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9 out of 9 people found this review helpful
2.0 stars
"The great disappointment"
Pros: See review
Cons: See review below
Summary: Leica D-Lux 3. The great disappointment.
After many years, thousand of photos, and many drops my bellowed point and shoot camera finally gave up on me. It was a small Canon. It was already 3 years old, had tiny screen but it was snappy, and despite no optical zoom and only 5 megapixels it took great photos. I was excited to get a new digital camera. I went online to start do my research and I stumbled upon Leica. I always wanted to have one. I knew that they are making legendary cameras, and they have been fairy new to the digital camera market. I decided to get D-Lux 3. I read all the great reviews, the feature I really liked was 16:9 size sensor, that captures true panoramic photos not like on other cameras that just crop standard frame resulting in lower quality image. Also this camera can record RAW which is great because I wouldn?t have to carry around my Rebel at all times during traveling. Due to limited supplies of D-Lux I had to wait for one to show up on Ebay. Finally I got one. When UPS box showed up on my desk I was ecstatic. I open the box I really loved what I see. The camera looked awesome in front. It?s very minimalist and has this classic but contemporary unmistakable Leica styling. The back looked great too with the gorgeous, humongous widescreen display. But then my disappointments started. First thing was the lens cap. It renders fast start time obsolete since you have take it of with your hand. There is no way to attach clear UV filter to protect the lens from scratches. If you want to carry it around in your pocket ready to shoot it means no lens cap, and the fine Leica glass will be damaged really fast. The second thing was way too many tiny buttons and unintuitive user interface. The little joystick feels flimsy and it?s redundant since you can use directional buttons below. Selecting an option with push of a joystick doesn?t always work, so you have to move your thumb and press ?set? button below. Changing settings on the fly on Canon cameras it?s much easier and doesn?t require opening the owner?s manual. Maybe in the future Leica should partner with Canon not Panasonic (The navigation is clearly based off confusing Panasonic?s one). When it comes to images themselves, the quality was decent, but I expected more from this company. The photos were too soft for me (what's the point of using Leicas famous lenses?!), and there was unexpectedly lot of noise in the shadows even on ISO 100. I would rather live with noise if the images were extra sharp. It took 20 seconds to record image as RAW file, but maybe I?m spoiled by my other camera. The thing that topped my disappointment was USB cable that has super tiny connector. Why couldn?t they use the standard one? There is enough space on camera body, and I would have to end up caring around two sets of cables. I give this camera four points because from company like Leica and a steep price as for a point and shoot camera I was expecting something better. Maybe they should wait a little bit longer and release camera that?s really worthy red dot logo.
Truly disappointed,
Seba
Where to buy
Leica D-Lux 3 (black):
$1,729.95
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$1,729.95 | Yes |
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