Inside Gaylord National Resort

Leica D-LUX4, F/4, 5/8 sec, 5.1 mm, ISO 80, Pattern Mode, 3:2, 21:59 14 December 2010
Image level adjusted.


Leica D-LUX4, F/8, 3.2 sec, 5.1 mm, ISO 80, Pattern Mode, 4:3, HDR, 01:24 15 December 2010
Image level adjusted.

Dinner at National Air and Space Museum

Buffet food under the nose of a Boeing 747
Leica D-LUX4, F/2.2, 1/6 sec, 5 mm, ISO 200, Pattern Mode, 3:2, 21:59 14 December 2010
Image level adjusted.


Sushi train under the body of Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Leica D-LUX4, F/2.3, 1/8 sec, 7 mm, ISO 200, Spot Mode, 4:3, 21:41 14 December 2010
Image level adjusted.


Beers and glasses under a plane model
Leica D-LUX4, F/2.2, 1/13 sec, 6 mm, ISO 200, Spot Mode, 4:3, HDR, 21:46 14 December 2010
Image level adjusted.

Victoria Park in "snow"

Victoria Park, Regina, SK, Canada
Canon IXUS 50, F/2.8, 1/50 sec, 5.8 mm, ISO 50, Pattern Mode, 08:05 27 November 2005
Image skewed, level changed and enhanced in B&W effect.
The snowing effect photoshopped by Xi Zhu (西竹)
Are you able to determine that above is an artificial image? :) The incredible snowing effect is added by a certified member and senior reviewer nicknamed Xi Zhu () at Xiangshu, one of the most popular photography communities in China.

Victoria Park in winter

This is a picture I shot five years ago today at Victoria Park in Regina, SK, Canada. That was the coldest place in the world that I have ever been...

The original picture was skewed in Pixelmator 1.5.1 for correcting minor distortion, then was processed using the Tone Mapping function of Photomatix Pro 4.0 in various enhancement effects including Deep, Smooth, Painterly, Grunge, and Black & White.

This was an experiment of using HDR software to enhance a single image, rather than multiple images in different exposures. Thanks to the new design of Preset Thumbnail Panel and Preview Window of Photomatix Pro 4, users may visually see the Tone Mapping results and adjust the effect instantly. That's a great user experience. The same work with the previous versions were painful, and that's why I chose to buy this version 4.


Image skewed, and enhanced in Deep and Smooth effect.


Image enhanced in Painterly, Grunge and Black & White effect.
War Memorial, Victoria Park, Regina, SK, Canada
Canon IXUS 50, F/2.8, 1/50 sec, 5.8 mm, ISO 50, Pattern Mode, 08:05 27 November 2005
Based on the last B&W image above, the following image was processed in Picasa 3.6.7 in turn to represent some of my personal feelings on that winter in Regina. Finally all images were published from Picasa as well.


War Memorial, Victoria Park, Regina, SK, Canada
Canon IXUS 50, F/2.8, 1/50 sec, 5.8 mm, ISO 50, Pattern Mode, 08:05 27 November 2005
Image skewed, level changed, enhanced in Sepia and Warmify effects, sharpened and cropped

Sydney Opera House at night

Sydney Opera House
Leica D-LUX4, F/2.8, 1.6~6 sec, 12.8 mm, ISO 80, Spot Mode, -1, HDR, 16:9, 19:46 11 October 2010

A Thai restaurant in Adelaide

This is where I had dinner tonight, a Thai restaurant located at 68 Hindley Street, Adelaide, SA 5000.



The Wines and the wine glasses
Leica D-LUX 4, F/4.0, 2 sec, 5.1 mm, ISO 80, Pattern Mode, -1/3, 16:9, 19:18 20 September 2010
Image level changed



A waitress girl reading newspaper while waiting for guests
Leica D-LUX 4, F/2.8, 1 sec, 12.8 mm, ISO 80, Spot Mode, 16:9, 19:21 20 September 2010
Image level changed, cropped, and soft focused



Two waitress girls having a break while waiting for guests
Leica D-LUX 4, F/2.8, 1/3 sec, 7.9 mm, ISO 80, Pattern Mode, -1, 16:9, 19:29 20 September 2010
Image level changed, cropped, and soft focused

Sunset at Scarborough Beach

Sunset at Scarborough Beach Road, Scarborough, WA
Leica D-LUX4, F/4.0, 1/1300~1/125 sec, 13 mm, ISO 80, Pattern Mode, -1, 16:9, 17:53 3 September 2010
Image generated by Dynamic Photo-HDR Trial, cropped and level adjusted

Chinese restaurant in Scarborough

A Chinese restaurant located on Scarborough Beach Road, Scarborough, Perth, WA
Leica D-LUX4, F/5.0, 3/4 sec, 5.1 mm, ISO 80, Pattern Mode, -1, 3:2, 20:44 29 August 2010
Image cropped and level adjusted

Old poles in Perth

Poles along the Scarborough Beach Road
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/500 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:09 29 August 2010


Poles along the Scarborough Beach Road
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/500 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:11 29 August 2010


Poles along the Scarborough Beach Road
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/500 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:12 29 August 2010

The Scarborough Beach in Perth

The pictures taken after lunch while walking along the Scarborough Beach on my first day in Perth, Western Australia. Some pictures are enhanced by Microsoft Office Picture Manager 2007.

