Leica D-lux 7 or new sony e mount lens

Jamesie M

Good evening ladies and gents,

Not posted on the forum for a few years but I’m heading to Disney Land at easter with 6 & 3 year girls (and a wife).

I have a sony a7r and three primes, 35mm 1.4, 50mm 1.8 and 85mm 1.4.

If i’m out and about I end up using the 50mm 1.8 as it makes a lighter combination and far easier to carry about.

Was thinking of buying the new leica d-lux 7 as it would be portable, has a zoom lens and manual controls (and I’ve always listed after a leica-even a panasonic one!!). Other option is a decent zoom lens (24-70?) for the sony but the weight might be too much.

Anyone got any thoughts or advise on what they took to disney? Want to try and catch some great memories of my girls.
Cheers, James

AMc

We went to Disney as part of a Western USA tour with our kid when she was 9.

I was using an Olympus E-PL5 at the time with just the 14-42mm kit lens.
It was very easy to carry and portable but I do remember having some issues using the rear screen alone at Universal as it was just crazily bright.
You can probably count on good strong light in most places so a fast lens isn't essential though if you want to get pictures inside some of the ride buildings that might change.

I wouldn't want to cart a DSLR sized body with a large superzoom on it all day.  You're basically stood up the whole time though with a 3yr old perhaps you'll have a buggy which can cart for you?
Obviously there are limits on what you can carry on rides too though again I suspect with a 6yr old and 3yr old you'll be skipping the bigger faster rides anyway.

A compact with a viewfinder would be my preference.  Other cameras with similar sensors like the Olympus E-M10 or the PEN-F might be worth a look though you won't get a very small, fast compact zoom that beats the one on that Leica.
You could also consider supplementing the Sony with a Go Pro or similar if you think you'll be going on the faster or wetter rides.

Jamesie M

Good shout and I bought a gopro a few weeks ago and some clips/handles so even my girls can run around taking snaps/video without any worry of breaking it.

My last camera was an olympus om-d em5 (?) and I had the kit zoom, olympus 24 1.8mm and a brilliant panasonic pancake lens about 17mm that I used all the time as it turned the em-5 almost pocket size. I still have all the kit but the mode dial was unreliable and I’d get b&w shots randomly. I also missed focus lots of time with it (the reason I moved to FF and the sony so I could get good photos of my girls growing up).

I’ll have a look at the pen-f and see how it compares to the leica. I have the kit so should really (but the red leica dot is tempting me). Noted about the bright conditions and a decent viewfinder (I had wanted the wide 1.7 leica as I like shooting in low light and avoiding a flash).

We have hired buggies so I could stick the sony a7r in one but I think I’d get more use of something small. I’ll see if I can pop into a jessops (if they still exist on high street!) and compare size of pen-f, leica (or panasonic equivalent) and maybe a sony compact.

Thanks for your help (and yes, unfortunately the rides will be teacups or dumbos adventure so no wild times for me!)

Johnmcl7

I see you're planning trying the cameras in person which would be my first recommendation, you can spend ages swithering over specs then go and try the cameras only to find you much prefer another camera entirely.

I think the Lx100/II are great cameras which are well specced and feel good in the hand.  I did give serious thought to buying one but for my use I felt the camera was too big, I was looking for something small enough to carry around with me all the time and for the size of the LX100 series I preferred a small mirrorless camera for the flexibility.  You seem to give a lot of weight to the Leica branding but while the Leica premium is small for a Leicasonic, the D-Lux 7 is a Panasonic camera with Leica branding.

For the sort of use you've mentioned I like the little 1in compacts as they're small enough to stick in a jacket pocket out of the way and also I find it's easier to use it one handed and take part in activities with your kids.  I find with bigger cameras you tend to step back and take shots which means you can miss out being involved.  There are downsides of course, the smaller sensor (compared to 4/3 or APS-C) has no real DoF control, there's less latitude in the raw files to push the dynamic range and the high isn't as good.

That's just my personal choice though and as there's a lot of cameras that would do what you want, it's largely going to come down to the camera you like the look and feel of.

AMc

I'm guessing you have the Olympus 25mm f1.8 and the Panasonic 20mm f1.7?
The Panasonic is reputed to be a bit slow to focus.  I have the Olympus 17mm f1.8 which is similar technically but fast to focus so I've never tried the P20.
The Olympus 14-42mm EZ pancake lens is much smaller than the 12-50 that was bundled with the E-M5.  That and the E-M10ii make a very handy set up.
The PEN-F is a rangefinder style body so while it's not that much smaller than the E-M5 you may find it's more pocketable.

The PEN-F is a newer sensor with better stabilisation than the E-M5 so should be better in low light so you can use a smaller aperture and get a bit more depth of focus if that was the problem?
There are a few reasons why you can miss focus/get blurred results - too slow a shutter speed for the subject, camera shake, slow auto focus or choosing/allowing the camera to choose the wrong focus point.
My blurry shots esp. indoor snaps are usually a result of a mistake I've made rather than a limitation of the camera, though obviously there is a limit to what you can do with the equipment and a larger sensor and larger lens have benefits in low light.

If you're not using the E-M5 and lenses then I would take it with you - you may be able to trade it in against what ever you fancy.

I understand the lure of the red dot but I'm not in the market to spend that much, that Leica does look nice even if it's mostly a Panasonic

If you wanted truly pocketable then the Sony RX100 series are worth a look.

Jamesie M

Just to close the thread and update on my progress!

Tried the sony rx100va and was nice and portable but I just couldn’t get over the image quality and the depth of field loss from using a full frame camera. It went back unfortunately.

Tried a few new lens for the sony a7r:- a 55 f1.4 and the 20-120 f4 (think that was the size). Was hoping I could just put up with the weight and they were huge (even though smaller compared to the master g lens).

Tried to get hold of the new g master 24mm 1.4 but there was no stock. Pity as it was half the size of other G lens and it was lighter. Looked great quality and almost fine to carry all day and able to crop if needed due to the pixels on the sony.

Eventually had my head turned by the new leica q2 that was released on 7th March. Phoned first thing on the 8th and got one of 3 that had been assigned to the dealer. Fantastic lens and the colours just pop. It’s not pocketable but it is very small for a 47megapixel full frame camera.

The leica is a 24 mm 1.7 fixed lens so very wide (similar to iphone) but you can crop due to the resolution to whatever you need. Ideal to carry about and snap away with great image quality which ultimately was what I was looking for.

Absolutely love it but it was pricey! Hopefully it’s a keeper!

AMc

Watched a video review of the Q2 and it looked great - hope you enjoy using it and we’d love to see some shots in the sharing sub forum.

Johnmcl7

The Q2 is expensive but it's a superb camera and at the very worst if you don't like it, they hold their value well so I don't think you'd lose out too much.

I bought the similar Sony RX1R last year more because I was fascinated by the technology of it even though it's not my normal style of camera.  It's quickly become one of my favourite cameras and even though it's not quite pocket sized I take it pretty much everywhere with me now, it just seems unreal to be able to have shallow depth of field, great DR and high iso in such a small package.  If anything happened to this camera I wouldn't hesitate to replace it.

I hope you love your Q2 as well.