So, I’d been hearing a bit about this Leica C-Lux, mostly just whispers here and there. Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided I needed to get my hands on one to see what it was really about. Found one available and just went for it.
When the box arrived, I opened it up. Standard stuff inside, the camera, battery, charger, strap. Picked up the camera itself. It felt pretty solid, nice weight to it, not too heavy but definitely didn’t feel cheap. Looked it over, checked out the buttons and dials. Seemed straightforward enough.
Getting it Ready
First thing, obviously, was the battery. Popped it out and put it on the charger. While that was doing its thing, I grabbed one of my SD cards and slotted it into the camera. Found the little door, pushed it in until it clicked. Easy. Also attached the neck strap because I’m clumsy and dropping things is sort of my speciality.
Once the battery light showed full, I put it back into the camera body. Closed the compartment. Okay, ready to go.
First Power On and Fiddling
Pressed the power button. The lens extended, screen lit up. Standard initial setup stuff, date, time, timezone. Clicked through all that using the buttons and maybe the touchscreen, can’t recall exactly but it was quick. Then I was looking at the main shooting screen.
I started messing around immediately. Twisted the mode dial on top. Tried Auto first, just pointed it around the room. Then switched to Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual. Just getting a feel for how you change settings. Used the dials, pushed the buttons on the back. The menu system seemed okay, found the basic things like ISO, white balance, image quality without too much digging. I spent a good half hour just sitting there, pushing buttons, zooming the lens in and out using the lever, tapping on the screen options.
Taking it Out
Next day, I took it out for a real spin. Just went for a walk around the neighbourhood. Didn’t have anything specific in mind, just wanted to shoot whatever caught my eye. Trees, buildings, people walking by, cars. I mainly kept it in Aperture Priority, controlling the background blur a bit.
Using the zoom was interesting. It reaches pretty far. Found myself zooming in on distant things just to see how it looked. Focusing seemed quick enough for casual snaps. The camera felt good to hold while walking and shooting. Not too cumbersome. Snapped maybe fifty or sixty pictures that first walk.
Looking at the Results
Got back home, popped the SD card out, and put it into my computer. Loaded up the photos. First impressions? Pretty decent. Colors looked nice, seemed sharp enough for a small camera like this. Zoomed in on a few shots to check details. Of course, it’s not like my bigger cameras, but for a point-and-shoot style, it was doing a good job. The long zoom shots were okay, maybe a little soft if you looked really close, but totally fine for normal viewing.
- Handling: Felt good in the hand, easy to carry.
- Controls: Buttons and dials were mostly intuitive after a bit of playing.
- Zoom: Pretty impressive range for its size.
- Image Quality: Looked good on the computer, nice colors.
Continued Use
I kept using it for a few weeks as my go-to pocket camera. Took
