Leica D-Lux 8 Camera Review

[SECTION]INTRODUCTION[/SECTION]

Take a Leica M11, design it down in form and create a Leica Q3. Then reduce it again to a compact camera size, and we have the essence of this Leica D-Lux 8. What we gain is a fixed zoom lens, a very close resemblance to the Panasonic LX100 II, with some minor but significant upgrades that also equate to an incremental improvement on the previous model, the D-Lux 7.

This is thoroughly German Leica design ethos, albeit made in China, but also proving that Chinese manufacture can be up there with the best. The price tag is where we would expect it to be pitched compared with its peers, so let’s look closely at what the camera can do and see if it can justify the cost that the small red Leica spot can command.

Leica D-Lux 8 Features

First of all, a quick tour of the camera. The body is pure minimalistic Leica, beautifully built using a full metal Magnesium Alloy housing. The lens itself is fixed and is more plastic-based, but still very well put together. It extends considerably when zooming. There is a 43mm filter thread, but limiting the weight of any accessories would seem appropriate; in any event, adding items to the camera will negate some of its compact nature. The lens is fully explored under the Performance section.

The camera is compact enough for a moderately sized jacket pocket, measuring 130mm x 69mm x 62mm. It weighs in at a svelte 397g with battery, or 357g without.

The top plate has the hotshoe, with additional contacts for a tiny external flash unit that is provided with the camera. This could be useful for adding a sparkle of fill-in flash. The shutter speed dial also carries an A setting, as detailed later. The shutter release operates both for stills and as a video start/stop button. Finally, the control dial extreme right can be programmed but is particularly useful set for exposre compensation, ironically mimicking the setup of the Panasonic sibling but without the + and – scales. 

The camera back has an excellent 3″ TFT touchscreen, the play and menu buttons and the four way controller. Two small unmarked buttons control the choices for EVF or touchscreen, although it can be set to choose automatically, and quick access to video mode. This latter feature is a nice touch in an otherwise sparse landscape of features for videographers.

The right hand side of the camera has a small rubberised door that reveals the HDMI D and USB-C sockets, the latter enabling in-camera recharging. The baseplate has one compartment that houses the battery and the single SD card. Battery life seems more than adequate for a day’s out and about shooting, but a spare is always a good idea.

Leica D-Lux 8 Key Features

• 17MP 4/3″ CMOS sensor
• 3″ TFT LCD touchscreen 1.84M dots
• OLED EVF 2.36M dots, 0.74x magnification
• Fixed Leica DC Vario-Summilux 10.9-34mm f/1.7-2.8 Asph lens
• Focusing down to 50 cm in standard range
• Focusing down to 3 cm (wide) and 30 cm (tele) in macro range
• Lens “35mm equivalent” FOV 24-75mm
• ISO range 100-25000
• Video 4K and FHD
• SD Memory Cards: UHS-II, UHS-I, SD/SDHC/SDXC
• DNG and JPEG formats
• Macro focusing range
• WiFi
• Bluetooth
• In camera charging
• FOTOS App for connectivity
• HDMI D, USB-C connection
• Updates via FOTOS App
• 397g with battery
• 130mm x 69mm x 62mm
• Mg alloy die-cast full metal housing

Leica D-Lux 8 Handling

In common with some other marques of compact cameras, Leica have opted to make most (but not all) of the references to the “35mm equivalent” focal lengths, which gives us a 24-75mm f/1.7-2.8 lens. We know it doesn’t, but it does give a rough and ready comparison that indicates what the field of view is likely to be. 

There is no complaint about the quality of the camera, and it sits in the hands like the technological jewel that we expect a Leica to be. There are some oddities, and having a traditional aperture ring is quite an oddity these days on a compact camera. Having the small switches for format selection and focus selection make them far more likely to be used, and if we do we are rewarded with a very smooth manual focus ring (also active in AF) as well as the likelihood that different formats will actually see more use. Switch the camera to monochrome and 1:1 format and we could experiment with Rollei TLR-style photography, should we wish to relive the 1950s.

It is a shame that there are so few digital filter options, and the one that is really missing is the LEICA monochrome setting, an opportunity missed. This is not a deal breaker though, as the Monochrome High Contrast setting can be adapted and adjusted well enough. 

For those concerned with file types, DNG RAW format is added here, but for general use, the JPEG setting offers very satisfactory results, perhaps benefiting from just a slight tweak in Photoshop to taste. The files respond very well to a touch of Unsharp Mask to complete the process. 

For videography, there is very little on offer compared to most current cameras. 4K and FHD is it, although to be fair, for casual use at the push of a button we can access a smooth enough video experience. For general photography, this is a super compact camera that has a real feel of quality to the handling. Let’s have a close look to see if the technical performance matches up to this.

