Lockdown crazy those old digitals ....

[dee]

Just come across my Leica Digilux 3 and Panasonic L1.

It seems strange that , back in the day , they were the AF back up for my M8 .
Superseded by the Pentax K10D .

Of course , the M8 is a classic , but the Dig 3 was a desperate gamble with 4/3rds which died a death .Strange Rangefinder styling oversize for 4/3rds , squinty finder , tiny screen with early live view [ would it catch on !!?]

Now , despite my Fujis , I am looking forward to revisiting them , but it crossed my mind as to why do I still have my older digitals .

They were , and are , a barrier between me and a confusing world - seeing , framing , editing .
Being apart , yet part of .

Every digital camera recreates that moment as evinced by my shapshots .

 

[peterm1]

The Panasonic L1 can still make very nice images as it always has done. There is something about the Panasonic rendering that is special. Though I admit I had problems with the somewhat quirky way the L1 / m43 concept was implemented back in the day which made it less than satisfying to use in a number of respects. I bought mine as a substitute for an M8 - though I later bought an M8.

Back then I had the standard 16-50mm zoom (which by the way is still excellent) but also I LUSTED after the Leica designed Summilux 25mm f1.4 which struck me as a beautiful lens. A few years ago I had the chance to buy one of these second hand at a reasonable price - complete with the Panasonic 4/3 to M4/3 AF adapter. I still use, by virtue of the AF adapter designed for the purpose, that lens (which is superb though very large when on most M4/3 cameras) together with the above 16-50mm lens on my m4/3 cameras - especially the Olympus OM D EM 5 on which they both work exceedingly well (though the AF is somewhat slow by today's standard).

Oddly the above mentioned zoom lens does not function at all with certain M4/3 Panasonic cameras (including my GX7) despite the lens, the adapter and the camera all being Panasonic. Weird! But it works perfectly well on any Olympus M4/3 cameras on which I have tried it. If anyone has an idea why, I would love to know. It just seems bizarre.

And from time to time I still take my L1 out for a spin. It is showing its age in other respects - it no longer functions perfectly in program mode for example but I enjoy using it when I do try it out. Though I am always conscious of the fact that the old CCD sensor used is particularly susceptible to blown highlights so careful metering (and maybe framing) is needed.

Image made with the L1 and a vintage lens (not recorded) admittedly over 10 years ago now.

Study by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

Image shot with the Panasonic 35mm f1.4 "Summilux" on an OM D EM5

Creperie by Life in Shadows, on Flickr

 

[Archiver]

@peter - which 4/3 to m43 adapter did you get, and how is it for autofocus? There are one or two original 4/3 lenses which still intrigue me. The Summilux is one, the Olympus 12-60mm f2.8-4 is the other. Then again, there's the much newer and native PanaLeica 12-60, which would be much cheaper, lighter, and no doubt focuses faster.


I suspect that Panasonic made the L1 as a potential host body for a Leica rebadge, but Leica decided not to take up four-thirds.

 

[Darthfeeble]

I have an LX100 Panasonic and it's just a wonderful little camera. Fine for travel and gatherings, prints 11x14 without a problem. I sometimes wonder why I've bothered with all the expensive stuff.

 

[peterm1]

@peter - which 4/3 to m43 adapter did you get, and how is it for autofocus? There are one or two original 4/3 lenses which still intrigue me. The Summilux is one, the Olympus 12-60mm f2.8-4 is the other. Then again, there's the much newer and native PanaLeica 12-60, which would be much cheaper, lighter, and no doubt focuses faster.


I suspect that Panasonic made the L1 as a potential host body for a Leica rebadge, but Leica decided not to take up four-thirds.

I presently have a Panasonic make adapter which as I indicated came with the 25mm f1.4 lens for the old 4/3 system when I bought it. I had an aftermarket one (which can still be bought under various names) but it died - it seemed like an electrical short as it involved a puff of smoke then no functionality. They are cheap ($30 ish) and I had observed that the one I bought did not seem quite right from the get go - good quality assurance is not always a feature of Chinese manufacture. If I ever had to buy another I would try to get either the Panasonic or Olympus adapter - they are high quality and said to be identical other than the labelling. But they are harder to find on the market.

As to focusing speed and assurance. I would say its on par with the lens' age. These are old lenses and evidently that has an effect on focus speed. There is a little hunting (not a huge amount) and the time to lock on is noticeably slower than with the latest lenses - obviously. Not up to today's standard but quite honestly the 25mm f1.4 and the 16-50mm lenses are so damn good in terms of IQ I am more or less willing to live with it. In other words I have not found the slower AF with some hunting to be a deal breaker.

Just be aware though what I said about compatibility - the 16-50mm seems not to like later Panasonic cameras for some reason I am yet to identify. Olympus bodies - fine.

 

[David Hughes]

Best thing about the Digilux-3 was - for me - being able to use it like a manual camera with AF and the function button set to automatically take 3 or 5 shots when bracketing was needed for the odd shot.

I liked the standard - or first Leica - zoom lens but didn't think the camera any better or worse than the Olympus FourThirds ones; and the Olympus range of lenses was much wider. Strangely the Olympus ones didn't work fully on the Leica.

The one I miss most from that era is the old Digilux-2...


Regards, David

 

[peterm1]

Best thing about the Digilux-3 was - for me - being able to use it like a manual camera with AF and the function button set to automatically take 3 or 5 shots when bracketing was needed for the odd shot.

I liked the standard - or first Leica - zoom lens but didn't think the camera any better or worse than the Olympus FourThirds ones; and the Olympus range of lenses was much wider. Strangely the Olympus ones didn't work fully on the Leica.

The one I miss most from that era is the old Digilux-2...


Regards, David

I never had a Digilux 2 but from what I read about it, pretty much everyone who did, fell in love with it.