In my first glance at the Perth airport and the Scarborough Beach area, the city looks like an American town. Everything is big and has enough space, people drive fast, and the street layout is well arranged vertically or horizontally based on rectangular street grids (not like Sydney at where almost no any street runs in a straight line from the beginning to the end).


Rendezvous Observation City Hotel Perth
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/1000 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:20 29 August 2010


The arch at the Scarborough Beach
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/1000 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:21 29 August 2010


Lamps at the Scarborough Beach
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/625 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:23 29 August 2010


A seagull watching the sea
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/1600 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:23 29 August 2010


A seagull at the Scarborough Beach
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/1000 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:24 29 August 2010


Lamps at the Scarborough Beach
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/500 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:25 29 August 2010


A girl demonstrating another little girl how to jump into the sand
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/1000 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:26 29 August 2010


Sands at the Scarborough Beach
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/1250 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:28 29 August 2010


A boat sign on the arch ground
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/1250 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:31 29 August 2010


People resting at the beach
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/1000 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:32 29 August 2010


Trees and lamps at the Scarborough Beach
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/625 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:39 29 August 2010


The old fashioned Sunmoon Resort where I am
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/625 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 14:45 29 August 2010

Flying to Perth

The pictures taken on the early morning flight from Sydney, New South Wales to Perth, Western Australia. Some pictures are enhanced by Microsoft Office Picture Manager 2007.


Leaving Sydney
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/100 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 06:20 29 August 2010 (Sydney Time)


Leaving Sydney
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/200 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 06:21 29 August 2010 (Sydney Time)


Leaving Sydney
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/50 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 06:25 29 August 2010 (Sydney Time)


Landing at Perth
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/500 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 09:01 29 August 2010 (Perth Time)


Landing at Perth
Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/500 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 09:02 29 August 2010 (Perth Time)

Breakfast and newspaper in Canberra

Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/30 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 09:19 20 August 2010


Nokia E72-1, F/2.8, 1/30 sec, 5.4 mm, 4:3, 09:18 20 August 2010

Shiretoko Five Lakes in morning

The Third Lake, Shiretoko Five Lakes, Shari, (Shiretoko Peninsula), Hokkaido, Japan
日本の北海道東部（知床半島）、斜里郡斜里町知床五湖（三湖）
Leica D-LUX4, F/8.0, 1/40 sec, 12.8 mm, ISO 80, Pattern Mode, 16:9, 09:42 7 June 2009
Image cropped, level adjusted, and colour saturated

Leica feedback on D-LUX 4 aperture holding issue

Today I received the feedback regarding that aperture holding issue of D-LUX 4 from Leica via its Australian representative at ADEAL in Melbourne.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael Bellgrove
Date: 29 April 2010 14:35
Subject: Re: WG: Support Anfrage: Leica Support/Digital compact cameras/Technical support/D-LUX 4/Handling
To: Bing Bao

Good afternoon Bing,

Thank you for your email, Leica in Solms has forwarded your email to us as their Australian representative and asked us to provide the answer.

Unfortunately there is no current fix available for this problem. We understand that the Product Management team at Leica are investigating this issue and could have a fix for it soon. Any fix would be be included in future firmware upgrades which are available on the Leica web site. Perhaps we could advise you to check this site from time to time and also subscribe to Leica's email newsletter. This newsletter usually advises its subscribers of firmware changes.

I hope this is helpful.

Regards

Michael Bellgrove
CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT COORDINATOR

ADEAL PTY LTD
2 Baldwin Road
Altona North Vic 3025
Phone : +61 3 8369 XXXX / Fax : +61 3 8369 XXXX
Web: www.adeal.com.au Email: sales@adeal.com.au

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Luehring, Lothar wrote:
Ladies and Gentlemens,
please help this Customer.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen / kind regards

i.A. Lothar Luehring / Leica Support Specialist

Leica Camera AG/Informationservice
Solmser Gewerbepark 8
35606 Solms
tel. : +496442208-XXX
Fax: +496442208-XXXXX
E-Mail: *

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Von: Deiss, Ulli
Gesendet: Samstag, 24. April 2010 23:55
An: Luehring, Lothar
Betreff: WG: Support Anfrage: Leica Support/Digital compact cameras/Technical support/D-LUX 4/Handling

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Von: Bing Bao
Gesendet: Samstag, 24. April 2010 23:54:39
An: Deiss, Ulli
Betreff: Support Anfrage: Leica Support/Digital compact cameras/Technical support/D-LUX 4/Handling
Diese Nachricht wurde automatisch von einer Regel weitergeleitet.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Dear Leica customer,
This is an automatically generated e-mail confirming the receipt of your inquiry.

