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Digital Camera Review by: Michael Gazzola
After
testing both production and final release models of the new Leica Digilux 2,
the review below should delight many Leica enthusiasts.
The Digilux 2's design is classic, and uses
good old fashioned dials rather than 'digital' buttons to maintain that
SLR feel - which many 35mm Leica owners will appreciate. The camera is well
balanced with its 69mm diameter lens, solid ultra-light magnesium body and tactile
rubber reinforcement. Simplicity is a feature applied to almost every facet
of this camera. The dial knobs for both the shutter speed settings and zooming
in on an image just taken (in the viewfinder or on the 2.5 inch LCD screen)
provides the photographer easy accessiblity to regularly used functions. There
are three rings for manual use on the lens, one for focussing, the second
for aperture control and the third for zooming within the equivalent of
a 28-90mm 35mm lens.
It's the little things, like the way the lens cap has material inside the
rim to slide onto the lens smoothly every time, or the extra lens hood with
its own lens cap that make this camera complete. The packaging the camera
arrives in is not cheap either - with a metallic silver finish and a very
well laid out foam insert holding each of the cameras accessories, as well
as the camera, manuals and cds required for digital imaging.
The Digilux 2 has one unique feature which will set it apart from every
other digital camera on the market - which is the option for either bounce
or direct flash, built into the body. The bounce flash during tests worked
beautifully, although as it's not a big flash unit it will struggle with
very high ceilings. It also has a host of capture options from: colour,
b+w,  cloudy, sun to white balancing with / without studio flashes - although
there does not appear to be a fluorescent light setting. A nice touch too is
the LCD screen, which changes in time when moving the aperture ring to give
the photographer a more accurate preview of the image about to be captured.
When testing the clarity of the lens, which at the end of the day is the
single most important feature, the results we acquired were crisp, clear
and colour accurate. Skin tones and primary colours reproduced as they should,
even when using the flash options and reacted much in the same way as film.
Overall, the Leica Digilux 2 passed our tests easily and would be a great
addition to any photographer or Leica enthusiast bag of photography goodies.
| Appearance
rating |
4 stars |
| Functionality
rating |
4.5 stars |
Image quality
|
4.5 stars |
Value for money
|
4.5 stars |
| RRP
(AUD) |
$2995 |
 |
|
| Effective
Pixels |
5.0 Million pixels |
| CCD
Sensor |
5.24 Million pixels |
| Image
Sizes |
5
Sizes / 4 quality modes |
| Lens
- zoom wide [mm] |
7.2mm
(35mm equivalent to 28mm) |
| Lens
-zoom tele [mm] |
50.8mm
(35mm equivalent to 200mm) |
| Resolution
Settings |
From
640 x 480 to 2560 x 1920 plus HDTV |
| Modes |
6
Individual. Plus auto. |
| Manual
Focus |
Yes |
| Auto
Focus |
Yes |
| Focus
Range [cm] |
50cm |
| Aperture
Range |
F2.0
- F11 |
| Aperture
Priority |
Yes |
| Macro |
Yes |
| Macro
Range [cm] |
30cm |
| Shutter
Speeds |
8
seconds - 1/4000 |
| Shutter
Priority |
Yes |
| ISO |
3
Options. 100, 200 and 400 |
| LCD
Monitor |
Yes |
| LCD
Size |
2.5
Inch TFT LCD colour monitor |
| Viewfinder |
Yes.
Electronic TFT LCD |
| Flash |
Built
In. 4 mode options. Plus auto. |
| Hot
Shoe |
Yes |
| White
balance |
6
options. Plus auto. |
| Self
Timer |
Yes.
2 or 10 seconds. |
| Movie
Options |
Yes. |
| Audio
Options |
Yes. |
| Video
Out |
Yes.
AV out. NTSC / PAL |
| Storage
Type |
SD
/ MMC Cards |
| Storage
Included [Mb] |
64Mb
SD Card |
| Image
/ Audio Formats |
Jpeg,
Tiff (RGB) and Raw |
| Connectivity |
USB
2.0 |
| Power
Source |
7.2V
Lithium ion re-chargable. |
| Dimensions |
135
mm x 82mm x 103mm |
| Weight |
630g
/ 705g (without / with battery) |
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