(OT)? Digilux 2 for portraits

[danielnorton]

So I've been thinking of picking up a digilux 2, but wonder if anyone shoots a lot of people/portraits with one, seems like the DOF could be an issue as well as the slow use of RAW mode?

Any opinions?

[Krasnaya_Zvezda]

I use my D2 for portrait work. I don't worry too much about DOF because I'm usually shooting against a backdrop, but I find that wide open, the D2 has enough DOF to suit me when I need it.
I also shoot highest quality jpg, so RAW isn't an issue either.
An example attached.

[danielnorton]

Wow, that is really beautiful. I've been shooting Canon digital, but I think it looks very "unreal" or plastic... One of the reasons I'm shooting more film these days, but that shot of yours looks very "film like" to me.. GAS building.. do you ever use it with off camera flash?

[kbg32]

Panasonic's chip/noise are very filmlike compared to Canon. I have both a Panasonic DMC LC1 and a DMC LX1.

[Krasnaya_Zvezda]

I usually shoot with floods instead of flash. I do have a Nikon flash cord that works with my SF24D flash, but I've not used it much.
Here's a shot with floods, I softened this up a bit with Fred Miranda's PS plugin, but you can still get an idea of what you get with the D2.

[Krasnaya_Zvezda]

Can't resist putting up one more example, but I think this one is definitely "film-like", and no softening or anything like that was done to it... In fact, I might have sharpened this one a little, can't really recall.

[RayPA]

My portraits are mostly informal natural light, but I think the D2/DMC LC1 would make an excellent portrait camera. I don't shoot in RAW, however.

Here are some examples. The color portraits are strictly one-source natural light with a reflector (one has been "touched" considerably with PS [teenage skin]). They were shot recently, and I haven't done any color adjustment (they can probably use a tweaking). The b&w was shot in b&w mode, using a single natural light source.


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[gustav[] pEña]

is it posible to use an flash extension cord with the digilux 2?
gustav[] pEña

[danielnorton]

Great examples thanks.. I generally shoot with profoto flash as my studio has very little natural light, As long as the there's a hotshot (and there is) I don't think that would be a problem in manual mode..

The slow RAW shooting is now my only concern as I do shoot pretty quickly, but it seems like the JOG mode is actually really nice.. are you guys mostly shooting 100 ISO ?

[RayPA]

.. are you guys mostly shooting 100 ISO ?

Yes. mine were, and I generally shoot at 100 ISO (preferably). As you probably know, the D2 is known for being noisy at higher ISO's.


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[Krasnaya_Zvezda]

I find, like RayPA, that I almost never have to do any color correction with the D2. With studio shots, I manually set the WB off a gray card. With just general shooting, I leave the WB on auto, and still I rarely have to make adjustments.

Gustav, I use a Nikon SC-28 remote cord, if that's what you are asking about.

Daniel, I always shoot at 100. If I just can't, like an available light night shot when I just have to go to 400, I have to clean up the image with Noise Ninja. The D2 is pretty noisy at 400.

[Honus]

The Digilux 2 is a handy digicam to have. 5 MP can print nice 8x10's. Not the greatest sensor in the world, but having a 28mm-90mm (equiv.) Summicron is what the camera is all about.

[RayPA]

... but having a 28mm-90mm (equiv.) Summicron is what the camera is all about.

Bingo!




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[danielnorton]

having a 28mm-90mm (equiv.) Summicron is what the camera is all about.

hmmm if that is the case, what about using Leica R glass on my Canon DSLR :eek: ? Anyone do that? :confused:

[Honus]

hmmm if that is the case, what about using Leica R glass on my Canon DSLR :eek: ? Anyone do that? :confused:

Try going over to the Leica Camera Forum (http://www.leica-camera.com/cgi-bin/discus_e/discus.pl?pg=topics) . You will find quite a few people over there that do just that.

- robert

[danielnorton]

Thanks, I'll check it out.