My D-Lux 8 Love Affair - 18 Months Later

[00:00:00]In September 2024, I bought my Leica Dux 8, a compact fixed zoom lens micro four/ thirds everyday carry camera, something that I could have with me at all times to capture things that captured my interest.

[00:00:18]I then raved about it in a review 3 months later here on this channel and went on to do another review with my Hazel X2D2 and this camera in the Australian outback. But now that I've shot close to 3,000 images with this camera, I thought it would be a good idea to give you a more distilled view of what might have changed in my views about this camera, how I'm actually using it dayto-day, and ultimately hopefully give you an idea of whether this is something that you might want to buy for yourself if you're still sitting on the fence. I know a lot of you have gone on to buy this camera after seeing my first review. But to help you make that decision, I'm going to share a ton of images in this video. Not because YouTube is a good place to showcase the quality output of a camera, but just to give you a sense of the kinds of genres of photography that I've been doing with this camera and what sort of results I've gotten. We've got photos in the Australian outback, the Victorian high country, a couple unique coastal spots, some motor vehicle images cuz of course, as you know, I like to shoot cars as well, but a real cross-section of images, and I think I have some some people images in there as well. So, to kick us off, you join me at a very unique spot on the Victorian Port Villa Bay coastline where there is a string of hundred-year-old bathing boxes/ beach shacks sitting right on the water's edge. Some in a state of abject disrepair and others which have been recently renovated, but represent an insight into a a time past where fishermen used to congregate in this area and stay in these little beach shacks. I photographed not only the beach shacks themselves, but parts of the market gardens and a particularly beautiful old shed in the Wereby market gardens where these beach shacks back onto. But hopefully this will give you a really good idea of just what this camera is capable of. So that if you're sitting on the fence, this might just tip you over the edge and you might discover that this camera is like I found perfect as an everyday carry camera. And even if it's the only camera you have, I think this camera is extremely competent for many genres of photography, particularly the kinds that you'll see in this video.

[00:02:19]As I mentioned in my original review of this camera, I bought it because I wanted something small and beautifully made and uh enjoyable to carry. But 18 months later, the surprising thing is not so much that I still enjoy it. It's that I actually appreciate it and enjoy this camera more than I did in the beginning. It's one of those things that's earned its place in my camera bag by being useful and enjoyable and easy to use. And low friction is often one of the most important things when it comes to enjoying your photography. You don't want to have to fuss over settings, details, complexity, that sort of stuff.

[00:02:52]You just want something that you can pull out of your bag or pull out of your pocket, turn it on, and it just works.

[00:02:58]And that's what the Deluxe does.

[00:03:03]Now, it would be easy to dismiss this camera as just a a luxury indulgence, but the longer I've used it, the more I realized that it's a genuinely capable photographic tool. And it works across a surprisingly broad range of subjects as well. landscape photography, car photography, travel style photography, everyday documentary images of things that just capture my interest, semi- macro, and moody black and white images, which I especially love this camera for because with the Hasselblad X2D2 and the X2D, you can't simulate mono in camera, whereas with the Leica, you can. So, you get to see how your images look as a mono image. Now, it's not the camera that I'd necessarily choose for like a once in a-lifetime landscape shoot where I want the absolute highest image fidelity, but for day-to-day landscape photography, scouting trips, travel, walks, roadside stops for things that capture my interest, and casual outdoor shooting, it really is excellent. The zoom range gives more than enough flexibility to move from wider environmental scenes to tighter compositions. I mean, there is a reason why the 24 to 70 is one of the most popular focal ranges with professional photographers because it gives them enough variety in um framing and composition to do most things, which is what this camera does really well. And the important thing is it's small enough that I'm more likely to have it with me all the time. I mean, I have it with me in the car wherever I go. It's in a little uh Broy light pouch, sling type bag. Uh, and I'll put a link in the description to that in case you want to check that out for yourself. But it's always with me. So, every time I see something by the roadside that I think, "Ooh, that looks nice." Rather than just pull out my phone and take a snap, I can now pull out the Leica and take a proper decent photograph. And that matters especially for landscape photography because more often than not, it's it's about spotting something unique and being there with a camera when the light changes or when the light is particularly interesting. Um, weather plays such a big part in landscape photography and car photography as well.

[00:05:02]And so often times you might plan to go out in a shoot, but the the light or the weather is just not playing ball. But other times you're out there for something else. You're just doing an errand taking my son to school or coming back from school and I see something beautiful and I think, "Oh, I got to take a photo of that." And this camera is perfect for that. And this is the thing, I guess, is that um having a a high quality compact camera with you at all times allows you to notice things and take advantage of them rather than being limited by your capacity to plan a shoot. Now, as I mentioned, I've photographed cars with this little camera as well, and it's been brilliant for that. It really is. I mean, that 24 to 70 focal range is really perfect for shooting cars. Now, not necessarily as a replacement for a full-frame um or medium format body. and you know specialist lenses on a commercial shoot.

