Cameras

Field Review: Leica D-LUX 5 (Day 4)

Chris Gampat
No Comments
11/18/2010
3 Mins read

Last Updated on 07/20/2011 by Chris Gampat

The Leica D-LUX 5 is a camera that can be as fun as playing with a new puppy for photographers used to shooting DSLRs all day. I found this out the other night while going for a promenade around Manhattan. Once in a blue moon I need to get out, shoot, and clear my mind. However, I don’t always want to bring a messenger or camera bag with me. The ability to just slip this little powerhouse of a camera into my coat was just incredible.

Quick Menu

An important part of the fun with this camera was overlooked by me earlier on in the review. On the bottom right hand corner of the back of the camera is a little button for quick menu access. It allows the user to operate a number of settings like the film mode, shooting rate, focusing mode, etc. It’s a major convenience for those that tend to change every aspect of their images vs focusing on ISO, aperture, and shutter speed.

I’ve only used it once so far for dealing with a specific white balance issue.

Additionally, users can program certain features to the Fn button.

Aspect Ratios

The aspect ratio control for the camera is available using the little switch on the top of the lens. Using this, the images can change from a 1:1 ratio, 4:3 ratio, 3:2 ratio, and a 16:9 ratio.

Here’s a bit of an explanation. All photos were shot on a table with no other change of settings besides flicking the aspect ratio switch.

1:1- Square format. If you’ve seen square film and liked it, you’ll be smitten.

4:3- Think old school video with the 640×480 ratio of what YouTube used to do. Also think of the 4/3rds DSLRs and Micro Four Thirds.

3:2- This is what most DSLRs usually shoot in. If you want a different perspective in your photos, stay away from this.

16:9- This is a wide aspect ratio typically used in HD movie recording.

No Need For Very High ISOs?

Throughout my testing, I found that there was no major need for me to crank up my ISO settings past 800. For reference, I was shooting on November 6th, 2010 between 6:30 PM and 8:30 PM in New York City. By this time, it is already very dark.

Film Modes

Smooth film mode sample.

Smooth black and white sample.

Dynamic film mode sample.

These three settings are perhaps my favorite because of the colors that can come from the camera. Unfortunately, the black and white mode is totally null if you’re shooting in RAW. Many of you perhaps knew this, but there could have been many out there that did not.

HD Video Sample

You can get the D-LUX 5 at Amazonand B&H.

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.