Images from the Panasonic DMC-LC1

[tomcat]

After reading all those reviews on the superb Leica lens on the Digilux 2 and the DMC-LC1, I just couldn't control myself and bought the LC1 this afternoon.

By the time I charged up the battery, I can only test it on my cats. I must say that this is the most beautiful and elegant digicam I have ever seen. The manual controls on the lens are silky smooth and the lens is unbelievably sharp and certainly lives up to all the hypes and more.

Here's a few shots just for teasers. They are all flash exposures of course. I'll try to take more outdoors and portrait shots if I have the time this weekend.




Because of her silvery grey colouring, I usually have a lot of trouble getting a proper exposure off of her fur. The LC-1 didn't seem to have any problem though.



Another pleasant surprise was that the LC-1 built-in flash does not seem to cause as much 'red-eye' problem when used at such close proximities. Note the black pupils in the 2nd and 3rd shots. I would never have gotten this with any other cameras at these distances as these 2 cats are notorious 'devil-eyed' cats.

Cheers

[HRKB]

excellent pic quality

[shutterfly]

Amazing!! Looking forward to more shots from you. Thanks for sharing.

[Neo]

Great pics, Tomcat!

Looking forward to more sample images from your LC-1. By the way, can you write a short report on your camera, such as the focusing speed and ease, shutter lag etc? Would love to read more cuz I'm wondering if I should buy one of these "electronic Leica".

[tomcat]

Here's a few more just taken this afternoon around my estate...

Neighbour's Cat








Macro


Cheers

[XXX Boy]

Leica lens siew sia!

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by Neo Looking forward to more sample images from your LC-1. By the way, can you write a short report on your camera, such as the focusing speed and ease, shutter lag etc? Would love to read more cuz I'm wondering if I should buy one of these "electronic Leica".

No time to test the LC1 today. Just managed to snapped off a quick shot of a friend who had reluctantly posed for it under this afternoon's blindingly bright conditions.



This lens is sharp!! Check out the fuzz on the edges of the ears, face and T-shirt !

I am used to DSLR specs as far as focusing speed and shutter lag are concerned but I didn't find any problem with the LC1's focusing speed and shutter lag so far. In any case, whether focusing speed and shutter lag is acceptable or not is very subjective and depends a lot on the respective users' expectations and photographic styles. To me, I think that the quality of the lens is a more important consideration. If the lens is not good, the fastest focusing speed and shutter speed would not make any difference.

Perhaps those contemplating on getting either the LC1 or its much more expensive 'evil twin' the Leica Digilux 2 might want to consider whether their quirks and minor shortcomings are acceptable or not. So far, these are what I noted:
(1) There is no AF Assist and these cameras would not be able to focus in total darkness. The LC1 does seem to perform better than my previous Coolpix 5700 in dim lighting though.
(2) Though there is a Macro mode, the LC1/DG2 requires a min. focusing distance of 30cm unlike most other macro-capable digicams.
(3) There is no memory buffer for RAW mode and it would take about 6 sec to write the RAW file to memory during which time, another shot cannot be taken.
(4) The lens takes a very unusual 69mm filter thread and it is not possible to buy filters in this size except from the limited selection of Panasonic and Leica made specially for these 2 cameras. Though the LC1 comes with a multi-coated UV filter as standard accessory, the DG2 does not come with it and it cost a whopping US$150 each from Leica. Another accessory that Panasonic provide for the LC1 that Leica does not is the cable release.

On a bright note, the LC1 and DG2 are the only digicams to-date that come with a built-in bounced flash. Even though the flash in direct mode works wonderfully as it is, the built-in flash can be tilted at 45 deg to bounce the light off the ceiling for an even softer flash effect.

[mrbunglez]

Hi Tomcat, jus a coupla questions.

are all your pictures taken using auto focus? or manual focus? how is the manual feel of the camera? in terms of manual focusing?

and if u don't mind, could you tell me how much u got it for? i'm quite gian to get it already.. but the price seems quite steep man.. sigh... mus go sell my G3 first.. haha

thanks!

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by mrbunglez Hi Tomcat, jus a coupla questions. are all your pictures taken using auto focus? or manual focus? how is the manual feel of the camera? in terms of manual focusing? and if u don't mind, could you tell me how much u got it for? i'm quite gian to get it already.. but the price seems quite steep man.. sigh... mus go sell my G3 first.. haha thanks!

All my pics are taken in the auto focus mode. The LC1 feels just like an analog camera, a very expensive analog camera at that. All the manual controls - aperture, zoom and focusing controls, are silky smooth in their operation.

When the lens is manually focused, a magnified image of the focus zone would appear in the centre of the LCD screen to help in the focusing.

I got mine for $1,790 inclusive of GST. You can get it slightly cheaper at $1,650 before GST and cash terms from Parisilk Electronics and Computer Store at Holland Village but you would need to check if they have stock first and don't mind waiting a few days if they don't have stock.

[shutterfly]

I am impressed with the sharpness.

[mrbunglez]

Thanks for the info. wah.. u won't believe how much i want to get it man. argh. thanks for the info and help. i'll see what i can do to gather up enough funds..

oh last thing, how's the EVF? issit as good as a normal optical VF?

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by mrbunglez Thanks for the info. wah.. u won't believe how much i want to get it man. argh. thanks for the info and help. i'll see what i can do to gather up enough funds.. oh last thing, how's the EVF? issit as good as a normal optical VF?

