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Leica d-lux 3

J

Jacob

Guest
Hi All
I am new here, got a tip from RangefinderForum that got me looking around for a few days. It seems like a relly friendly and informative place.

I bought a d-lux 3 to share with my wife for family use. As many has pointed out here, it is a fantastic little camera. My big problem is the ergonomics. I don't want to use for street shooting since it feels so delicate to hold. I have an old Coolpix 8400 that feels like a tailormade glove in comparison. The Leica is so elegant, so I don't feel like glueing a grip on the front. I have a vague idea to make an M-type grip to screw in the tripod socket.

Has anyone tried something similar?

Attaching a kitchen still life from the weekend...

All the best
Jacob
 
Per Ofverbeck

Per Ofverbeck

Member
Jacob said:
Hi All
I am new here, got a tip from RangefinderForum that got me looking around for a few days. It seems like a relly friendly and informative place.

I bought a d-lux 3 to share with my wife for family use. As many has pointed out here, it is a fantastic little camera. My big problem is the ergonomics. I don't want to use for street shooting since it feels so delicate to hold. I have an old Coolpix 8400 that feels like a tailormade glove in comparison. The Leica is so elegant, so I don't feel like glueing a grip on the front. I have a vague idea to make an M-type grip to screw in the tripod socket.

Has anyone tried something similar?

Attaching a kitchen still life from the weekend...

All the best
Jacob
Click to expand...
Yes, that´s the biggest problem with this camera, without a doubt. Bought it just over a month ago, and still keep pressing the wrong buttons just by trying to hold it. And using it at -10 deg C above the timber line in northern Sweden was horrible!

Using a wrist strap is mandatory. I find the one that comes with it far too long; either find a shorter one, or put a plastic "bead" on it, so you can tighten it up. It helps a lot, and makes one feel more secure.

Your idea of a grip sounds interesting; only, it would interfere with opening the battery/card compartment. But I don´t have any better suggestion either.

When buying it, I compared it to the two Ricoh´s, but felt this one was a bit more solid. But the grip on the Ricoh´s is far better; there are times when I almost regret my choice...

I still have my Digilux 2, and I don´t think the new one will make me mothball it....
 
P

poboxnyc

Guest
Jacob said:
Hi All
I am new here, got a tip from RangefinderForum that got me looking around for a few days. It seems like a relly friendly and informative place.

I bought a d-lux 3 to share with my wife for family use. As many has pointed out here, it is a fantastic little camera. My big problem is the ergonomics. I don't want to use for street shooting since it feels so delicate to hold. I have an old Coolpix 8400 that feels like a tailormade glove in comparison. The Leica is so elegant, so I don't feel like glueing a grip on the front. I have a vague idea to make an M-type grip to screw in the tripod socket.

Has anyone tried something similar?

Attaching a kitchen still life from the weekend...

All the best
Jacob
Click to expand...
I've been using a Luigi half case on my Dlux 3 for over a year--- it makes it a completely different camera and very easy to grip even with one hand. It's lives on my neck fulltime with the neckstrap -- I prefer neckstraps to wriststraps. It's so light I almost don't know it's there. I get more comments on the case than the camera--the color is called Rally which is an elegant antiqued brown:

leicatime.com

The hanging backflap works beautifully in my opinion and I prefer it to the removable backflap. It works just as easily in the vertical position.
 
Bob

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
Proud Grandfather buys Granddaughter an MP3 player of her very own.
What is next, an iPhone?
 
R

rich s

New member
poboxnyc said:
I've been using a Luigi half case on my Dlux 3 for over a year--- it makes it a completely different camera and very easy to grip even with one hand. It's lives on my neck fulltime with the neckstrap -- I prefer neckstraps to wriststraps. It's so light I almost don't know it's there. I get more comments on the case than the camera--the color is called Rally which is an elegant antiqued brown:

leicatime.com

The hanging backflap works beautifully in my opinion and I prefer it to the removable backflap. It works just as easily in the vertical position.
Click to expand...
I must admit , it does look very good. But at 130 Euros, its a little hard to justify!!
 
R

rich s

New member
I have an old Konica FT-1, which used a detachable housing / grip screwed into the body to take additional batteries. It also took a smaller, flatter detachable grip, and its a pity that such an accessory couldn't have been provided by Leica. It could have been quite an elegant solution.

I recently bought a s/hand GX-100, partly due to these frustrations, the tendency of the D-Lux 3 to smear, and the absence of an option to switch off NR. The handling of the Ricoh is a joy by comparison - with such easy access to the controls you need to change frequently. I carry and frequently shoot with mine one handed and am getting results I'm sure would have impossible with the Leica. LCD viewing on the Ricoh is also infinately better than the Leica's - you can view it at very shallow angles and so can frame from the hip quite easily.

The Leica is a beautiful little thing, but isn't in my view anywhere near as polished in design and handling terms for creative shooting possibilities.

I must admit I tied a knot in both cam's wrist strap straight away!
 
R

rich s

New member
Maggie O said:
Both issues disappear if you shoot RAW.
Click to expand...
I normally use Capture One 4 - as it doesn't support D Lux-3, I used ACDSee Pro and that has produced some very good detail I must admit - far more than the GX-100 and with greater clarity, smoothness.

I dont know how much the RAW converter type affects things but noise is also far less apparent with the D Lux-3 than the GX-100, both cameras on the same settings. Would it help to convert to DNG first?
 
nostatic

nostatic

New member
for handling, I put a piece of the soft side of velcro strip on the front of the camera to give a little "grip." I've already dropped it onto concrete more than once and it has some dents so what do I care about external aesthetics at this point :p

That being said, the better solution (for me) was to change the way I hold the camera. I don't use the intended thumb rest, but instead put my thumb along the bottom of the camera near the display, index finger on the shutter release and middle finger curled against the front.

I shoot raw and use Aperture2 to convert. No smears unless I want them ;)


 
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