I woke up this morning, looked out the window and said “oooh, fog!” and not just in my head! 😉
While many of my neighbors (at least those who were awake) were planted in front of the tube with the Weather Channel telling them about the awful weather somewhere they aren’t, I went out and made photos. I’m finding that it is quite interesting what you come across when you have a camera with you. And I’m working on having a camera with me more often.
I hardly ever see film anywhere any more. So I was a bit surprised to see this at a gift shop at Wall Drug. I didn’t check the expiration date. I wonder if they also sell Kodak mailers for processing? 😉
Is this another case of alien abduction, or is there a hiker somewhere in the NC mountains missing a boot? 😉
I wanted to wrap up my thoughts on this camera for anyone who might be interested. Nothing earth-shaking here. Bottom line: I didn’t buy one and won’t be buying one. Below are a few pros and cons, some of which may repeat my earlier post, and all of them are my opinion only:
Pros:
Excellent image quality – RAW files processed efficiently in Lightroom using the Adobe camera profiles. The “Auto” function in the Develop Module worked amazingly well. I could be comfortable with the results and seldom feel like I am compromising quality if this were my only camera.
Lightweight and Compact – The camera was very well-constructed and has a certain “heft” to it that speaks of quality, but is very light. I use a thin strap on my Fuji cameras, and it would easily accommodate the Leica. Although the Leica probably deserves a fancy custom leather job…. 😉
Good battery life – this is not fully tested since I made a point of recharging it daily. I only had one battery with the rental so I didn’t want to chance running out.
Cons:
Size – I don’t have large hands, but it is a small camera and seemed to be a little small for me. I never felt like I was going to drop it, but some of the controls were a little touchy.
Manual zoom & focus – The primary zoom mechanism is a toggle switch that surrounds the shutter button. Many camera have that but I just never feel like it is very precise. In addition, there is a lens ring that can be set up to function as a zoom control. I actually prefer that, except that the zoom ring is right next to the aperture ring and I kept inadvertently changing the aperture!
Other:
Menus – people complain about menus on all cameras. This one was fine – I was able to figure out just about anything I needed easily. I think I went to the manual a few times but it was mostly out of curiosity.
The “Only Camera” Question – I could see myself having a camera like this as my travel camera. The photos are good enough that I don’t think I would worry about having the “wrong” camera with me if I left the Fuji at home. The zoom range is a little limiting for me, mostly on the long end as I like to get close to my subjects and frame tightly. That isn’t a big deal and there are plenty of pixels for a little cropping if necessary.
Lens Choice – I’ve gotten used to the ability to put together a kit of lenses for a particular trip. Going out the door with a Fuji body and a single prime lens is a great way for me to simplify and narrow my seeing. Traveling with a lens or two or the whole bag gives me endless choices. That can work both ways, but I’ve gotten comfortable with the idea of making a choice and living with it.
What’s Next? – I have a rental Fuji XT3 coming today for an upcoming trip. I can’t wait to try it out and compare it to my aging XT1. I’m not in the market for a new camera, but with a price point very similar to the Leica, it feels to me like the better option when and if the time comes to upgrade.
More words and photos to follow – stay tuned!
I’ve been to this place figuratively more times than I can count but never realized it was an actual place.
And I didn’t have a paddle. 🙂
Kathy & I are visiting friends in Eastern NC this week, and I am trying out this Leica D-Lux 7 that I rented. The more time I spend with the camera the more used to it I get, and it is overall pretty comfortable to use. A few observations so far:
– Just because it is a non-interchangeable lens does not make it impervious to sensor dust. Dust is quite evident in solid skies at f-stops smaller than f11.
– I’ve been very happy with the files, and pleasantly surprised to find that Lightroom handles the processing of RAW files very well. In fact, this is the first time that I have consistently imported a bunch of files, added the Adobe Camera Natural Profile, hit the Auto Exposure button and didn’t need to touch them further, other than straightening horizons or cropping slightly.
– While the camera is very light to tote around, it is well built and feels like a “serious” camera in my hands.
– I like having all of the manual controls this camera has – exposure compensation, aperture, shutter speed and auto/manual focus are all mechanical.
– The menus are no worse than any other unfamiliar digital camera, and seem like something that would be easy to navigate with a bit more time.
I’ve got a few more days to mess around with this camera before I box it up and send it back. I’ve come to no conclusions or purchase decisions yet. Frankly I’m seriously considering renting the latest Fuji body, which coincidentally is about the same price as this Leica, to see if upgrading my body that uses all of my existing lenses would make a better choice. We’ll see!
