiny).
I love the 16:9 widescreen option and love the images at 100 ISO. The lens is
great and the IS works well. It's great camera for a bright sunny day.
However at higher ISOs, particularly 400 and above, the well documented
image smearing spoils the results significantly. Which is a crying shame, as I'd
have much preferred a grainy image with low noise reduction.
At high ISO, I usually switch to black&white, as the pixel smearing bothers me
much less. I'm reasonably content to shoot at 800 ISO in B&W.
Operation is pretty good, although there are better cameras out there for ease-
of-use. The joystick is neat, although I wish the exposure meter was constantly
on in manual mode, instead of being visible only after a half press.
The zoom and focusing is smooth and quiet. There's only a tiny amount of
shutter noise after all the beeps have been turned off which makes this Leica
wonderfully unobtrusive.
I found the camera rather 'slippery' to handle due to it's slim smooth shape
and lack of handgrip. This made one-hand operation always a nervous affair.
Whilst it doesn't suffer from the shutter lag that I've experienced with some
other compact cameras (nikon and olympus), the DLux3 isn't the fastest either
and I've found myself missing shots when shooting my children.
Unless you absolutely love the Red Dot looks (and I do, particularly when
dressed in the splendid Leica leather case), I can't see a logical
reason why one would buy the Leica over the Panasonic version especially as
it's so much cheaper now.
Problems:
Nothing major really. The buttons are a bit cramped, and I'm often pressing
the AF/AE lock button by accident.