Although the EVF in the LC1/DG2 is of the highest resolution of 235,000 pixels currently available (according to DPReview & Leica's press release), it still can't compare to a normal optical view finder. If it is too dark to show up on the LCD display, you will also not see anything on the EVF.

I wish it came with an optical view finder as that would make it look and feel more like a rangefinder type of camera. But then we would probably lose out on the whole slew of info that's displayed in the EVF, including the live histogram. I just love the live histogram ! Now I can check whether the exposure would look right or not before I even take the picture.

[ivor]

I agree with tomcat, there are only 2 things that I don't like about the LC1,

1. the EVF, would be better if optical view finder.

2. memory buffer for RAW shooting, with SD card like sandisk Ultra II, RAW shooting is about 6 sec. between shots.

The histogram is cool, and very useful.

Originally Posted by tomcat Although the EVF in the LC1/DG2 is of the highest resolution of 235,000 pixels currently available (according to DPReview & Leica's press release), it still can't compare to a normal optical view finder. If it is too dark to show up on the LCD display, you will also not see anything on the EVF. I wish it came with an optical view finder as that would make it look and feel more like a rangefinder type of camera. But then we would probably lose out on the whole slew of info that's displayed in the EVF, including the live histogram. I just love the live histogram ! Now I can check whether the exposure would look right or not before I even take the picture.

[jimtong]

Hi tomcat, may I know how much you pay for your LC1? Is the price same as the Leica version?


btw, nice cat

Thanks

[ivor]

The opinion on EVF is very objective. I have never use a DC with EVF before, so I am sort of not used to it.

But there are a lot of other info displayed for EVF, where optical viewfinder, cannot do.

Suggest that you go down to CP and molest both the LC1 and Digilux 2.

Originally Posted by mrbunglez Thanks for the info. wah.. u won't believe how much i want to get it man. argh. thanks for the info and help. i'll see what i can do to gather up enough funds.. oh last thing, how's the EVF? issit as good as a normal optical VF?

I thought he had already mentioned the price in his earlier post??

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=68590

<<QUOTE>>I got mine for $1,790 inclusive of GST. You can get it slightly cheaper at $1,650 before GST and cash terms from Parisilk Electronics and Computer Store at Holland Village but you would need to check if they have stock first and don't mind waiting a few days if they don't have stock.<<UNQUOTE>>

Originally Posted by jimtong Hi tomcat, may I know how much you pay for your LC1? Is the price same as the Leica version? btw, nice cat Thanks

[tert]

Hi Tomcat,

Great to see reviews on some exotic DC models, something we do not really see very often here on CS.

Just a couple of questions: Is there an option to control the in-camera sharpening? Also are these shots done on Jpeg or RAW? Reason being the sample pix appear to contain a significant bit of artifacts, especially on the strap of the bag and the hotspot and hairline on your friend's picture.

Great work!

tert

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by jimtong Hi tomcat, may I know how much you pay for your LC1? Is the price same as the Leica version? btw, nice cat Thanks

I paid $1,790 (with GST). Should be able to get it for slightly less at some other shops ... around $1,730+ cash terms.

I think the Leica version cost double the price around $3,800 and that's not including the absolutely essential multi-coated UV filter (lens protector) and the cable remote release which comes with the LC1 but not the DG2. That would probably set you back a further US$200 at least, if they are available here that is.

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by tert Just a couple of questions: Is there an option to control the in-camera sharpening? Also are these shots done on Jpeg or RAW? Reason being the sample pix appear to contain a significant bit of artifacts, especially on the strap of the bag and the hotspot and hairline on your friend's picture. Great work! tert

There are options to control in-camera sharpening. I had used the default 'Standard' option for all these pics which are shot in jpeg mode and heavily downscaled for loading into my pbase album. As I mentioned, it was really bright at that moment and the dynamic range must have been fantastic. To my eyes, the hairline was due to strong reflection off the strands of hairs and the the strap was just the texture of the material and the hot spot was unavoidable under those conditions even with fill-in flash. Singapore sun is really terrible for outdoor portrait photography.

[blurboiboi]

Originally Posted by tomcat I paid $1,790 (with GST). Should be able to get it for slightly less at some other shops ... around $1,730+ cash terms. I think the Leica version cost double the price around $3,800 and that's not including the absolutely essential multi-coated UV filter (lens protector) and the cable remote release which comes with the LC1 but not the DG2. That would probably set you back a further US$200 at least, if they are available here that is.

pardon me from asking was juz wondering.. there are so many great cams out there... but what made you fork out so much to get this particular camera??

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by blurboiboi pardon me from asking was juz wondering.. there are so many great cams out there... but what made you fork out so much to get this particular camera??

Because of :
(1) the style and the built of the camera - the finishing and built of the camera is absolutely top class. Just open the SD card door and you'll know what I mean. It's spring-loaded and the feeling sure beats the crap out of that of my much more expensive D60 and 10D. It's like the feeling you get when you open and close the doors of a Mercedes.

and most important reason of all....

(2) The LENS ... it's a Leica ! And a very good one at that too. Considering that the Leica version which is actually of the same specs and doesn't even come with all the standard accessories that the LC1 has, cost twice as much as the LC1, it is a steal even at these prices.

BTW, Singapore is one of the cheapest places in the world to buy the LC1. In the States, it will be selling for at least US$1,500 when it's released there. A lot of users in the States and UK are buying it from places like HK which has released it even earlier than us here as it comes with a worldwide warranty.