LEICA D-LUX Typ 109 Solid Grey

Review and photo example of the Leica D-LUX Typ109 Solid gray.

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The D-LUX typ109 is a compact digital camera made by Panasonic, and is a sibling of the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100, but with a different exterior and firmware.

The image is well corrected in JPG, and there is no noticeable distortion. In Raw, distortion is noticeable at some focal lengths.
It covers 24mm to 75mm in 35mm equivalent, so it can be used for landscapes, street snaps, tabletop photos, and more.

The way the image sensor is used is unique, and out of the 16-megapixel Four Thirds sensors that were common at the time, it uses 12.8 million pixels, which is the equivalent shooting range of 24 to 75mm in 35mm equivalent for the LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMILUX optical 3.1x zoom f= 10.9mm to 34mm lens developed for this camera.
To achieve the same focal length using the full Four Thirds sensor, a 12mm to 37.5mm lens is required. In that case, the lens will be larger than it is now, so it is assumed that the lens size, and therefore the effective range of the sensor, will be determined based on the overall size of the camera.

The EVF has a reasonable number of dots, but the drawing speed is not very fast and the visibility of the EVF is not good. The AF is reasonably reliable, so it seems more suitable for capturing fleeting moments rather than taking careful shots with the EVF.

The battery is the BP-DC15, which is compatible with Panasonic’s DMW-BLE9 and DMW-BLG10.
DMW-BLE9 and DMW-BLG10 are used in many Panasonic cameras, including the DMC-GF3, DMC-GF5, DMC-GF6, DMC-GX7 Mark II, DMC-TZ85, DC-TZ90, DMC-GX7MK2, DMC-GX7MK3, DMC-TX1, DC-TX2D, and DC-G100V-K, so there are plenty of compatible batteries available, making it easy to get a battery.

The black version was released on November 28, 2014, and the solid gray version was released about a year later in December 2015.
The shooting distance is 50cm to infinity, and it has a macro mode that can get as close as 3cm.
The battery is the BP-DC15, which is compatible with Panasonic’s BLG-10.
The recording format is JPEG and RAW (RAW format is Panasonic’s RWL format).
A limited edition called “Leica D-LUX “RSJ Edition”” has also been released.

The solid gray body I got secondhand had a slightly strange feature, and even when I entered the serial number into Leica’s product registration, I could not register it. I haven’t registered a Leica product recently, so I don’t know, but in 2016, if someone had previously registered a secondhand product, it would say “This product has already been registered” and I could not register it, but in the case of this camera, it would say something like “This serial number cannot be recognized as a product” and I could not register it. When I contacted Leica about the inability to register the product, they commented that they do not have any responsibility for products with product numbers that cannot be registered. Did a prototype or something leak onto the market for some reason? It is unclear whether Leica is not managing OEM products properly, but it is strange.

I have also seen products with a different rear exterior than the one I own, so it is a camera that I have encountered strange events with.

As a successor camera, the D-LUX7 was released in 2018 with an improved image sensor resolution of 17 million pixels. The camera depth dimension has been changed from 55mm to 64mm to include the protruding part of the EVF. The EVF specifications have been carried over as is, but the number of pixels on the rear LCD has been improved.

The D-LUX8 was released in 2024, and the camera body design has been completely renewed, with a new button layout. The biggest change is the change in the specifications of the EVF and rear LCD. In particular, the EVF is an organic EL with 2.36 million dots and 60 fps, and as far as the specifications are concerned, it seems to have improved performance over the D-LUX typ109 and D-LUX7.

Specification and Competitor

Items	D-LUX Typ109	D-LUX7	D-LUX8
Focal length	24-75	←	←
Max aperture	F1.7~2.8	←	←
Number of pixels (mega pixels)	12.8	17	←
Image sensor	4/3	←	←
View Finder	EVF 276万ドット	←	OLED-EVF 236万ドット
Back LCD	3.0 92 million dot	3.0 124 million dot	3.0 184 million dot
Minimum shooting distance (macro mode)	3cm	←	←
Battery	BP-DC15	←	←
Recorded media	SDXC	SDXC	SDXC
Filter Size(mm)	43	←	←
Camera size (mm) （W × H × D）	118 × 66 × 55	118 × 66 × 64	130 x 69 x 62
Weight (g) including battery ( ) is for body only	405 (365)	403 (361)	397 (357)
Release date	2014	2018	2024
Color	Black Gray	Black Silver	Black