Best regards
Leica Camera AG
Customer Service

Serial number	*
Purchase date	*
Details of inquiry	Hi Support I am a Leica D-LUX 4 user from Australia. I recently found an issue of Auto Review that, I think, should be a defect of D-LUX 4 firmware, which is inherent from the LUMIX firmware of Panasonic DMC-LX3. The issue is: while Auto Review is working on the "HOLD" option, the aperture is on hold, too. That means, the lens does not return to full open aperture after shutter fired until Auto Review stops showing the last shot. The issue also applies to the other options of Auto Review, of course, except the "OFF" one, though the duration is less than 2 seconds with other options ("1 SEC" / "2 SEC" / "ZOOM"). This is really not good for the lens, one of the most expensive parts of the camera. The aperture of this lens should be better at the wide open position while not at work. As you know, the aperture is fully opened when the camera is power off. As it is not necessary to keep the aperture working while reviewing a photograph because the shooting procedure has finished, I speculate it should be a defect of the firmware, and hopefully it can be fixed in the near future. At present, my fix is just to turn OFF the Auto Review, at all. Do you have any method to get rid of this issue? I am looking forward to hearing from you about Leica opinions on this. Thanks in advance. Kind regards, Bing Bao
Salutation	Mr
Title	-
First name	Bing
Last name	Bao
Country	AU
Street	-
House No.
Address line 1	-
Postal code	2000
City	Sydney
E-Mail	*
Phone no.	-
Telefax no.

Utoro Fishing Port at night

Utoro Fishing Port, Utoro, Shari, (Shiretoko Peninsula), Hokkaido, Japan
日本の北海道東部（知床半島）、斜里郡斜里町ウトロ漁港
Leica D-LUX4, F/8.0, 20 sec, 5.1 mm, ISO 80, Pattern Mode, 16:9, 18:48 6 June 2009
Image level adjusted, straightened, and sharpened

Aperture holding issue of D-LUX 4 Auto Review

Like most digital cameras, Leica D-LUX 4 supports Auto Review after every shot. There are five options for Auto Review available in the SETUP menu: "OFF", "1 SEC", "2 SEC", "HOLD", and "ZOOM". By default, it is set to 2 Seconds.

The "HOLD" option allows you to continue viewing the new shot until you press the shutter release or other buttons to get ready for the next shot. This is good for serious photographers who may spend a bit more time to evaluate each shot and make changes accordingly. I had used this option for a while and found it was quite convenient.

But I recently found an issue of Auto Review which caused me to disable this feature at all.

The issue is: while Auto Review is working on HOLD, the aperture is on hold, too. That means, the lens does not return to full open aperture after shutter fired until Auto Review stops showing the last shot. The issue also applies to the other options of Auto Review, of course, except the "OFF" one, though the duration is less than 2 seconds with these options.

This is really not good for the lens, one of the most expensive parts of the camera. The aperture of this lens should be better at the wide open position while not at work. The aperture is fully opened when the camera is power off.

As it is not necessary to keep the aperture working while reviewing a photograph because the shooting procedure has finished, I speculate this is a defect of D-LUX 4 firmware, which is inherent from the LUMIX firmware of Panasonic DMC-LX3.

However, the conclusion is just to turn OFF the Auto Review, at all.

Simply pressing the "▼/Fn" button^* lets you review the last shot instantly, even for a long time with no worries about the aperture as it is no longer working in this stage. There is one more advantage after disabling the Auto Review, you may continue to shoot without any pause, if required, therefore you won't lose any chance to capture a decisive moment.

* The "▼/Fn" button can be customised for other purposes. Make sure the "Fn BUTTON SET" option in SETUP menu has been assigned to "REVIEW" (the default setting) before disabling the Auto Review.

Leica V-LUX 20 announced

After the rumours lasted for about two weeks, the Leica V-LUX 20 was officially announced today at Leica's web site, just a few hours ago.

I checked the website this afternoon, the new camera was not listed there at that time.

Like the relationship between Leica D-LUX 4 and Panasonic DMC-LX3, the V-LUX 20 is a near-identical twin of the Panasonic ZS7/TZ10, but with a more expensive price tag of US $699/£495 GBP. But according to dpreview.com, the camera can only shoot 720p HD video in a less sophisticated Motion JPEG format than the Panasonic's AVCHD Lite format.

The camera looks like C-LUX 3 if you see it in the front, and looks like D-LUX 4 on the back. I don't know why Leica named this camera by prefixing with a "V", probably just because of its super-zoom lens (LEICA DC-VARIO-ELMAR 4.1-49.2mm), which is similar to the one (LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT 1:2.8-3.7/7.4-88.8 ASPH) equipped on V-LUX 1.


Leica V-LUX 20 - front and back view


Leica C-LUX3 - front view and Leica D-LUX 4 - back view
Moreover, this is the first Leica camera to feature GPS tagging. As per what I know about its sister, DMC-TZ10, this functionality can be active even the camera is off. I am not sure if it is battery consuming in reality. Another interesting thing is, at the end of the press release from dpreview.com, they say the "GPS tagging may not function in China and neighbouring regions". I don't know why, very strange.

Lastly, as the new camera still has its Panasonic lineage inside, I believe it also has a Service Mode as that of D-LUX 4. I will verify this later.