[00:05:49]I don't shoot commercially anymore. I did for many, many years, but I don't now. But for those moments where you go, "Ooh, this looks good." Well, then you have a highly competent camera to take a few shots. And the thing is, the small size makes it less intrusive around people, too. Uh you just look like someone that's walking around taking happy snaps. You don't look like somebody who is potentially intimidating to people in the area like you do when you have, you know, a full-frame or a medium format mirrorless camera with a big lens stuck on the end of it. Because I think for car photography, it's it's a lot less about, you know, technical perfection. Uh it's more about the mood, the lighting, the reflective surfaces, you know, the framing, the composition.

[00:06:26]Um and this little camera is great for all of those things. The color signs is another thing that I really continue to like about this camera. I remember when I first started taking photos with it on a trip to the desert, I just loved the color that came out of it, much like I love the color that comes out of the Hasselblade X2D. The colors are attractive without looking overcooked.

[00:06:45]The greens, the oranges, and the blues look lovely. And the gradations in a sky are smooth and seamless, just like the Hasselblade, actually. Even though this is a much smaller sensor with far fewer megapixels, 17 usable compared to 102 in the Hasselblad. The dynamic range is another thing that's actually impressed me. I thought that these small files would be fairly limiting when it comes to editing in Photoshop, but you can recover an enormous amount of shadow detail and pull back the highlights pretty substantially in the files out of this little liker. Uh, it surprised me more than a few times just how much shadow recovery capability there is in the raw files that come out of this camera. And for landscape and car photography, that really matters. uh especially with cars because cars are basically just curved mirrors and they tend to create a lot of contrast. Now lens sharpness I find the lens is beautifully sharp around the center. It can get a little bit soft around the edges. Now I haven't done scientific testing to see at what apertures and what focal lengths, but I have noticed that sometimes my images go a little bit soft around the outside, but I don't really mind that all that much. I don't mind if there's a bit of falloff in the edges, just like I don't mind if if a lens has a bit of vignetting on the outside either. And so long as it's not too strong, I don't mind it because it draws attention to the center of the frame or at least, you know, the main part of the frame where I'm likely to have a subject either in the center or off to one of the thirds. So, I'm fine with that. It doesn't really bother me.

[00:08:08]And the lens being a Leica Sumalux produces images that I think for most people when they see the images that come out of it show that it's punching well above its weight. Now, as I mentioned, one of the things that I really like about this camera is its compact dimensions. It's not really something that I put in my pocket, but it's something that I sling over my shoulder or I carry it in the pouch, slung over my shoulder. But the the main thing is cuz it's so small, it's easy just to hide away in a car somewhere, either, you know, under the seat or in a compartment under the boot, that sort of stuff. And it's light, you know, so it's it's something you can just sling over your shoulder or stick in a jacket pocket, I guess, and you really don't notice that you've got it with you until you pull it out and start taking photos and realize just how good it is. It doesn't make photography feel like an expedition, but rather just an act of whimsy or a peaceful meditation, which is one of the main reasons I do photography, because it gets your mind away from other stuff that you're thinking about either in the past or the future, which is where we tend to spend a lot of our time. And it just anchors you in the present. And having something which you don't have to think about too much, where it's just a tool that's in your hand, an extension of your hand and your eye that allows you to experiment and walk around and capture different types of scenes. I mean, when I was walking around those beach huts, it was just wonderful. You know, I just have this one lens. I don't have any other choice. I can't change the lens on it, but I've got 24 to 70 and I've got f1.7 to f16. So, you know, I can blur out backgrounds. I can get everything in focus. I can zoom in tight. I can have a nice wide vista. So, it gives me a lot of flexibility. And so therefore, I can just enjoy the peaceful, quiet act of amling about taking photos of what captures my interest, which is what photography at its best, I think, is all about. It's the kind of camera that removes the old, should I bring a camera with me question because the answer is, well, for me, it's always yes. Another thing that I mentioned in the original review that I continue to love is the simple menu system. Same again with the Hasselblad. beautiful simple menu system, not a myriad of menus and sub menus like you're getting in Canons and Nikons and Sony's and Fujis and all that sort of stuff. I don't feel like I'm digging through endless pages of, you know, camera settings. And it's that simplicity that suits the whole philosophy of this camera. It's just beautifully self-contained. And the other thing is all the main adjustments that I need are physically on the, you know, camera body itself. shutter speed, exposure compensation on the C on the custom dial on the back, aperture on the lens, aspect ratio behind the lens, you know, switch from autofocus to autofocus macro to manual focus, all there on the side of the lens. Everything is there on the physical buttons and dials and controls on the camera. So, you know, for the most part, I I hardly ever need to even dig into the menus, even custom profiles. It's a button in the middle of the custom wheel and then just twirl the custom wheel to get to the custom profile that you want. So that makes it feel more like a photography tool and less like a computer with a lens attached to it, which is what a lot of, you know, modern cameras feel like these days. They've just got so many damn options just like computer software and an operating system with a million different applications and options and variables that, you know, 95% of which we never even use. And so the less time I spend fighting the camera, the more time I have to just relax, calm down, walk around, notice things, and take nice photos. Now, in terms of how I use it most of the time, I have a few profiles set on there. Well, I've got the default profile, and then I've got a profile for photographing people where it does face tracking. I've got a custom profile for shooting mono, high contrast, which I love to do. Like I mentioned, shooting mono and being able to see it in the viewfinder, see it on the screen. That's really nice. And then I've got a profile for shooting video, which I hardly ever use, but I have shot video with this camera and it is very, very good. It doesn't lock onto eyes.

