Last week I reviewed the Sunwayfoto GH-Pro 2 Plus geared tripod head. While trawling through online presentations I noticed several positive reviews of the Leofoto G2, an even lighter and more compact geared head. So I bought one and have been running initial tests with it.

The Leofoto G2 can be used as a standalone head (remove the safety screws first) or as a levelling/panning module mounted on top of a ball head with standard Arca Swiss mounting system.

The Leofoto G2 unit works a bit like a tilt/shift lens to achieve movements. This allows it to be very light, compact and strong but the downside is a limited range of movements compared to most other geared heads.

Geared tripod heads have been used by studio photographers for many years. But those studio heads are large, heavy, expensive and not really suitable for photography on the go.

Hence the popularity of compact three way heads and in recent years ball heads for landscape and location photography.

The problem with ball heads is that when we release the locking lever the camera is free to move about in any direction.

Although the total number of cameras sold each year has declined dramatically since 2010 there are still many makes, models and types of camera available. This can make the process of deciding what to buy quite challenging.

In this post I summarise my own decision making process in the hope that this might be of interest to camera buyers in a similar situation.

The first consideration is usage.
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Canon introduced the RF-S 10-18mm f4.5-6.3 IS STM ultrawide zoom for APSC RF mount cameras in 2023. This is a nice compact stabilised lens but is constrained by the small and variable aperture which limit its appeal indoors and in low light.

The constant maximum aperture Sigma 10-18mm f2.8 DC DN/C STM became available for Sony E mount around the same time and now in 2024 is also available with Canon RF mount.

One of the main complaints by users and reviewers about the Canon RF mount crop sensor system has been the paucity of lens offerings.

When the EOS R7 and R10 were announced in 2022 only two zooms were made available. Since then Canon has added two more zooms. But each of the Canon offerings to date is a utility style model with compact dimensions and a small variable aperture diaphragm.

The most versatile type of photographic device in my experience is a top-of-the-range bridge camera with a built-in EVF and a full set of controls for an enthusiast user.

But this camera type has been almost completely abandoned by camera makers. The remaining few models still on the market use outdated autofocus and image processing technology.

I was an early adopter of the Micro Four Thirds [MFT] camera system starting in 2009 with the Panasonic Lumix G1. I abandoned Canon DSLRs of the time because of their woefully unreliable autofocus. The new MFT cameras had much more reliable single shot AF because they evaluated focus directly on the imaging sensor.

In recent times the number of fully featured, enthusiast level compact cameras available new has declined remarkably.

If we want a fixed lens compact camera with built-in, always ready EVF, good quality lens, high image quality and a set of controls which the  expert/enthusiast  user might find engaging, then there are very few options.

The Fujifilm X100.6 and the Leica Q, Q2, Q3 Q3(43) offer a range of prime lens models. But enthusiast level zoom compacts are becoming an endangered species.

The unique selling point of the Leica DL8 and its precursors,  the DL7, LX100 and LX100.2 is the Leica DC Vario-Summilux f1.7-2.8,  10.9-34mm  Asph zoom lens.   

Designed by Leica in collaboration with Panasonic, the lens first appeared on the LX100 in 2014. With a focal length range of 10.9-34mm, it covers an image circle of 19.2mm on a standard 4/3 sensor which has a diagonal of 21.6mm.

This post summarises my preferences for setting up the DL8  for still photography.

In keeping with Leica tradition there is no mode dial and no beginner modes on the DL8. In fact the number of options available is quite limited, which makes the process easier than is the case with many other current model cameras.

Getting ready

I store and carry the DL8 in a Think Tank Mirrorless Mover 5 shoulder bag which fits as if bespoke with space for spare batteries, cards and microfiber cloth.
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