nostatic
New member
I expect that Jack's attorney will be contacting me shortly for copyright infringement 
I didn't want to clutter up his thread though with too much of this related topic. I know that a fair number of people either currently own both or have cycled through these two cameras. I'm still on the fence about the GRD2, but here are some comparison photos (in horrible light - apologies), and a few thoughts and shots.
I did some comparisons of the same shots with both cameras. What I've found is that in low light color images, the GRD2 is more accurate (auto WB).
dlux3
grd2
The grd2 is closer to what the sofa, etc really look like.
The GRD2 is more pocketable than the Leica - since the lens fully retracts and has a built-in cover, it can slip in a back pocket much more easily. Otherwise the overall size and weight is about the same.
Much has been made about the "grain" look of the GRD2 and my early shots back that up. Running high iso (800 or 1600), if you push the files they have a nice grain whereas the Leica (at 800 - I don't like the 1600 files) has a bit more smooth smear. Neither is necessarily "better", but they are different looks.
Ergos are a wash to me, but I'm used to the DLux3 and not used to the GRD2. One thing I wish was that the manual focus could be assigned to the wheel or the adj knob or the "zoom" instead of the up/down buttons (not switching to MF, but the actual "focusing" of the camera). Maybe it can be but seems that the options are only for switching between focus modes, not the actual focusing.
The GRD2 is closer to a typical dslr with the wheel in front and adj wheel in back. The reality is that I find myself in program mode most of the time and often don't end up using them...and then they default to all controlling EV. It seems that it takes some messing around with to tweak to individual taste.
The DLux3 powers back up after autoshutdown when you push the shutter button. I like that. The GRD2 you need to hit the small, sometimes hard to push power button. I don't like that.
Perhaps the biggest difference is the native chip ratio. I bought the DLux3 specifically for the native 16x9 and have learned a lot shooting that. I also shoot native 3x2 with my dslr, and with the GRD2 I'm back to native 4x3 like my old Canon. It takes some getting used to, as I've now got all this room at the top of the frame that I used to crop out or just not shoot. Interesting to see how my framing defaults to less headroom.
Still may send the GRD2 back. It certainly is a different camera than the DLux3, but I'm having a tough time justifying multiple P&S cameras. If I can get "equivalent" results with the Leica I'm a big fan of simplified setups. But my gut feeling is that the GRD2 is somewhat fundamentally different and that in fact they can give very different results from the same subject.
I didn't want to clutter up his thread though with too much of this related topic. I know that a fair number of people either currently own both or have cycled through these two cameras. I'm still on the fence about the GRD2, but here are some comparison photos (in horrible light - apologies), and a few thoughts and shots.
I did some comparisons of the same shots with both cameras. What I've found is that in low light color images, the GRD2 is more accurate (auto WB).
dlux3
grd2
The grd2 is closer to what the sofa, etc really look like.
The GRD2 is more pocketable than the Leica - since the lens fully retracts and has a built-in cover, it can slip in a back pocket much more easily. Otherwise the overall size and weight is about the same.
Much has been made about the "grain" look of the GRD2 and my early shots back that up. Running high iso (800 or 1600), if you push the files they have a nice grain whereas the Leica (at 800 - I don't like the 1600 files) has a bit more smooth smear. Neither is necessarily "better", but they are different looks.
Ergos are a wash to me, but I'm used to the DLux3 and not used to the GRD2. One thing I wish was that the manual focus could be assigned to the wheel or the adj knob or the "zoom" instead of the up/down buttons (not switching to MF, but the actual "focusing" of the camera). Maybe it can be but seems that the options are only for switching between focus modes, not the actual focusing.
The GRD2 is closer to a typical dslr with the wheel in front and adj wheel in back. The reality is that I find myself in program mode most of the time and often don't end up using them...and then they default to all controlling EV. It seems that it takes some messing around with to tweak to individual taste.
The DLux3 powers back up after autoshutdown when you push the shutter button. I like that. The GRD2 you need to hit the small, sometimes hard to push power button. I don't like that.
Perhaps the biggest difference is the native chip ratio. I bought the DLux3 specifically for the native 16x9 and have learned a lot shooting that. I also shoot native 3x2 with my dslr, and with the GRD2 I'm back to native 4x3 like my old Canon. It takes some getting used to, as I've now got all this room at the top of the frame that I used to crop out or just not shoot. Interesting to see how my framing defaults to less headroom.
Still may send the GRD2 back. It certainly is a different camera than the DLux3, but I'm having a tough time justifying multiple P&S cameras. If I can get "equivalent" results with the Leica I'm a big fan of simplified setups. But my gut feeling is that the GRD2 is somewhat fundamentally different and that in fact they can give very different results from the same subject.