[00:12:00]It's not as um responsive with face tracking as say my Canon R6 M2, which is filming me now, but it's not trying to be. It's a photography tool first and foremost, but it still shoots very nice video. And I've actually shot a number of my YouTube videos entirely with the Dux 8, and people haven't noticed. So, in terms of the default settings that I use, I mentioned the profiles that I have. I usually shoot with a default profile. If I'm photographing people, I'll switch it across to the second profile for photographing them and have face tracking. I often switch across to the mono high contrast for the reasons I mentioned. Um, I shoot almost entirely uh on the 3x 2 ratio cuz it uses the whole available sensor and then I can crop later if I want to. Sometimes I'll have a look at the 1 one or the 16x9, but you know I can crop that in post.

[00:12:49]So, you know, there's no point. And I've been photographing long enough now for 40 years to be able to visualize how something looks. And often times when I photograph something, I already know how I'm going to want to crop it later. You know, I don't have to experiment with different looks through the camera or use one of those things to see how it's going to look. I can already picture it in my eye how that shot should be cropped when I finally go into post-processing. Um, I tend to shoot mostly on aperture priority.

[00:13:13]And I just keep an eye on the shutter speed and what's going down to through the viewfinder or the LCD and let it uh leave ISO on auto ISO cuz I don't mind if a shot gets grainy. I really don't.

[00:13:26]You know, people have introduced grain back into photos now to give them character. So, grain doesn't bother me.

[00:13:32]And the thing is these days, you know, noise reduction software is so effective that often times if you have visible grain and you don't want it, it's not that hard to get rid of it in post anyway. So most important thing for me usually is the depth of field and how much of the image that I want in focus.

[00:13:46]So I tend to shoot either at f1.7 or I'll shoot around f8 f11. It's rare that I go to f16. Um so that's that's tends to be how I shoot. And then just make sure my shutter speed doesn't get too low. Like if I'm shooting at 24 mil, I don't want it to go below, you know, 25th of a second. If I'm shooting at 70 mil, I don't really want it to go lower than say 60th of a second. It's got a bit of um digital image stabilization in it, but it doesn't have IBIS. Doesn't have inbody image stabilization. So, it's not like, you know, a full-frame mirrorless DSLR or the X2D, which has got insane inbody image stabilization.

[00:14:20]I've handheld for 2 seconds and got sharp photos. So, it's not like that.

[00:14:24]So, I just keep an eye on the shutter speed, make sure it doesn't get too low.

[00:14:27]And most of the time I have a CPL. Well, all the time actually I have a CPL attached to the front of it unless I really need that extra stop or so of light for something that I'm handh holding. Otherwise, the CPL stays on there to richen up the skies, remove reflections off water, shiny surfaces, grass, leaves, that sort of stuff, especially glassware and panel wear on cars. And to move the reflections around to where I want them, cuz you can't get rid of all the reflections on multiple surfaces. You can only get rid of one at a time. So often times I'll decide I want the windscreen to be black or I want the side glass to be black on a car and I just adjust accordingly. One thing I will mention again is the u mono profile. The beautiful thing about shooting in mono is that it brings the image back to subject, composition, shape, lines, texture, those sort of things. And often times there can be an interesting image in front of us, but it's it's kind of ruined by contrasting colors or colors that are fighting for dominance in the image. And you don't want the image to be about the color in that shot. I mean, I took a photo of this beautiful old shed near these beach shacks that I mentioned on the edge of the market gardens. And even though I do like the highly saturated color images with the rich red soil that reminds me of the outback, I also particularly loved the shot where I've pulled back the colors away from the ground and the vegetation and the sky and just left the color there on the shed. Now, I didn't shoot this in mono, uh, and I didn't shoot it in a, you know, specific low contrast, low color saturation setting within camera. I simply shot it with the default profile and then I just selected the shed as a subject, inverted it and then just backed off the color saturation of everything else around it.

