Leica D-Lux (Typ 109) Review

Menus

The D-Lux has a traditional menu system with three parts:

  • The set of main menus accessed via the Menu/Set button
  • Four specialized menus accessed via the four-way controller
  • A Quick Menu with the most used settings

The buttons are easy to operate, with just enough resistance that they don't get activated by chance. 

Main Menu

The main menu has five main tabs each with a number of pages. The large number of menu items is indicative of how highly customizable this camera is.

The main menu is laid out well and easy to navigate.

Record menu: This menu has seven pages (!) 
Movie menu: Three pages. 
Custom settings: A total of nine pages!
Setup: Four pages
Playback: Four pages

There are a lot of options to tweak on this camera! The good news is that there are three memories for storing your favorite sets of settings.

Specialized Menus

The specialized menus are accessed via the four-way controller, no surprises here:

  • Up: ISO is set here. As mentioned earlier we found it convenient to assign ISO to the control wheel on the lens barrel
  • Right: White balance
  • Down: Drive modes
  • Left: AF mode

All but drive mode are accessible from the Quick Menu 

Quick Menu

The most-used settings can for convenience be accessed via the Quick Menu, which duplicates the other menus in part. The Quick Menu is not that readable in the field. The active menu item is underlined by a thin line (rather than being highlighted) as illustrated in the screen shot to the right and it is therefore somewhat hard to spot the selected item and navigate the settings. The screen is more pretty than user friendly.

Which settings to include on the Quick Menu can be customized.

Verdict on Menus

The menus are well laid out and easy to navigate with the exception of the Quick Menu, which is hard to read on the fly. The menu items one would expect are present and then some. The menus are extensive in part due to the many options for customizing the camera.


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