Hands on: Leica V-LUX 20 at The Phoblographer

Hands on: Leica V-LUX 20

Upon a recent visit to the offices of Leica’s PR company in NYC, I was able to play with the Leica V-LUX 20 for a little while. Not long ago, a small review was completed based upon the Panasonic ZS-7, the camera that it is based off of. However, it also warned readers that at the time of writing it, I had not actually seen the V-LUX 20. So without further adieu, here is the preview.

Handling

The camera handles exactly like the Panasonic ZS-7. Further, all of the button are also in the exact same places. It is compact, feels like the D-LUX 4 a bit, gives you the feeling that it will serve you well when you need it. It is extremely pocketable. The back has a large 3 inch LCD screen. I was happy to see the Exposure button return as it is very helpful when users want to manipulate their settings in the more manual shooting modes. Still though, I would have preferred dials.

What is really nice is the little grip on the front to help with the ergonomics. It almost (but not quite) feels like a miniature Micro Four Thirds camera if they put a fixed lens on it.

Image Quality

Due to the fact that an SD card was not on hand, I was not able to receive any images from the camera.

Features

I questioned the rep about whether or not Panasonic’s Intelligent Zoom and Resolution features were present, and she needed to get back to me. You can read more about those features here. In a nutshell though, the Intelligent Zoom feature uses the intelligent resolution feature to give the cameras a bit of a boost in zoom without loosing image quality through digital means. It’s essentially a special type of digital zoom. I’ve seen prints with Intelligent Zoom and for the consumer market, and I approve of this feature for that segment.

This all works because of what Intelligent Resolution can do and how it works. In digital zoom, one usually sees lots of jagged lines and lots of detail missing. Somehow or another, the processing fixes this all. When seeing it, I thought that perhaps it will just add image noise to get the areas more detailed. However, this isn’t what it does at all.

It digitally corrects almost any error that you may find. It’s really quite fascinating and for consumer uses I’ll take it. I’m not too confident yet about it for professional uses, but it seems to be very similar to content awareness boosting in Photoshop.

My Blind Photographers group will love the menus for the reasons that the text is big and that users of the camera will not have to squint much at the screen either. The menu system seems to be leaner than Panasonic’s. The rep is getting back to me about how much leaner it is and why Leica took this approach.

Focusing

This camera focuses exactly like the Panasonic version. In good light, the autofocus is snappy. In bad lighting it still isn’t terrible but can be inaccurate at times. However, these aren’t very often as the autofocus areas are large and pretty smart.

Don’t expect DSLR speed autofocus from these cameras though. One does need to keep in mind that their not as complex.

Of course, don’t expect anything as fast as the class-leading Panasonic GF-1 either.

Edit: The Leica Reps have gotten back to me. Here are my questions and their answers-

1. Does the GPS tagging also occur when the camera is off and the GPS mode is on in the menu? This was the case with the Panasonic ZS-7. No

2. The menu system looks a lot leaner than Panasonic’s, why did the Leica engineers choose to go the route they did with it? Today, many products offer countless features. Leica Camera focuses first and foremost on the needs of the user. The company’s focus during mechanical and optical development of mechanics and lenses has been on providing truly relevant functions. It is Leica’s philosophy to focus on essentials.

3. Are Panasonic’s Intelligent Zoom and Intelligent Resolution features present in the camera as well? While those specific feature names are exclusive to Panasonic, the V-LUX 20 has equivalent features. The V-LUX 20 offers LEICA’s DC-VARIO-ELMAR 4.1–49.2 mm f/3.3–4.9 ASPH. zoom lens and a 12.1 megapixel resolution. The V LUX 20’s differentiating factor is its Leica firmware, which ensures an image quality superior to that of other similar cameras.

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Written by Chris Gampat

May 14th, 2010 at 12:03 am

Posted in Cameras

Tagged with camera, leica, panasonic, review, v-lux 20, zs-7

http://chicagonorthshorehome.com/about/ Jason Hartong

Nice Leica! I’ve been fond of their Lumix/Panasonic partnership. Both companies keep making great products.

http://www.chicagonorthshorehome.com
http://photography.efixmedia.de efix

Just a minor correction. One often uses this phrase to state that one is not going to go on with introductory words but going to head directly into medias res. The problem is, though, that many seem not to know how the correct saying is – let alone how to spell it. Have it read spellt wrongly (in the same way every time) a couple of times now (and not only here), I though it was time to straighten it out once.

It is not “without further adieu” – which literally means “without further goodbye” -, but “without further ado”, which literally means “without making further fuss about it”.

There’s a play from Shakespeare – you might recall it -, titled “Much ado about nothing”. That’s the same “ado” as in “without further ado”.

Regards,
a frequent reader
http://nicks-blog.net websurf90

Hi, I am interested in buying a V-Lux 20 and would like to know the address of Leica’s NYC firm is? This is a big purchase for me and I need to see the camera’s advantages in person. ~websurf90

http://thephoblographer.wordpress.com Chris Gampat

I can’t give you that information. But if you travel over to B&H in NYC you’ll be able to take a look at it I’m sure. It’s practically the same as the ZS-7.

tony

so im torn, as a professional photographer who has 2 professional cameras at all times – and just wants a point and shoot do I go with the panasonic or do I spend almost twice and get the leica? The professional in me says “get the leica” but the consumer says “it is a point and shoot – buy the panasonic!”

http://thephoblographer.wordpress.com Chris Gampat

Hey Tony, I’ve been in the same position as you man and I still haven’t been able to justify any point and shoot to myself. To be quite honest with, you won’t like either. Since you’re a professional you’ll always be insatiable for better image quality so you’ll do better with something that shoots raw. Why not go for a GF-1? Hell, I’m finding myself torn between purchasing a Leica CL with 40mm Summicron, 100mm Macro L or 135mm F2 for my Canon system. The problem with me is that most likely like you, I’m money oriented. If I can’t make money from that investment, I don’t want it. So potentially, you could make money off a Leica CL (yes I know it’s film) or a GF-1. Hope I haven’t confused you more, these just aren’t cameras for pros.

The Phoblographer