[00:16:19]And I really like that look because then it becomes more about the shape, the subject, the composition and less about that bright red soil fighting for for uh for dominance in the image. But I've shot lots of things in mono and I love it. I love shooting in mono. It's wonderful. Now, in terms of negatives, the compact size, while it's an advantage for sure, it's light. It's easy to carry. It doesn't take up much space. All that kind of thing. The one disadvantage that I think the compact dimensions create, and this is true of all compact cameras, is if you got big hands or you got sausage fingers like me, you often tend to bump things that you don't intend to bump. And I found so many times with this camera because the custom dial is on the top of the the top deck of the camera and it's right next to the power button at the front of it.

[00:17:03]I'll often go to turn that custom dial for exposure compensation or to adjust between or switch between profiles. And so often, probably half the time, I touch the power button, camera shuts down, lens closes, and I got to turn it back on again, go back to what I was doing. And because it's fairly stiff, which is nice, it's nice to have stiff sort of action on the dials. Um, I usually have to turn it with both fingers. I can't just do it with my thumb because it t I tend to move it too far. So, that can be a little bit of a problem. But I think that's about the only thing. Oh, the other thing I guess too is it and I don't use it much so I guess it's not much of a problem for me is the image ratio. Switching from 3x2 to 4x3, 16x9, 1x1, that sort of stuff.

[00:17:44]The image ratio on the barrel of the lens that's sort of very tight in and I sort of have to wiggle my fingernail in there to do it. Likewise, the autofocus, macro autofocus and manual focus switch on the left side of the barrel also kind of very snug in there. But, you know, I hardly ever move either of those dials, so it's not a big problem. The aperture dial, easy to move, no problem. All the other dials and switches, fantastic, and they just fall naturally to hand. The only one, like I say, is the power button being right in front of the custom dial, and I often touch that and turn the camera off by accident. So, you know, it's it's it's a bit tight in there, especially if you got big hands.

[00:18:20]One thing that helped a lot was to get the grip, the Leica grip, and I bought that even before the camera arrived.

[00:18:26]That makes a huge difference on how much purchase you get on it. It also creates a little bit more depth under the camera body because you got the the depth of the grip lower frame section. And I also added one of those thumb holders that go into the hot shoe mount. So I can get really good purchase on the camera with my thumb and with my hand on the grip.

[00:18:44]Makes a big difference. Okay. Another potential negative that I want to point out which a lot of people have asked about constantly is dust getting in to the sensor because you can't remove this lens. It is a an extendable zoom. So it pushes out when you open when you turn the camera on. The lens pops out and it moves in and out as you zoom. And so dust ingress is a potential issue. And I know there are people who have suffered from that with their camera. There are others who have returned the camera under warranty and had it rectified under warranty. Leica can remove the lens, clean the sensor, put the lens back on, that kind of stuff. But the way I get around this, and I've been out in dusty conditions in the desert and other places where there is dust flying around and that sort of stuff, and sometimes a bit of rain, even though this camera is not weather sealed, what I tend to do is every time I shut the lens, if I'm in any kind of inclement weather or dusty environment, I always have a just a quick check of the barrel, turn it over, have a quick check of the barrel. If there's any dust on there, I just grab my t-shirt and wipe it off. Or I just sort of wipe it off with my thumb like that just before I retract the lens. And so far, I've been fine. And of course, I'm if I'm in an environment where there's any dust blowing around, then I'll quickly close the camera, put it in my pocket because the reality is it's just not comparable to a weather sealed full-frame mirrorless camera like an R six or an R5 or, you know, anything else. It's not that kind of camera. And so, you do have to be aware of potential dust ingress. So, just, you know, take steps to make sure you minimize the impact of that. The only other thing I can think of is the non-tilting screen.

[00:20:12]Now, for the most part, this hasn't been a problem for me because I mean, the reality is I shot film for years, and we didn't have screens at all, tilting or otherwise. We only had a viewfinder. And I've taken so many photos, in fact, some of my best photos, really, when I think about it, of Moto GP, uh, when Wayne Gardner won the first Moto GP down at Philip Island and his wife Donna was there all excited at the finish line.

