I bought the Leica D-Lux 8 with my own money. I had it for about three weeks before I sold it, and I took around 350 photos with it. It’s the camera I wish I had when I was starting to take photography a bit more seriously around 15 years ago. It’s a bit pricey, but if that’s not an issue, I think it’s the best camera currently out there for someone who wants to get into photography and develop their skill. Hear me out.

When you are taking the first steps into learning photography, you should not be bogged down by the gear you use. You also want good exposure controls so that you can more easily experiment with different shutter speeds and apertures, to get a feel for how they affect the outcome, and how to use them in creative ways.

Many compact cameras have so small sensors that changing aperture doesn’t really do all that much for the depth of field in an image. And the cheap point-and-shoot cameras rarely give you easy ways to change exposure settings in the first place.

Most digital SLR cameras (the ones with interchangeable lenses) on the other hand are bulky to use. In many situations having one can also make you self-conscious. Especially when walking around in cities and taking pictures of people. You can reduce this bulk by pairing one of the smaller dSLR bodies with a small prime lens, but then you lose access to zoom. If you are not yet sure which focal length(s) you like shooting with, then you end up having to buy multiple lenses. Not to mention losing shots if you have the wrong lens equipped for the situation.

Artists love their tools. Tools can inspire, and using them can make you feel special. Big cameras can make you feel ”serious” and they have many “powerful” features, but if you rarely leave the house with one, then you are not improving your photography skills. You want a camera that inspires you to go out shooting, and one that you can easily throw into a bag (or in the case of Leica D-Lux 8, even a big pocket) when going out.

Leica D-Lux 8 ticks all these boxes, and a few more, better than any other camera I’ve ever tried (and I’ve shot with Leica, Ricoh, Sony, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Panasonic and Fujifilm). It’s the perfect camera for learning photography because:

The size makes it easy to take anywhere.
The build quality, design and tactile feel of every button and dial inspires you to go shooting, and they make the camera a pleasure to use.
The shutter is really quiet, increasing the stealthiness and discreetness of the camera.
It has a very versatile zoom range, covering 24-75 mm in full frame terms. Unless you’re specifically into shooting fast action or animals that are far out there, this will carry you through 95% of all situations.
It has good enough macro mode to take some impressive close-up images too. Especially when using wider focal lengths that have the closest minimum focusing distance.
The sensor size and maximum aperture of the lens give you some control over the depth-of-field in an image. Though it’s not a match to cameras with faster lenses and bigger sensors.
The physical controls for aperture and shutter speed help you learn to use those adjustments in creative ways.
The physical aspect ratio selector helps you learn to compose for 3:2, 16:9, 1:1 and 4:3 - all of which have their uses and can be used in creative ways to produce a better image. It’s also worth noting that this is not a digital crop, and should be used to get most out of the surface area of the image sensor.
The user interface is fantastic. D-Lux 8 has less features than most other cameras, but that’s a good thing, because you don’t want to get overwhelmed by a whole bunch of stuff that you don’t really need. It’s easy to make sense of the Leica. It gets out of the way when shooting, so you can focus more on the images, and less on fiddling with the camera.
It’s very easy to switch to video mode and for a casual video shooter, who wants to record a clip or two every now and then, it works very well. D-Lux 8 even has image stabilisation!

No camera is perfect, and this one also has its shortcomings, but there are not many:

It can only take 2 pictures per second in burst mode with full image quality.
Shifting focus point with the d-pad could be faster, as it moves in too small increments. There should also be an option to have the center button of the d-pad to re-center the focus point.
Tracking and continuous autofocus are not as fast and reliable as with my Fujifilm cameras (and as far as I know, Fuji is not exactly the top dog in these areas either).

So if the Leica D-Lux 8 is so good, why did I end up selling it so soon? Well, I bought it with the intention of using it, instead of my Fujifilm X-T4 and big zoom lens, for our road trip this summer. However, the image quality just isn’t quite there when compared to my other cameras. Particularly the corner softness in both ends of the zoom range, even with small apertures, bothered me. I also found the rendering of the out of focus areas to be rather busy and messy in too many cases to my liking. So the D-Lux 8 did not replace my X-T4.

When it comes to an ”everyday carry” type of camera, I also have a Fujifilm X100VI. The D-Lux 8 is not quite pocketable for me, so if I’d want to take it with me when going out, I would need a small shoulder bag. Which means that I could just as easily take the X100VI with me. And it is a much more capable camera, also a joy to use, and the 35mm lens on the X100VI happens to be my favourite focal length.

However, if you are starting on the hobby and looking for a camera that can help you become a better photographer, I would not hesitate to recommend the Leica D-Lux 8. Even if you eventually decide to upgrade to a bigger dSLR and start acquiring different lenses for it, there’s easily a case to be made for keeping the D-Lux 8 on the side as a secondary camera.

Or maybe you have a bigger camera setup already, but want something that’s easy to take with you wherever you go. And for some reason other options such as Fuji’s X100 series or a Ricoh GR do not entice you, then this might be just what you’re looking for.

Hopefully you found this mini review helpful. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I do my best to get back to you.

Here are a few more images I managed to take with the D-Lux 8:

Leica D-Lux 8 Mini Review

© 2025 SAMI PAJU

Leica D-Lux 8 Mini Review

Cropping Wide

© 2025 SAMI PAJU