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Digilux 2

James,
I have had a D2 for about a week now and I am very happy with it. Once you get past the price, which probably is a bit high, it is well thought out and just feels good to operate. The menus are easy to navigate and essential settings are not buried in multiple layers. There has been a lot of talk about noise at ISO400. However it does not have any more noise than other 5M cameras and Neat Image takes most of the noise out. The other complaint is the lack of a buffer for RAW. It would have been nice to have, but I have found that I can make prints from JPG that are as good or better than RAW converted in Photoshop CS. Panasonic really nailed the RAW conversion in this camera. Finally I really like the colors and an almost 3D rendering of objects. In short, it feels good to use and takes very good photographs.
Best,
Michael
 
Having been an R and M user for many years I was originally surprised by the light weight of the D2 (despite the big piece of glass in the front) but after using it for about a week I couldn't imagine going back to a heavier camera. The images shot at the lowest compression JPEG and in RAW format are wonderful to view on the my screen. I haven't had a chance to print yet. I am a B&W piezograph printer and am excited about the possiblities this little Leica offers. The Electronic viewfinder was easy to adjust to and the magnified central part made sharp focusing easy (you can magnify the entire frame while focusing if you want).
The information on the screen/viewfinder was very useful (imagine an M7 viewfinder with histograms!) The menus were easy to follow and rather intuitive and I didn't have to refer to the manual very often (thank god because it's written in the most awkward, translated English possible. But that's the package's weakest component--everything else is up to Leica's high standards. Oh yeah, Leica could have splurged and provided you with an SD card that has more that 6mg of capacity.
 
OK....I live the D2 very much. It replaced my party-camera Canon G3...which was always doing who-knows-what with trying to find its autofocus, and goodness knows the ergonomics with that little dial right by the shutter and the electronic zoom control.

So....

What's with Leica and the accessories. No 69mm filter....that's a bit unexcuseable to issue a camera with a unique filter and then weeks later it's still not in any dealer's hands.

And what's with the LITTLE leather case! My gosh, what a tight fit. My recommendation to fellow Leica buffs: don't buy it. Way, way, way too tight...and absolutely no spare room for anything. My M7 actually fits better...with its 50mm f/1.

Oh well....I'm happy with the D2's photo-taking abilities, so I am satisfied...

Just don't buy that leather case, folks....and if anyone knows where to get a 69mm filter, please post.

Cheers,
John
 
John,
I too have not been able to decide between the LC1 and the D2. There is a significant price difference and the LC1 is packaged with more "extras". To me the 2 cameras seem almost the same functionally though in 2 different but similar external package. Would like to know what makes you decide finally on the D2.
David
 
David....I got the D2 simply because it has been available in the U.S. since end-of-February, while the LC1 is still "coming soon", as they say.

For me, there was/is no allure with either LC1 or D2 software, as I use PhotoShop CS to process all my RAW and jpg images, from Leica or Nikon (my pro-DSLR system).

If there are any ergonomic issues, I would suggest that you get a "feel" down at your local camera shop....the D2 is fine for me (major reason I bought it was that my former Canon G3 had really lousy egros for me.

Otherwise....hope you'll enjoy whatever camera you choose.

Cheers,
John
 
Hi John,
Thanks for your reply. Had a feel of both cameras. Heart says D2 but head says LC1 as price is much cheaper and additional acessories packaged into price. Tough choice, will take my time to decide.
Regards,
David
 
Help! I love the images that my D2 produces-especially in RAW mode, but I am having trouble opening the RAW files directly in Photoshop. Silverfast works fine but in Photoshop I have to enter the size of the picture (in pixels) and then information about format (8 bit or 16 bit) and then header size. I always get an error message telling me that the picture specified is to large for the file or that its too small for the file. Opening a file that is too "small" gives random garbage. Does anyone know the correct information to use for opening directly into photoshop? Like I said, it works fine in SilverFast...
 
Is anyone using this camera for reportage work? I'm going to and wanted someone else's feedback. Thanks.

Bill.
 
Yes, i have been using the D2 for commercial work, it is fine, BUT not for RAW mode which I have very distinct problems- it won't open in Photshop cs ! In fact RAW won't open period ! I have no problems at all using JPEGS, in fact most firms insist on them , as they are universal. Again, they do not like tiffs for some reason.
Work flow no problem, i keep everything on a portable hard disk. I wish I could get to the bottom of the Raw problem though !
 
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