Leica D-Lux 7/LX100ii Mountain Hike

[Tom Joad]

Legend has it that the inspiration for the first Leica was a camera small enough for a hike in the mountains. Given that, and as the lens says "Lecia Summilux" I'm posting this in the Leica forum. Although these were taken with a LX100ii, the basic chassis is identical to the Leica D-Lux 7.

This camera resembles the Leica M but has a macro capability not typically found on the M. That and its small size makes it IMO ideal for this application.

All raw files, with minor post processing using Apple Photos. Taken on hike along Colorado's front range this past Tuesday.






The width of these petals is roughly 1/2 inch.

 

[LeicaEye]

Nice images. L

--
Everyday is a Challenge. I Meet It Head On..

 

[Labe]

But your camera is not the Leica version of the camera , there is a price premium to pay for the prestige of owning a red dot camera and there are small differences both cosmetic and in firmware ( and why your thread has been moved from the Leica forum over to the Panasonic forum)

Yes the Panasonic is a very nice camera , I too own this version.

 

[camfan1]

Nice pictures!

Exactly... this camera has a bit of that true 'Leica feel' (handling, layout). Size, lens, handling make this a unique compact!

What I, personally, like most is the macro and even more the DOF control. Flowers, insects, people, whatever we prefer can be given priority and the rest of the picture gets a nice bokey. Although this is no FF camera it has almost the same DOF control of that FF sensor and kit lens (F3. 6 to 6.3). Great for the flowers in your photos. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Tom Joad]

Thank you for your comments. Your points are excellent. This camera chassis offers more than most compacts with the ease of aperture control (allowing subject isolation as you note). Coupled with its small size, the camera is actually unparalleled for applications where light/small and easy subject isolation are useful. This hike was about 7 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 1,700 feet - camera weight is a vital spec for such an application.

 

[Tom Joad]

I appreciate your point and you are of course correct re: the differences. The purpose of the thread was to highlight the camera's small size coupled with its macro capability and ability to easily isolate subject via manual aperture control: the different brand versions are the same for those capabilities. However be assured I will take care in the future re: forum choice.

 

[Rohith Thumati]

Great stuff.

The LX100 II is my favorite hiking camera. The combination of size, IQ, and controls is hard to beat. Canon’s G1X III might beat it with its weather sealing, articulating screen, better EVF, and possibly better IQ, but the Panasonic’s direct controls are more intuitive for me, the aspect ratio selector is something I use constantly and wouldn’t like to give up, and the much closer focusing distance (3 cm/~1.2” vs. 10 cm /~4”) is so much better that the LX100 II can get photos the Canon just couldn’t.

 

[Sue Anne Rush]

Beautiful photographs - thank you for posting.

 

[camfan1]

The Canon Powershot G1X mark III seems indeed to be the only/best? alternative to the LX100 II.

But, as you write, it does not have the retro-handling ... nor does it have 4K video ... yet.

Low light capabilities of the Canon might also not be that great (F2.8 - 5.6) but that depends on the sensor too of course, so maybe a draw ?

If dust on the sensor is indeed not a problem with the Canon then that would be an incredible ... PLUS vs the LX100 II !?

 

[Labe]

The Canon Powershot G1X mark III seems indeed to be the only/best? alternative to the LX100 II.

But, as you write, it does not have the retro-handling ... nor does it have 4K video ... yet.

Low light capabilities of the Canon might also not be that great (F2.8 - 5.6) but that depends on the sensor too of course, so maybe a draw ?

If dust on the sensor is indeed not a problem with the Canon then that would be an incredible ... PLUS vs the LX100 II !?

It was reading this article https://www.dpreview.com/articles/8432414091/powershot-shootout-canon-s-g1-x-iii-and-g7-x-ii

and especially this snippet.





That I chose the lx100ii as I do often shoot in lowlight environments.

My thinking was that if canons own 1” sensor and faster lens to keep up with apsc offering then the 4/3 ( ish ) sensor of the Panasonic should be a little bit better and I much prefer the evf on the left.

 

[camfan1]

@Lable. Thank you for sharing this very interesting snippet !

I have no idea how the LX100 II compares against those 2 Canon compacts in regard to low light. This, of course, also depends on sensor type/size, IS ...

Low light capabilities were already/always more than adequate in the 6 years I have used the Marc I. The Mark II reportedly even better in that regard (according to reviews I read)

But to me, personally(!), the LX100 II's fast F1.7-2.8 lens is also required for features that are equally important (to me) : better DOF controle (subject/object isolation) and faster shutter speeds (hand-held HDR / hand held-focus stacking ...).

Few compacts have really fast zoom lenses and AFAIK all MILC kit lenses are far too slow and faster zoom lenses too big and heavy.

Panasonic LX7 / LX100 I/II being the exception !

 

[Tom Joad]

Excellent points. It rained on this hike; I 'weather seal' the camera by using a ThinkTank Mover 5 small camera case which has a built-in collapsible rain bag which can deploy to envelope the entire case. Also pads the camera well. I highly recommend that case for this camera.

To get some of the flower photos an articulating screen would have made life easier - the camera was on the ground for some shots. For those I took many shots from various angles as I varied aperture to isolate the flowers from the background. A lot didn't turn out but a few did and the camera's fine IQ allows some crop.

In other words yes the Canons are better in some ways but workarounds exist.