[ad_1]
Leica not too long ago launched a brand new fixed-lens digicam known as the C-Lux, which boasts of options reminiscent of 4K video recording, a protracted 15x optical zoom, and a compact physique. Whereas the entry-level point-and-shoot phase is not seeing a lot development of late because of the fast enhancements in smartphone cameras, the marketplace for higher-end standalone cameras continues to be fairly energetic.
The Leica C-Lux is designed to be compact and moveable with out compromising on superior options reminiscent of guide management for stills and video, RAW help, and many others. When it comes to competitors, the C-Lux faces off in opposition to the Sony RX100 collection, which has lengthy been a extremely popular selection for high-end compact digicam patrons. The C-Lux has set of options too, and has that legendary ‘Leica’ badge to go together with it. However a digicam cannot be judged by its seems alone, so it is time to see if the C-Lux can ship equally good picture high quality too.
Leica C-Lux design and ergonomics
The C-Lux makes use of Leica’s traditional retro design language and is on the market in two colors — Midnight Blue and Mild Gold, of which we now have the latter. At 340g, the digicam is kind of gentle, and it is sufficiently small to simply slip right into a purse, however would nonetheless a little bit of squeeze for many trouser pockets. The metallic physique has some plastic on the again panel, and rubberised strip that is positioned alongside the entrance of the digicam for grip. There’s a further rubber pad on the again, the place your thumb would sometimes relaxation. There is not a lot within the type of a hand-grip, so utilizing the C-Lux for one-handed photographs is not the simplest.
The Leica C-Lux has a collection of buttons on the again which might be re-programmed
The match and end of the physique is sweet, besides that the rear plastic panel of our check unit was already displaying indicators of ageing after we acquired it for evaluate. We observed scuff marks and paint carrying off across the corners and edges. Granted, this check unit may need endured some tough utilization earlier than it got here to us, nevertheless it’s an indication of what might occur over time should you’re not cautious with this digicam.
You get lanyard hooks on both facet of the digicam, and there is a lanyard included within the field. There is a rubber flap on the proper to guard the Micro-HDMI and Micro-USB ports. The C-Lux helps charging through the Micro-USB port. The digicam has a smooth-motion ring across the lens, whose operate might be customised by means of the digicam’s settings menu. On the highest, we now have a pop-up flash, a mode dial, an influence swap, a shutter button with a surrounding zoom lever, a devoted video recording button, and a operate dial. The mode dial felt a little bit too stiff for our liking and requires some effort to show.
The Leica C-Lux has the usual collection of dials on the highest
Across the again, we now have a digital viewfinder (EVF) with a 2.33 million dot decision LCD panel as an alternative of OLED, diopter adjustment, and a watch sensor to routinely swap between the principle TFT show and the EVF. We’d have most well-liked an OLED viewfinder because the LCD implementation has weak color accuracy and does not get very vivid, so we did not find yourself utilizing it a lot. The remainder of the rear area is stuffed with programmable buttons, a set off to activate the flash, and a four-way navigation pad. The battery compartment additionally homes the SD card slot, which accepts playing cards of as much as UHS-3 velocity. Final however not least, there is a 3-inch TFT LCD touchscreen with a 1.24 million dot decision. The show does not have any tilt performance, however viewing angles and sharpness are respectable.
Leica C-Lux options and specs
The C-Lux contains a 20-megapixel 1-inch sensor, with 5-axis optical stabilisation and 15x optical zoom. The digicam has a hard and fast lens with a focal vary of 24mm on the vast finish and 360mm on the telephoto finish (35mm equal). The aperture ranges from f/3.3 on the vast finish to f/6.4 on the telephoto finish. Different options embrace RAW file help, burst capturing at as much as 10fps, an ISO vary of 125 to 12,500 which might be expanded to 80-25,000, and a most shutter velocity of 1/16,000 of a second utilizing the digital shutter. The digicam can shoot video at as much as 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps. It additionally has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.2 for connecting to your smartphone.
The Leica Picture Shuttle app permits you to lengthen the digicam’s performance
The Leica Picture Shuttle app for Android and iOS makes use of Bluetooth with a purpose to work. The setup course of is kind of straight ahead and as soon as linked, you need to use it as a distant shutter launch, and switch photos from the digicam to your smartphone.
It does not take lengthy to study your approach by means of the C-Lux’s menu system. The settings for stills, video, superior and basic settings are grouped into tabs and the touchscreen helps in getting round shortly.
Leica C-Lux efficiency and battery life
In our ISO check, the C-Lux was in a position to keep sharp particulars with none noise until about ISO 1600. At ISO 3200, we started to see some smoothening on the shaved space of the pencils because the digicam tried to struggle noise. At ISO 6400, noise was clearly seen within the shadows beneath the information of the pencils and within the darker areas. Particulars had been additionally a bit mushy. On the most native ISO, particulars had been misplaced and the picture merely regarded too grainy. The C-Lux does not appear to have superb excessive ISO efficiency, which is a little bit of a difficulty when capturing in low gentle.
