Reviews
Leica
Digilux 2
Best of the old meets best of the new
The legendary
German camera company that created the first 35mm camera is moving
deliberately into the digital 21st century. Their Digilux 1 camera
won praise for its design and was generally well received. Built
under contract by Panasonic, the D1 was a bit behind the curve
in terms of resolution and trendy features, but it looked and
felt very much like a traditional Leica and made a natural bridge
camera for those film shooters who wanted to see what all the
digital fuss was about. If they could do so using a classic looking
camera with the Big Red Dot, so much the better. With a Leica
around your neck, the world is your photographic oyster.
The
Digilux 2 addresses all the concerns that were voiced about the
original Digilux. In physical form, the Digilux 2 could be mistaken
from a distance for an M6 rangefinder. The classic positioning
and feel of the controls are retro in the extreme. Anyone who
learned how to take pictures with a full-manual film camera will
feel right at home. And that, of course, is the whole point of
this camera. Leica is the most conservative of the serious professional
camera makers, and for the most part that's just fine with their
customers. Personally, I find Leica's approach refreshing. With
the constant barrage of new technologies and products coming my
way, it is always with a smile that I greet new information from
Leica AG. I know it will matter, I know it will be great, and
I know I will want to get my hands on whatever it is as soon as
possible. Once you've been bitten by the Leica bug, you never
completely recover. The only other company that makes me feel
this way is Apple Computer.
Leica emphasizes
the ãanalogä characteristics of this 5-megapixel digicam. By this
they are referring to the control surfaces; nothing even remotely
analog is taking place under this camera's skin. The most obvious
example is the traditional manual focus and aperture rings on
the 28-90mm (35mm equivalent) Vario-Summicron f2.0-f2.4 lens.
This gorgeous construction of glass and metal is affixed to the
camera body, so forget about bayoneting on your treasured old
Leica lenses. Then again, after you appreciate the range and sensitivity
of this lens, you may not care that much. Consider that this lens
alone, in either M or R form, would likely set you back close
to the entire cost of the Digilux 2.
Though the
Digilux 2 is decidedly rooted in photography's past, it offers
up a few new tricks that can raise the eyebrows of future-shocked
editors like me. The D2 has the best electronic viewfinder (EVF)
I've ever seen, with a crisp resolution of 235,000 pixels and
a 100% view. But best of all is the fold-out flash unit that can
be tilted up for natural-looking interior bounce lighting. In
my limited testing of the preproduction D2, I found that the flash
was mostly ineffective when used in my living room and its very
high ceiling. Thankfully, there is a hotshoe for more powerful
flashguns, something I would most 
definitely
invest in were I to purchase a Digilux 2 ÷ or any other camera
with a hotshoe, for that matter.
Another crowd
pleaser is the Digilux 2's generous 2.5-inch rear display. It's
transflective, so you can view it in direct sunlight without it
washing out to black. Every digital camera should use this technology,
but for cost reasons very few do. Suffice it say that once you
use a transflective display, you will not be satisfied with anything
else. Since most photography takes place outdoors, it's a no-brainer.
Overall, I
found the Leica Digilux 2 slightly unsettling ÷ and I mean that
in a positive way. My excitement about the current crop of digital
rangefinder cameras had reached a new low. Nothing truly interesting
to me had come along for quite a long time. This new Leica rekindled
my personal excitement for non-DSLR cameras, a space where all
the excitement and innovation is these days. As much as I enjoy
the latest big guns from Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Olympus, Pentax,
and so on, digital photography to me is all about having a live
image on the LCD. On my personal cameras, I prefer not to smash
the body against my face and squint into a little hole. The Digilux
2 is a camera offering the convenience I crave, the performance
I expect, and the seriousness I deserve. With a list price of
$1900, it's not exactly an impulse purchase. But when you consider
the long term enjoyment you are sure to derive from this stunning
piece of electromechanical sculpture, cost is secondary to the
pure pleasures of photography.
÷Edison Carter
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