Once in a while I get an itch to try out a new camera, just for fun. Fortunately it is easy to rent cameras and lenses to satisfy that urge.
I’ve always owned some kind of compact, point & shoot camera as a supplement to my main camera gear, and although I’ve taken a lot of good pictures with them, I’ve never been completely happy with the compromises required of the smaller sensors and compact lenses. My first-ever digital camera was a Canon Powershot G5, which I still have. I’ve also owned the G9 and G12 plus a Fuji X10. I currently have an Olympus TG5, which I bought because it is shock resistant and supposedly waterproof, although I have yet to actually that feature!
As camera technology advances, I’ve had it in my mind that, at some point, the quality of compact cameras might possibly advance to where the results from a small point & shoot camera could – in theory at least – be good enough to be a realistic “only camera.” We’re not there yet, but we keep edging closer. I just hope the camera manufacturers don’t give up on the idea before cell phone cameras take over completely!
My definition of the ideal “only camera” would be one with a compact and lightweight body, a large (4/3 or larger) sensor and a high quality 24-70 equivalent lens. There are a handful of cameras that meet the size and sensor requirements, but most of them have fixed lenses. The B&H website shows 21 “advanced compact” point & shoot cameras with 4/3 or larger sensors, but when the box for “zoom lens” is checked, there are only 5, although realistically there are only 3, since two of them are older versions of current cameras. The choices are: Leica D-Lux 7, Panasonic Lumix DC-LX100 II and Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark III. The Leica and Panasonic are essentially the same camera, with the red Leica badge costing a mere $300 (after a $100 rebate on the Panasonic).
Since it was just for fun, I opted to rent the Leica, because what the heck and why not? The box came via FedEx on Thursday and I took it out for a little spin on this morning’s walk. I shot all of these photos in RAW, imported them to Lightroom with the Adobe “Camera Natural v2” profile, hit the “Auto” button and tweaked the white balance. That’s it. Pretty impressive so far.
We’re off on a little road trip to the NC coast this coming week (boy it’s nice to be able to travel during the week!) and plan to use the Leica as my only camera, so I’ll have a chance to put it through the paces. Hopefully I’ll be able to post a few more shots from the road, and will have more photos and a summary of my impressions once we return home. TGIF!
People in our neighborhood have gotten used to the fact that we’re gone a lot. When we first moved here it was because we worked all day and often traveled on the weekends. Recently we’ve been off on one adventure or another. A couple of our neighbors say they can tell when we’re home because our window shades are open. I guess that’s a reliable indicator, although I’ve thought about leaving them open just to fool ’em! It is nice to have someone keeping an eye on things, although that has its limits.
One of the most asked questions when we talk to our neighbors is “where are you off to next?” When we got back from our recent trip to Ohio and Virginia we didn’t have anything on the books. But within a few weeks of our return we got to planning, and we now have (I think) 5 trips in various stages of planning. Kathy says she has finally found her calling – planning vacations! For us!
One day we were sitting on our porch talking about our upcoming plans and I said, ” you know, when we were younger, one thing would lead to another and we’d end up with a baby. Now, one thing leads to another and we end up with a vacation! Life is good!
It “snowed” here in Charlotte today. Sheesh! *
*”Snow” in a very strict sense of the word. There were flakes coming down from the sky that melted when they hit anything.
Kathy & I took the bus into town yesterday to have lunch with a friend. It was a good way to get there and not have to pay for parking, the price of which borders on extortion. We’re very glad we don’t have to pay for parking any more!
We’re fortunate that there is a bus stop conveniently located just outside our neighborhood. The stop serves 3 different routes, two of which go directly downtown, and a ride is only $2.20 each way. In another year or so we’ll be able to buy a monthly unlimited pass for $44.00 or a 10-ride pass for $9.35. Not a bad deal!
The bus stop is a 10-minute walk from our house, which is about as far away from the bus stop as you can get in our neighborhood. While we were waiting for the bus, one of our neighbors drove by, saw us, turned around and came back to ask us if “everything was OK.” We assured her that everything was fine, that we were just waiting for the bus to go downtown.
It was nice of her to stop and ask, and I know I’m probably missing the point, but I just thought it was interesting that seeing someone waiting for the bus seemed like there might be a problem.
I didn’t take a camera with me, so I’ve used a picture of a bus from Italy. It’s one that we also rode, just to a much more interesting destination (sorry Bob!). 🙂