The LEICA D-LUX 6 G-STAR RAW Edition is a limited version of the D-LUX 6. I know many people will say it's just the dressed-up version, but it does look good. Not only the body, but also the case and the strap have been refined minutely without cutting corners. It's a compact camera, so the smaller is better. But, because the case looks so cool, I always carried it in the case. If the case doesn't look natural with the camera, I'd just carry the camera only. But, it seems that LEICA has made much account of entire harmony between the camera and the accessories, and hence, it has a luxurious feel. I use many cameras as a professional. When I choose a camera, I place great importance on picture quality above all things. However, I dare say that the camera should fit well on a photographer's hand. And, it should also look good to the extent s/he wants to keep looking at it. So, personally, I think a derivative model like this should exist because you always want to carry it's well-made. I went to Thailand and I brought many cameras with me, but I took many shots with this camera because of high picture quality.
( Photo & Text : K )
Even though it's F1.4, you can't get large bokeh due to the small sensor unless there's a good distance between the subject and the background. Yet, depth of field will certainly become shallow, so the focus point looks clear even at the wide end and pictures somewhat look round-shaped. This camera tends to overexpose, so you want to use exposure compensation actively to fine control the exposure.
JPG images tend to be a little too colorful, so I shot RAW. The data contains so much information, offering a good room for post-adjustment. I recommend you to shoot RAW + JPEG, if possible.
Is this a shot by a compact digital camera? I'm amazed! Resolution is high enough for general purpose, I think.
I stepped down just a little bit, yet you can get a good amount of bokeh if you choose background carefully. The texture of glass is reproduced nicely. Depiction is a little wet and that's what I like.
I shot through the window of a public phone. I shoot without raising sensitivity in order to test how well the anti-shake mechanism works. I'm impressed because it freezes even for 0.3 seconds.
This camera is good at depicting hard materials like glass and stainless. Latitude isn't very wide, so you want to fine control exposure.
I shot at daybreak in the balcony of a hotel. It resolves satisfactorily to the corners without getting loose. I darkened the shadow when developing in order to realize the exposure at the scene.
The diffused light illuminates the floor gently. I personally like this shot best. It captures the atmosphere of the scene very well, so when you can't decide which camera to bring, you can grab this camera with confidence. As long as you don't need bokeh, you want a camera to be smaller, don't you?
I shot from the taxi heading for the airport. There's an aperture ring on the lens barrel, so I shot not knowing I accidentally turned it to F1.7. This is shot at around the nearest focus distance, so the depth of field became very shallow. Shooting daily scenes like this would be like a lot of work for a SLR, but a compact digital camera lets you shoot whatever and whenever you want to shoot.
Yes, picture quality is exactly the same the standard D-LUX 6. Even the price of a fountain pen ranges from unbelievably low price to several million yen. Similarly, there's one super car that you want to keep driving forever while other one that brings you to the extraordinary world by the exhaust note and the special interior. Now, everyone has a camera and I think there should be a camera that is different from others, and that is not valued only by the specs. I confess I do like this camera and I want to wear the case cross body without a reason!
Take a look at another impression on the LEICA D-LUX 6 in our website exclusively for compact digital cameras, too! »