[00:20:35]You know, that was an overhead shot like this with a Nikon F3 shooting film, obviously. And so I couldn't see what I was shooting, but you just get used to where to point your camera based on what lens is on or what focal length you're using. And so you you get used to doing that. The beautiful thing these days is with digital is you can do that and then have a look at the screen. Did I get it or didn't I? Oh no, I didn't. So I'll tilt a little bit more this way, you know? So it's no big deal. And I like to shoot things down at ground level. I do that quite a lot. I'll put the camera down there. I have a sort of a general look. Tilt the camera a bit. Yeah, that looks about right. Take another shot.

[00:21:07]Tilt it up a bit. Another shot. Tilt it up a bit. and then I picked the best one. So, cost nothing to shoot 10 images on digital. So, I wouldn't worry about that. And the thing is, if they added a a tilting screen on that, it would make the camera thicker and it would make it less attractive and less integrated looking on the back. Now to you aesthetics might not matter that much but I bought this camera not just because it's a good camera but also for some you know intangible impossible to justify financially personal reasons. I love the look of it. I love the feel of it. I love the whole history of Leica. I love the simplicity of the controls and the cleanliness of the design. And so I appreciate the fact that it has a nice flush back on it without a protruding screen and without a hinge on the side and all that sort of stuff. I like that.

[00:21:57]So I'm quite fine for it not to have a tilting screen and to just live with those limitations because like I said back in the old days when I was shooting film, we didn't even have screens at all. So easy thing to get around. When I think about the reasons I bought this camera, they're very similar to the reasons I bought the Hasselblad. Both cameras are expensive in their particular um genres or classes of camera, but I bought them both because I knew they would encourage me to take more photos. One of the key things that I loved about the Hasselblad was that it's a photography tool first and for well only it doesn't shoot any video at all. And that meant the controls are much simpler. The user interface is much cleaner and simpler. And the whole experience of shooting with it feels like a very deliberate meditative act of being a photographer. The Deluxe 8 is very similar in a way. It makes you want to go and take photos when you use it.

[00:22:48]You don't feel like you're compromising all that much at all when you use it.

[00:22:53]You have all the manual controls that you could want. You've got beautiful color science. You've got a flexible zoom range.

[00:22:59]and you have more than enough megapixels to print an image large and put it on your on your wall and look at it at normal viewing distances. So, it fits the bill for what I really want in most cameras these days. And that is something that makes me want to go out and do photography because these days my shooting style is is more deliberate, uncomplicated. It's subjectled, not sort of technical specsled. It's driven by atmosphere and often being outdoors and being attracted to a unique subject or a unique moment in time or when the weather is right and the light is right.

[00:23:36]All these sorts of things and often times they require you to act quickly and decisively.

[00:23:43]And if anything causes constonnation or confusion in that moment when the light is doing just that wonderful thing that you haven't seen the light do in months, you don't want to be fussing around with complexity. You want something that's simple but flexible, beautiful, and delivers great results. And that's what this camera does. So, in terms of who this camera is for, I think this camera is for somebody who values the practice of photography, who wants to have more opportunities to take highquality photos without very many limitations at all, and they value something that has a high build quality and a high output quality.

[00:24:24]They're not somebody who's hung up on specs, who says, "Ooh, 17 megapixels is not enough for me." you know, they recognize that most people don't print their images. And if they do, anything, you know, up to a couple of meters wide is fine with 17 megapixels. I've got images in my house printed 2 and a half meters wide shot with a 16 megapixel Fujifilm X100V. You know, they're fine.

[00:24:48]You don't stand right up in front of them and count the pixels. You stand back and you look at the picture and it looks great. So, it's for those kind of people that don't get hung up on those sort of specifications that for the most part in the real world just don't matter. They care about build quality, lens quality, functionality, flexibility, manual controls if they want them, um sensor quality, and uh color science, dynamic range, all these kinds of things. And for all of those things, this camera ticks all of those boxes. So, if you're shooting travel, landscape, people, food, still life, architecture, uh, cars, all those kinds of things, this camera will do all of it. So, as I've said to so many people who've commented on and continue to comment on my earlier videos about the Deluxe, I got two of them, one, which was the review 3 months after I bought it, one which is a bit of a comparison between it and the Hasselblad when I went out to the desert. One of the most frequent things I say in response to people who are thinking about buying it is I say this camera continues to surprise and delight. And that is the best thing I can say about this camera. After 18 months, nearly 19 months, it continues to surprise and delight me.