Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/02/27

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Subject: [Leica] The Elusive Digilux 3 compared to the L1 and Oly 330E
From: mak at teleport.com (mak@teleport.com)
Date: Tue Feb 27 07:17:35 2007

Knight Camera in Vancouver WA area code 360 google for the rest has Digilux 
3s in stock

-----Original Message-----
>From: Howard Cummer <cummer@netvigator.com>
>Sent: Feb 27, 2007 2:38 AM
>To: lug@leica-users.org
>Subject: [Leica] The Elusive Digilux 3 compared to the L1 and Oly 330E
>
>Alaistair Didier,
>
>I offer the following comments based on my experience with my Oly  
>330E and L 1 and the OLy 14 - 54 and Leica 14 - 50 Elmarit. Sorry for  
>the delay in commenting but I only get the digest.
>
>> Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:11:46 +0100
>> From: Didier Ludwig <leica@screengang.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Leica] The Elusive Digilux  3 compared to the L1 and Oly
>>      330E
>> To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org>
>>
>> Alastair
>>
>> I have followed several discussions about that on a german oly  
>> forum. Yes the O.I.S. works with the Vario Elmarit on a Oly e-330  
>> body - but in the "stabilize: always" mode only.
>
>True.
>
>
>> Oly users reported it is very power consuming and the accus went  
>> down in less than the half of the usual time when they used the  
>> Leica lens.
>
>This is not my experience. I haven't noticed battery consumption  
>variations when using the Oly lenses verses the Leica zoom on the  
>330E. That may be because I wasn't looking for it but in any event I  
>always carry a spare battery. Battery consumption in my experience is  
>about the same for each camera body irrespective of lens used.  
>Obviously your mileage can vary!
>
>> Others also reported the O.I.S. significantly lowers the picture  
>> quality in terms of sharpness and contrast.
>
>Good grief! Not my experience at all. Both lenses with OIS on provide  
>outstanding images - with my taste leaning towards the colour and  
>contrast drawn by the Elmarit.
>
>> One user wrote he had to fix the Elmarit's aperture ring as it did  
>> not work in manual mode on the oly e-330.
>
>The Oly 330E body does not recognize the input of the movement of the  
>Elmarit's aperture ring. The Oly needs to be set to Shutter Priority  
>and the control wheel behind the program dial spun to reduce the  
>shutter speed until the aperture of the Elmarit reaches f22. Then  
>move the programming priority to Program "P" and the Oly will work in  
>that program and control the aperture of the Elmarit. Move the  
>control dial to Aperture priority with the Elmarit aperture set to  
>f22 by the wheel and Aperture priority will control the lens  
>aperture. If a user wants to change the aperture of the Elmarit he or  
>she has to use the control wheel. Nothing to fix!
>
>>
>> Optical quality seems to be almost equal; the Zuiko may be a tad  
>> better, as users reported the Vario Elmarit vignets slightly more @  
>> wide angle/wide open.
>
>The vignetting of the Elmarit depends, I think, on the positioning of  
>the shade which tends to twist around if not securely set. If  
>properly set, white line on shade to white dot on lens barrel I don't  
>see any difference in image quality between the two lenses. If you  
>don't need IS obviously the Oly 14 - 54 lens is cheaper and gives you  
>4mm more length at the telephoto end.
>
>>
>> On the plus side, the Vario Elmarit on L1/D-3  is said to be faster  
>> in autofocus mode than the Zuiko (both used on a e-330).
>
>Can't comment on this as I haven't made the comparison. Focusing on  
>the Oly or the L 1 is not in the same league as Canon or Nikon  
>professional bodies but not bad. Low light focusing is pretty  
>marginal. Time then to switch to the M8! :-)
>
>>
>> The users recommended the Zuiko 14-54 for Oly bodies, and the Leica  
>> 14-50 for the L1/Digilux-3 bodies, but not a cross-over combination.
>
>For me, I like using the Elmarit on my Oly 330E to the extent that I  
>have sold my Oly 14 - 54. Didn't seem like I needed to duplicate the  
>lens focal lengths with two lenses. Just my several cents worth!
>
>>
>> Didier
>>
>Cheers
>Howard (in Hong Kong)
>
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