Panasonic LX3 vs Leica DLux4, Part 1

OK I finally got to try out both my cameras today. Lotsa people have been asking me to post up comparison shots of both cams as not many fellas are actually crazy enough to go out n buy both. Some people even say I'm mad for buying the Leica at twice the price of the LX3. LOL.

I've been wanting to do some outdoor shots but it's been raining cats n dogs in Kuala Lumpur everyday since I bought the DL4. I headed to a shopping mall called Sunway Pyramid today to do it indoors. I thought it would be good for trying out high ISO shots indoors as well. There's a section in the mall called Marrakesh n I really like it coz it's nice n colorful. Feels like being in Morocco actually.

Anyway, let's get on with the pics. All pics were done with exact same settings on both cams with no tweaks to Saturation, NR n all that. I only used S +1 sharpening in camera for all shots in both LX3 n DL4. I left all other settings as standard to see the difference in the JPEG processing. All pics shot with AWB.

D-Lux4- 1/30, f2, ISO125


LX3- 1/30, f2, ISO125







D-Lux4- 1/30, f2, ISO250


LX3- 1/30, f2, ISO250







D-Lux 4- 1/30, f2, ISO200


LX3- 1/30, f2, ISO200







D-Lux4- 1/40, f2, ISO400


LX3- 1/40, f2, ISO400








D-Lux4- 1/30, f2, ISO200


LX3- 1/30, f2, ISO200




See any difference between the Panasonic LX3 n Leica D-Lux4? It's hard to tell from those resized images eh? You will probably have noticed the slightly different colors though. The Leica does appear slightly sharper at 100% size too. This debate is raging in the internet right now as to why people would pay double the price for the Leica when there's no apparent difference from all the pics posted on the internet so far. All I can say is, I can see that the Leica is just that lil bit sharper at full size. This is from my own cameras n experience with them so far. I have no idea if the differences are due to sample variance though.

Here's some evidence that there is indeed some difference between the cameras. My DL4 seems to have a better lens coating. I put both cams under the same table lamp to get a picture of the reflection. Here's the pic of the difference in coatings. See how the LX3 reflects more of the lamp? It's whiter n brighter with a more defined reflection of the lamp's chrome reflector surface.







Added on 18th November- I just noticed these 2 pictures after digging through a few more pics. LX3 in iA mode, DL4 in Auto mode. The DL4 picks a lower ISO than the LX3 in some situations. The following pics show the LX3 choosing ISO160 while the DL4 chooses ISO80. That should result in a substantial improvement in PQ if the DL4 consistently picks a lower ISO than the LX3 in similar situations.

D-Lux4- 1/40, f2, ISO80


LX3- 1/80, f2, ISO160





That's all for now regarding the LX3 vs DL4. I will be sure to post up some outdoor pics in the daytime when the weather permits.

Next page- 2. LX3 VS D-Lux 4 Part 2
Next page- 3. Ricoh LC-1 auto lens cap mod for LX3 and D-Lux4
Next page- 4. LX3 VS D-Lux4 lens
Next page-5. Doing HDR with LX3/D-Lux4


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Crocodile oh crocodile

I was sorting out pics of the Shanghai trip today n came across this photo I took. It's really funny. A fake brand name n they couldn't even spell it right. Thought I'd post this up while I sort the 1000s of pics I took in Shanghai. The Chinese spell crocodile as Clio Coddle! It took me a while to figure out why on earth the brand is called Clio Coddle n realised if u stick the 2 words together it sounds like crocodile in broken english if u say cliocoddle coz they cant pronounce the R alphabet. LOL.

This pic was taken at Nanjing Road, Shanghai. It's a fantastic pedestrian mall smack in the middle of Shanghai. Malaysia should learn a thing or 2 from them instead of sending officials over to China to check out how they keep public toilets clean.












While I'm on the subject of brands in China, here's another 1. Just imagine a company rich enough to get Wentworth Miller(of Prison Break fame) to endorse their products but couldn't hire someone to give the brand a proper name. It's called Me & City and Meters/Bonwe. Haha. Wentworth Miller was actually in Shanghai doing a promo tour for Me & City and Meters/Bonwe. We didn't manage to see him though, we were too bz shopping. Hehehe. Me & City and Meters/Bonwe, such horrible names! Any1 knows what Meters/Bonwe means?

Ricoh LC1 auto lens cap on Leica D-Lux 4 and Panasonic LX3

Here's the Transformers looking thingy I modified for my camera. It's called a Ricoh LC-1 lens cap. This is the thing that puzzled the salesman at the puny so called Leica fair at Pavilion yesterday. I thought I'd post the youtube video I made so u guys can see what I was talking about. I love it so much that I sometimes play with it just to see the thing pop in n out of the camera. hehehe








This is how the normal lens cap looks like b4 I modified it. A few fellas asked me how come I got a Panasonic LX3 in the pic too. They're both mine. Why you ask? I did say I was a crazy gadget freak didn't I? Hehehe.




Here's how u guys can have a Ricoh LC-1 auto lens cap on your LX3 n D-Lux4 too. I'll explain it as simply as I can.

Instructions

1. This is how the lens looks like before you do anything.




2. Now screw off the ring on the front of it and it will look like this.




3. That's the ring we've just removed.





4. The Ricoh LC-1 lens cap is a bayonet mount. All it needs is a lil bit of force n it'll pop right on to the threaded part of the lens. Then all you have to do is screw it on until it comes to a stop. It will look like this now. Everything fits perfectly and looks factory fit. There is a slight problem though. At 24mm the 3 flaps open up all the way coz the lens is poking out all the way. When you start zooming in, the lens retracts more n more until you're left with 3 small slits n you get vignetting in the pics from about 30-60mm.





5. This is what you have to do in order to make the flaps open wide at 24mm n enough even at 60mm to prevent vignetting. If you look inside the flaps, you will see 3 springs. You will need to add some black double sided foam tape to the insides of the flaps where the springs are. Just cut out a small 1cm square piece of double sided tape n pile on 3 layers. Now stick it on the inside of the flap where the spring is. Make sure you leave the wax paper on the last layer that contacts the lens barrel so the barrel can slide smoothly on the tape's back. The double sided tape can be seen in the 3 red circles. The mod is now complete. Everything fits perfectly n there's no vignetting at all.





This is how it looks like wide open at 24mm.









This is how it looks like at 60mm zoom. Don't worry, there's no vignetting. It looks like it will obstruct the view but it doesnt vignet at all. I've tested it by zooming to 60mm n shooting at a white wall n got a perfectly even white frame with no shadows at all.



We're all done. It's time to go out n enjoy instantaneous response. No more fiddling around with the lens cap n silly string. Hope u all liked the guide.

If you liked this article or found it helpful, please check out the advertisements ya? You can also buy the Ricoh LC-1 cap from Amazon through the link below. Your support is much appreciated. :) :) :)