The an-tic-i-pat-ion is over! My new Leica is finally here in my hot hand! I eagerly pre-ordered the D-Lux 6 on arriving back from Photokina in September. When Leica Mayfair called me on Thursday to say it had arrived, after whooping quietly I discovered the new EVF 3, which is the only electronic viewfinder that works with the latest model, had somehow not made it into the shipment and they didn't know when it would be available. So good news followed immediately by bad news. I’m not easily thwarted, don't want to go back to live view only and am determined to have my new camera complete with the EVF for shooting fireworks on Saturday. I called Leica Mayfair again on the Friday and as they were still bereft, cancelled my order and was determined to hit the Internet to see if anyone else was luckier with their first shipment. And Robert White could deliver and, to my delight, they did exactly that the very next day, today.
Since discovering at Photokina that I'd need a different arrangement to attach filters to my new camera I'd been busy doing reconnaissance as to which adapters I'd need. Luckily the wait from the announcement of the D-Lux 6 and its docking on our shores gave me time to get the crucial tiny Panasonic screw fitting ring from Japan and when I realised the filters that I wanted don't come in 37mm I'd have to also track down the appropriate step-up ring(s). My current filters are 55mm and with the rather excessive step up ring, I can repurpose those (see picture below) but I've also been checking out 39mm filters, much neater.
B+W have a tasty line in German-made Schott glass filters and the UV/IR filters currently protecting my new baby is one of theirs (image at the top). That's what give it the eerie red glow which isn't viewing the world through rose coloured glasses but just protects the fabulous Leica lens from all those nasty infra-red rays and an extra barrier from everything else.
So lovely new Leica, check, super-sharp EVF, check, requisite filter adapters, check. Let the photographing commence.
Posted with Blogsy
Could you perhaps give a link to the Panasonic screw-fitting ring for the D-Lux 6 ? Thanks
ReplyDeleteIan it's called a DMW-FA1, or if you type "LX7 filter adapter" in eBay you also get other companies making them now.
DeleteWhen I was researching it I found a reference to someone struggling so much to get the tiny ring off the Leica (or Panasonic in his case) to replace with this adapter he had to buy a friction cloth fro Amazon. I am glad I read that as I didn't need to buy the cloth but it was very fiddly to remove, took quite a few attempts and I appreciated the warning. So now you know!
Also as I opted not to use the lens cap that came with it as the filters I desired weren't available in 37mm, I bought 39mm filters and also a new 39mm Leica lens cap and carefully made a hole in the rim so I could attach a string to it. Not the Leica string as it is not pliable enough for the home-made hole. You may well be not as particular as me!