Leica C-Lux ISO check
Beneath good gentle, the C-Lux captures pretty detailed landscapes photographs. Colors are vivid and seem good and punchy. The LCD display screen holds up effectively beneath daylight and its contact response is sweet. You should use it shift focus in stills and video and the main focus shift is {smooth}. You’ll be able to select from a set of autofocus modes together with Face/Eye detection, topic monitoring, 49-area, customized multipoint, single space, and precision, relying on what you are capturing. We observed that the digicam was fast to lock focus with minimal fuss, and topic monitoring truly labored fairly effectively. The C-Lux handles eye monitoring fairly effectively too in case your topic is not trying immediately on the digicam.
The usual burst mode works effectively, with some blackout the place the show goes clean for a cut up second after every shot. Nevertheless, should you want one thing sooner, you’ve gotten the choice of 4K burst capturing, just like what we have seen on Panasonic cameras such because the Lumix GH5S. On this mode, the digicam primarily shoots a 4K video clip, after which you’ll resolve which body you wish to save as a nonetheless picture.
The massive attraction of the C-Lux is after all its 15x zoom lens. Beneath good gentle, the digicam can seize superb element at full zoom and focusing continues to be fast. In low gentle, distant topics seem a bit fuzzy and focusing takes a bit longer too. As a result of weak excessive ISO efficiency, our low-light pattern photographs lacked good element, though the digicam did handle to seize an honest quantity of dynamic vary.
Leica C-Lux digicam pattern: ISO 125, f/4, 1/1000, 24mm (faucet to see full dimension)
Leica C-Lux digicam pattern: ISO 1000, f/6.4, 1/200, 360mm (faucet to see full dimension)
Leica C-Lux digicam pattern: ISO 200, f/6.4, 1/200, 360mm (faucet to see full dimension)
Leica C-Lux digicam pattern: ISO 3,200, f/3.9, 1/15, 39mm (faucet to see full dimension)
In addition to the usual capturing modes, the C-Lux contains a mode that allows you to add filters and a ‘Scene’ mode, which presents black-and-white, gentle pores and skin, and many others capturing presets. There is a built-in panorama mode too, which stitches multiples photos collectively on the fly as you merely pan the digicam round. It labored effectively, and the stitching was fairly correct.
The C-Lux additionally presents loads of options for superior customers together with choices for enabling a zebra sample to focus on pooly uncovered components of a body, focus peaking, and the flexibility to regulate the ISO in one-third increments.
Movies shot at 4K beneath good gentle regarded good with a strong framerate. As soon as once more, focus shifting was {smooth} and never abrupt, and the 5-axis stabilisation did job of maintaining our footage regular as we walked. Topic monitoring was additionally superb, and we discovered that the digicam locked deal with our topic even when it moved round shortly. Sadly, there is not any high-framerate capturing mode so one of the best you are able to do is 1080p at 60fps. The digicam additionally information stereo audio, which sounds good.
The bundled battery is rated to final for as much as 370 photographs on a single cost. In our testing, we sometimes obtained round 250 to 300 photographs earlier than operating out of energy. This can be a bit weak, however not horrible contemplating the dimensions of this digicam and the truth that it has optical stabilisation. For those who’re capturing video and have Wi-Fi on, then anticipate the battery stage to drop even sooner.
Verdict
The Leica C-Lux has a powerful mixture of options and performance all rolled right into a compact and trendy physique. The plastic components used for the development might have been higher, as our check unit already had a few of its end fading away, however apart from this, it is constructed extraordinarily effectively. It presents a powerful stage of zoom, good optical stabilisation for stills and video, 4K video recording, and good picture high quality in daylight. A few of the issues that might have been improved are the LCD EVF, battery life, and the comparatively noisy photos at excessive ISO ranges. For those who’re not going to crop your photos an excessive amount of, then the latter subject is considerably manageable.
There is no denying that that is nonetheless some huge cash for a digicam with a 1-inch sensor. On this worth phase, you could possibly get superb APS-C sensor cameras such because the Fujifilm X-E3 or the Sony A6500 to call a number of, which might sometimes provide significantly better ISO efficiency and picture high quality on the whole. Nevertheless, they are not precisely pocketable.
It is also onerous to disregard top-of-the-line premium point-and-shoot cameras — the Sony RX100M6, which is the newest in its collection. It presents sooner burst capturing and a extra compact physique, however its 8x zoom does not fairly match as much as that of the Leica C-Lux and it is a bit costlier too.
Worth (MRP): Rs. 85,000
Execs
- Fashionable retro design
- Helpful zoom vary
- Optical stabilisation works effectively
- Good picture and video high quality in daylight
- Characteristic-rich
Cons
- Costly
- EVF is not too correct
- Mounted show
- Common low-light efficiency
Scores (out of 5)
- Construct/ design: 4
- Picture high quality: 3.5
- Video high quality: 3.5
- Efficiency: 4
- Worth for cash: 3
- General: 3.5
[ad_2]