The Leica D-Lux 2 is a high-quality pocketable camera designed for enthusiasts and professionals. It is essentially a re-branded Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1. I am not normally a re-branding fan but the Leica/Panasonic collaboration creates distinctive cameras with core components that allow for real choice.

The main highlights are manual controls and the new 16:9 aspect ratio.

What we like

Manual controls are not buried three menus deep. In manual, aperture-priority or shutter-priority modes the shutter and aperture values are changed via the dedicated joystick on the back of the camera. Also ISO and white balance settings are quickly accessed via a “quick menu” system. Auto Focus, Auto Focus Macro and Manual Focus are also set by a physical slider on the lens barrel. These are all big improvements on other digicams.

16:9, 3:2 and 4:3 aspect ratio choice. In simple terms this is the proportionate size of your photograph. A square would be 1:1. 16:9 is the same as HDTV, quite a bit wider than the normal 4:3 photograph ratio. Leica is hoping that HDTV owners will like having a ratio that fits their TV and so let them display beautiful slide shows. From my perspective it means more creativity. Film makers have long known that wider is better. Now we photographers get to visualise wider formats on the go and won’t have to manually crop. Of course if you don’t like this new creative option then switch it back to 4:3 and shoot as per normal.

The Leica lens should deliver good results and has a good wide-angle of 28mm. The maximum aperture is f/2.8 at 28mm to f/4.9 at 112mm which is pretty good. The lens has already been praised in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 for being sharp across the whole range and frame.

In full manual you can keep the shutter open for 60 seconds. That is 30 seconds more than many DSLRs (without remote-release) and 45 seconds more than most other digicams. The fastest shutter is 1/2000th which is decent.

Image Stabilisation is nice to have and comes in two modes on this camera. A 2.5″ rear LCD which is quite large and makes up for the lack of any view finder. RAW files are available as is USB 2.0 which I am assuming is High Speed and not Full Speed.

And make no mistake, this is a Leica and looks and should feel good.

What we don’t like

No focus or zoom ring. When the other manual controls are quite decent it will be frustrating to have to resort to digicam-level focus and zoom control. I realise this would be hard to engineer into the lens barrel while keeping it pocketable but the first camera manufacturer to figure this challenge out will do well for themselves.

I still want dials or knobs for my shutter and aperture. The joystick is better but still not good enough.

No view finder, not even an electronic view finder. On one hand a good optical view finder is a wonderful thing but I can see that instead of wasting space and resources on a poor optical or electronic view finder that ditching it all together is the right choice. One should still be aware of this lack though.

The highest ISO is just 400 and judging from the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 even that relatively low ISO is unusable. Image Stabilisation only goes so far. No party photos without flash from this camera.

The sensor, same as in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1, is setup to render very fine detail but with the expense of high noise. Looking at a sample image I can see amazing detail but it has an unpleasant amount of noise. To me this is not the right direction to go. Smoother noise with a slight loss in detail is preferable to sharp detail and ugly noise. It is your preference though.

Who is it for

Well heeled enthusiasts and pro-photographers who want a quality camera for when their DSLR is too big to bring along. The price alone takes it out of the hands of many people and the lack of superzoom makes it less-desirable to the casual shooter. The manual controls are something pro-photographers will appreciate.

Availability and Price

$750 to $800. Stores are already taking pre-orders. No fixed date has been announced but expect November, 2005.

The Usual Specs

Megapixels	8.4
Optical Zoom	4x / 28mm - 112mm
Focus	Auto Focus, Macro and Manual Focus. 9 AF points.
Metering	“Intelligent multiple”, Center-Weighted and Spot.
ISO	80, 100, 200, 400
Shutter	60″ to 1/2000th 2″ to 10″ timer
Modes	Aperture and Shutter priority + full Manual
Flash	Built-in, no hot-shoe
Image Stabilisation	Yes
Movie	848×480 at 30fps until memory is full
Memory	SD and MMC
White balance	Automatic + 2 manual + manual kelvin steps
Battery	Dedicated Lithium-Ion
Weight	220g with battery

Further reading

• Leica D-Lux 2 official product page.
• Sample Image 1 (7.5 MB JPEG) and Sample Image 2 (6.8 MB JPEG).
• DPReview review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 which is essentially the same camera.
• Technical specifications from Leica.
• Press release from Leica.

ilikecameras note

With this being the first full Camera Introduction post I wanted to note a few things.

ilikecameras aims to provide up to date information on new releases but without simply regurgitating press-releases and tech-spec sheets. We won’t post each and every camera that is released. We would rather spend more time on important camera releases, like this Leica D-Lux 2, and give you our opinion.

We aren’t going to list all the specs and in meticulous detail either. For each camera we will pick the specs that are worth noting and even then the specs we do choose won’t be in exhaustive detail. For instance the Leica technical specs mention “LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT 6.3 - 25.2 mm f/2.8-4.9 ASPH.” while I have just mentioned “4x / 28mm - 112mm”. You can always get the fully detailed specs from the technical specs link we provide at the end.

Ideally we want you to be able to read this Camera Introduction and decide whether it is worth your time digging deeper into the exact specs, samples and press-releases mentioned in the Further Reading area. We also don’t want you distracted by minor releases such as a new colour option or the addition of marketing gimmicks.