LEICA D-LUX4(2009・Safari)

A review and Photo example of the Leica D-LUX4 (Safari-2009ver) digital camera.

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Overview
Usability
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1．Overview

The D-LUX4 is a Leica compact digital camera (hereafter, compact digital camera) with the following features.

The shooting distance is 30cm to infinity, and it has a macro mode that can get as close as 1cm in front of the lens.
The recording format is JPEG and RAW (the RAW format is Panasonic’s RWL format).
It comes in three colors: black, safari, and titanium.

The lens of this model is a specially designed Vario-Summicron 5.1mm F2-12.8mm F2.8 2.5x zoom lens, which has a focal length equivalent to 24mm-60mm in 35mm format.
The D-LUX5 and D-LUX6 have the same focal length at the wide-angle end, but the telephoto end extends to 90mm.
It depends on how you use it, but for street snapshots, a telephoto end of 60mm is sufficient.

Compared to the black version released first, the Safari color has a calm matte green texture and looks great with the Leica red badge. The titanium color released at the same time also has a titanium-colored red badge, making it look more sophisticated as a tool.

Among Leica’s compact digital cameras, the D-LUX4 has a very good color lineup.

The battery model number, which can be difficult to obtain with compact digital cameras, is “BP-DC4-J/E”. This battery has many compatible products, such as FUJIFILM’s NP-70, Panasonic’s DMW-BCC12, PICOH’s DB-60/65, SIGMA’s BP-41, and PENTAX’s D-LI106/D-BC106. As of 2022, when this is written, compatible products can be purchased on Rakuten and Amazon.

2．Usability

Although it is a compact digital camera, it supports shooting in RAW format, and shooting in RAW increases the flexibility of post-processing. If you use RAW development software that does not support lens correction, barrel distortion may be noticeable, while JPEG corrects distortion when recording.

I think it has sufficient resolution for both distant and close-up shots, but the image becomes noisy when the ISO is increased, which is the limit of compact digital cameras.

3．Add info.

本カメラはパナソニックOEMで、OEM元はDMC-LX3である。

D-LUX4の姉妹機パナソニック・DMC-LX3は、ボディグリップ部が素の状態で盛りあがっておりカメラの握りにあらかじめ配慮がされている。それにくらべD-LUX4はレンズ鏡筒以外はフラットな形状をしており見た目のシンプルさを重視しているように感じられる。
D-LUX4は握り部の改善として別売のグリップが装着できる。または別売の革ケースなどを装着すると握りについて改善ができる。

LEICA R3から続くライカ伝統のサファリ・カラーは、コンデジはLEICA Qの貼り革がサファリ色というモデルはあるが、ボディ全体がサファリ・カラーなのは本カメラだけである。ライカM型ボディは、ライカ M8.2、ライカ M-P、ライカ M10-Pでサファリ・カラーが用意されている。

Specification

Item	Value	Note
Number of pixels (Megapixcel)	10.1 Megapixels
Lens	LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMICRON 1:2-2.8 /5.1-12.8 ASPH.	8 elements in 6 groups (4 aspherical lenses) 24-60mm equivalent
Image Sensor	1/1.63 inc CCD sensor
Viewfinder	none
Back LCD Panel	3 inch TFT LCD
Memory card	SD / SDHC card	Supports up to 32GB
Battery-type	BP-DC4-J/E	DMW-BCC12
Camera size	W x H x D 108.7×59.5×27.1mm
Weight(g)	228

Model History

Model name	D-LUX	D-LUX2	D-LUX3	D-LUX4	D-LUX5	D-LUX6	D-LUX Typ109	D-LUX7
35mm equivalent focal length	35-105	28-112	28-112	24-60	24-90	24-90	24-57	24-75
Number of pixels (Megapixcel)	3.2	8.6	10.2	10.1	10.1	10.1	12.8	17
Image Sensor Size	1/2.5	1/1.65	1/1.65	1/1.63	1/1.63	1/1.63	4/3	4/3
Viewfinder	OVF	none	none	none	EVF1	EvF3	Inner- EVF	Inner- EVF
Back LCD Panel	1.5	2.5	2.8	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Battery-type	BP-DC6	BP-DC4	BP-DC4	BP-DC4	BP-DC10	BP-DC10	BP-DC15	BP-DC15
Memory card	SD	SDHC	SDHC	SDHC	SDXC	SDXC	SDXC	SDXC
Release date	2003	2005	2006	2008	2010	2012	2014	2018
Body color	Silver	Silver	Black Silver	Black Safari Titan	Black Titan	Black Y100 G-star RAW	Black Gray	Black Silver