[SECTION]PERFORMANCE[/SECTION]

Leica D-Lux 8 Performance

The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.
 

.table-responsive table, .table-responsive table tr, .table-responsive table tr td { border: 1px solid #ddd !important }

Leica D-Lux 8 Sample Photos

Lens Performance – The lens fitted to the D-Lux 8 is the well established Leica DC Vario-Summilux 10.9-34mm f/1.7-2.8 Asph, with a “35mm format equivalent” field of view of a full frame 24-75mm lens. As the camera markings relate to the equivalence markings, that is how this review is quoting them. In one way this does make it easier for photographers to relate what they will see to a standard, especially with such a wide variety of small sensor formats being available.

Switching on the camera extends the lens. There is a 43mm filter thread, although once we start adding filters/hoods/other accessories to the front of the lens, the compact nature of the camera will soon be lost. There is an aperture ring, clearly marked from f/1.7 to f/16. This doesn’t change as we zoom, but of course the actual f value does change. The EXIF data does not report this change either, which is a shame. Beyond f/1.7 there is a further click stop marked A and this is engaged if a mode is required where the camera sets the aperture. The choice is P-A-S-M, so in program mode the aperture and shutter dial would both be set to A. If Aperture priority is required, then shutter dial to A and we select the aperture we want. For shutter priority, we set the shutter speed we want and the aperture ring to A. Manual exposure of course we set the shutter speed dial and aperture ring to the values required. This system is simple and elegant.

Around the lens barrel there are two slider switches, both tucked up against the camera body and both very small. The first selects AF, AF Macro or MF. The second selects the format of the image, with a handy choice of 4:3, 1:1, 16:9 or 3:2. Different resolutions apply to each setting, each making the most it can of the total 21MP available.

AF is via contrast detection and is positive and accurate. Focusing is down to 3cm (wide angle) and 30cm (telephoto) in the macro range and from 50cm to infinity in the general range.

At 24mm, central sharpness is very good at f/1.7 and f/2.8, excellent from f/4 to f/8 and very good at f/11 and f/16. The edges are good from f/1.7 to  f/11 and just fair at f/16. The edges do improve at more normal distances.

At 75mm, central sharpness is excellent from f/1.7 to f/8 and very good at f/11 and f/16. The edges are very good from f/1.7 all the way through to f/11. It is still good at f/16.

The pixel count may be fairly low by current standards, but in fact it is enough to ensure nicely crisp, sharp images of a wide range of general photography.         

Distortion is held at -1.16% barrel at 24mm and +0.39% pincushion at 75mm., which is a creditable performance. Distortion does not become an issue for general photography.

CA (Chromatic aberration) is very well controlled, both centre and edge. The shot of the cruck barn shows an excellent result around the bright window openings, which is quite a demanding test.

Bokeh is smooth and attractive, which is quite an achievement for a compact camera.

(Below you’ll find images demonstrating the aperture range of the lens alongside CA and MTF charts.)

Leica D-Lux 8 Lens test images

Flare is quite interesting. In general use, flare is not really a problem, but if introducing severe lighting into the edge of the image area then it is possible to induce all sorts of weird and wonderful colour artefacts. This is of course a defect, but equally well it could be a creative opportunity for both stills and video.

Vignetting is relatively modest and is not obtrusive in most images, yielding the following figures:

Leica D-Lux 8 ISO test images

ISO Performance – ISO performance is far better than we might expect from a compact camera. ISO 100 to ISO 800 are essentially clean and virtually noise free. ISO 1600 and ISO 3200 see a slight amount of noise creeping in, but it is really very acceptable. ISO 6400 establishes a slightly higher noise level, ISO 12500 adds to this more obvious noise plus feathering of the edges of the boxes in the test chart. ISO 25000 has high noise levels, but to be fair the integrity of the boxes of the chart is maintained, albeit with a loss of sharpness. An excellent performance overall.

Leica D-Lux 8 White-balance test images

White Balance – A selection of presets is provided, being Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shadow, Tungsten, Flash, Grey Card and Colour temperature. The real advantage of using a preset is that when the lighting colour changes this change will be reproduced, rather than AWB trying to correct it. Thus, the red of a sunset can be maintained rather than diluted, a daylight scene can be warmed with the Cloudy setting, or maybe fungi deep in the woods can be shot using Shade and we will avoid the unfortunate purple cast that can occur.

Leica D-Lux 8 Digital filters

Digital Filters – There is a modest list of digital filters, really quite sparse compared to some other marques. We start with Standard, Vivid, Natural, Monochrome and Monochrome High Contrast. It is a shame that the latest LEICA Monochrome is not on offer

Scene Modes are P-A-S-M (Program/Av/Tv/Manual), Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Night Scenery, Miniature Effect, One Point Colour and HDR. Clearly digital filters are not the main thrust of the features of the D-Lux 8.