Leica D-Lux 4

<p>Peter, I bought LX3 in Toronto from Aden Camera for equivalent of usd $437 around Xmas time, at that time Amazon was selling it at usd $399, but only ship to address in USA. Yesterday I phoned Aden, they told me that their stock of LX3 were sold out, waiting for next shipment. Looks like LX3 is a hot seller. I bought my filter adapter from Japan thru ebay. The Panasonic adapter is quite pricy. There is a no name adapter on ebay selling for<br>

about $11. If you intend to use it for filter only, I think the no name one is fine. But since<br>

I want to use it together with Panasonic DMW-LW46 0.7x wide angle converter, I bought<br>

the Panasonic adapter DMW-LA4.</p>

<p>I can't imagine how I managed the triple post, above. Must be a first.<br>

I want to add that I'm not sure I see the point of the change they made to the pixel count. On the D-Lux3, it was 7.5MP for the 4:3 aspect ratio; 8.5 at 3:2; and 10MP at 16:9. That seems logical: the widest picture gets the most pixels. Now, it's 10MP at 4:3; 9.5 at 3:2; and only 9MP at 16:9. I don't believe I like that quite as much. It doesn't make sense to me. Otherwise, a fine little camera (so far).</p>

<p>I guess with the new arrangement the least MP is 9 and not 7.5 and 8. I'm finding the auto white board and the correction for it a bit difficult for indoor tungesten and some halogen, and looking at the LCD screen outdoors, even in the glare of an overcast day is a bit troublesome, but the quality of the image, especially when processed from raw, is worth it.</p><div></div>

<p>The price of the D-lux4 just dropped under $700, with the $150 rebate now reflected in the list price, without rebate. I just got one because I am going on a long trip and needed a back up camera and a camera I can hand to my wife or a friend and it will take the picture, vs my M-8 which is not exactly easy for untrained shooters to use. Sure I might have gotten the LX-3 but they are out of stock. The LX-3 is what Michael Reichmannn of Luminous-Landscape used as his back up on a recent trip. http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/lx3.shtml and the President of Panasonic USA uses one. Even Michael said the Leica might be worth $100 more than the LX-3. The price difference is now less than $200 to a camera you can't find. Easier to justify staying with the red dot.<br>

What do I like about the camera? Gotta have raw; this does and this camera is much smaller than the G10 competition. Frankly, what is incredible is the f2.0 effective 24mm wide shooting. I don't need high ISO if I have f2.0 in a small sensor camera with large DOF. Hand this to my wife or friend and <i>they</i> will be able to take a fine picture. <i>You</i> will be able to take a very good picture. I also like the fact that you can force the flash and easily remember it is on, because it is "up". <br>

What concerns me? The RAW buffer sucks vs the M-8. So I use a second custom setting that quickly drops the RAW and just shoots jpeg for those time when you need faster shooting, such as people who change expressions quickly. And while I like the small size, it is tiny in my hands. This camera requires you to read the manual to understand the options. I haven't lost the lens cap yet, but I will.<br>

I admit, it is not anywhere near the pleasure to use that the M-8 is. But it is 1/10th the price. However, when one is really relaxed, it is safer to drink and shoot with the D-LUX than an M-8. </p>

<p>DLUX4/LX3 has no built in lens cover nor UV filter, instead it uses a lens cap. I bought a third party<br>

filter adapter (came with UV filter) and put on my LX3. Now I don't need to take on- take off lens cap<br>

any more<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/8645635-md.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Martin -- what "3rd party filter adapter" is shown in the photo above, please?</p>

<p>I recently got the D-Lux 4 and looking for a decent case. Any recommendations? I would love to get a Luigi full case but it's fricking $300...Any inputs will be appreciated.<br>

BTW, I'm loving the D-Lux 4...the camera itself and its pictures...amazing. It also comes with a 3 year warranty...</p>

<p>After researching for many months I went with the G-10 over the LX-3 five months ago. I'm glad I did. The comparisons of photos taken shows the Canon sharper w/ better detail and color. Its colors are rich w/ nice skin tone, and I especially love the B&W images I've created with it.<br>

I really chose it because it felt great in my hand with a nice chuncky metal body, excellent useable controls, and the added flexability of its longer zoom (WA to portrait). The on camera rangefinder viewfinder is indispensable in bright light, even though it has a better and brighter LCD screen than the Panny/Lieca. I take this camera everywhere because of its ruggedness, flexability and size.</p><div></div>

<p>All<br>

Couple of weeks ago a bought a Leica D-LUX 4. Yesterday, when shooting in BW mode I found that when loading the pictures to Adobe Lightroom they turned up as color photos. To my great surprice.<br>

When I viewed the shots on the camere screen, they were all BW.<br>

Can anyone explain what happened here? I tested for the same results earlier to day, and the same thing happened.<br>

Apart from that the camera is amazing. Thanks.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>As I understand it the main difference between the Panasonic Lumix LX3 and Leica DLux4, is that Panasonic is licensed to make the Leica lens for the LX3 according to Leica specs, and of course the Leica DLux 4 uses their German made Leica lens. Electronics on both are made by Panasonic.</p>