Leica D-Lux (Typ 109) Review

Image Customization

The Leica D-Lux provides several ways to customize the images so that postprocessing might not be required.

Aspect Ratio

The aspect ratio is conveniently set with a switch on the lens barrel. The options are: 3:2, 16:9, 1:1, and 4:3. While it doesn't affect image quality as such, it does affect resolution, but in a non-obvious way. The sensor is a 16.8 MP four-thirds-sized sensor (approx. 4732 x 3550 pixels), but none of the aspect ratios actually utilize the entire surface of the sensor, the most you'll get is 12.7 MP.

This sensor utilization is illustrated below by placing the images on a four-thirds-sized grey background and scaling all images with the same scaling factor. Click any image to enlarge and browse:

3:2 - 12.2 MP (4272 x 2856 pixels)	16:9 - 11.3 MP (4480 x 2520 pixels)
1:1 - 9.5 MP (3088 x 3088 pixels)	4:3 - 12.7 MP (4112 x 3088 pixels)

Your typical camera would have one of the formats fit the entire sensor and the other image formats would then be a cropped part of the full sensor, which would lead to a larger difference in resolution between the formats than what we see with the Leica D-Lux.

Photo Style (Custom Image)

"Photo Style" is Leica's name for tuning contrast and color rendition - this is what is called custom image by Pentax. Six presets and a custom setting are available:

• Standard
• Vivid
• Natural
• Monochrome
• Scenery
• Portrait
• Custom 

For each Photo Style the following can be adjusted:

• Contrast
• Sharpness
• Noise reduction
• Saturation (for color only)
• Color tone (for monochrome only)
• Filter effect (for monochrome only): Yellow, Orange, Red, Green, Off

In the following comparison of Photo Styles we kept the various settings (contrast, sharpness, etc.) at their default values. Click any thumbnails to enlarge and browse.

Standard	Vivid
Natural	Monochrome
Scenery	Portrait

We found the Standard setting somewhat dull and would recommend either tweaking it by adding some contrast or saturation, or simply going with the vivid photo style instead.

The Photo Style settings do not affect the RAW image.

Highlight/Shadow

This is a "curves" adjustment as known from pros processing software. These four options are available, and there are three memories for storing custom settings. At power off the changes made gets canceled. The strength of the effect is adjustable.

• Standard (no adjustments)
• Higher contrast
• Lower contrast
• Brighten shadows, leave bright areas unmodified

Filters

The filters are engaged by pressing the "F" button on the top plate and selecting from the list of filters presented on the monitor. 

We are not fans of built-in filters, which are cumbersome to select and deselect, and you may forget to deselect a filter and ruin the subsequent images (some of the filters affect the RAW image file). Special effects are better achieved in postprocessing.

With that said - Leica must find the filters important since they are engaged by a dedicated button, so here they are, all 22 of them. The effect of each filter is customizable - we used the default settings.

Click any thumbnail to enlarge and browse:

No filter	Expressive
Retro	Old days
High Key	Low Key
Sepia	Monochrome
Dynamic monochrome	Rough monochrome
Silky monochrome	Impressive art
High dynamic	Cross processing
Toy effect	Toy pop
Bleach bypass	Miniature effect
Soft focus	Fantasy
Star filter	Sunshine
One Point Color filter	No filter for comparison

The star filter is a bit odd: the camera selects which lights to generate a star burst for and leaves a large area without bursts. It doesn't look right, but this behavior was confirmed through a number of shots.

The One Point Color filter is tricky. Storing the color you want to retain is simple in theory, but hard to make work in practice. Often the camera picks another color than the one you pointed the camera at.

Some of the filters affect the RAW image as well as the JPG, other filters only affect the JPG. However, if you want be certain that both versions of an image are saved (with and without filter) there is a custom option that will make the camera do so.

Verdict

There is no shortage of image customization on the D-Lux, it is possible to create the exact look you want with some experimentation and patience. The custom setting for Photo Style is a good feature making it possible to easily recall your favorite settings.