Image quality: Dynamic Range
Leica X (Typ 113) Review – Image quality: Dynamic Range
Leica X Dynamic Range
Looking at the dynamic range chart shows reasonable results for an APS-C sensor. Our Applied Imaging tests reveal a dynamic range of 12.2 EV at ISO 100, which drops off only gradually up to ISO 800, where we see a perfectly respectable 11.2 EV. But beyond this, it falls more quickly as noise becomes in increasing problem, and at ISO 3200 it reaches a just-about-acceptable 8.8 EV. The two higher settings give decidedly low range, indicating that there’s likely to be excessive noise in the shadows. So we’d avoid using ISO 6400 and 12500 if possible (indeed the camera will override these settings if the light is sufficient).
Real world example
In practical use, the Leica X’s dynamic range at low ISOs allows you to recover shadow detail that would ordinarily be lost in the camera’s JPEGs. The example below illustrates this. The default Adobe Camera Raw conversion has little shadow detail, but adjusting the Shadows slider brings up plenty more detail in the doorway without excessive noise.
Similarly, the default ACR conversion shows little shadow detail
Adjusting the Shadows slider reveals a lot more detail in the doorway
