Leica Portraits edited with Lightroom Presets developed for Lumix G cameras

Yes you read that correctly! After developing Lightroom presets for my Panasonic Lumix GX80/85 and GX880 cameras I found they work great with my Leica RAW files too!

Leica blog.. why are we talking about Lumix?

If you’ve followed this blog since my early days it started out as anything and everything Leica. Once I discovered the wonderful world of film photography I added film camera reviews and film stock reviews.

Roll forward to 2021 and I bought a Lumix S5 as a cheap Leica SL alternative. It takes similar photos to my Leica SL camera but is less fun to use. In 2022 I then got into Lumix G cameras for a smaller setup for blogging, vlogging and the occasional photo.

Lightroom Presets for Panasonic Lumix G cameras

Once I had bought the Lumix GX80/85 and Lumix GX880 I needed to develop LR presets to edit my camera RAW files. For each digital cameras I develop a Lightroom preset pack that can edit 95% of the photos in a few clicks.

My process is to make a series of colour and black and white profiles and then see which I use the most. The top 4 get exported and I make those available for you to download here.

MrLeica Lumix G Preset Pack

My Panasonic Lumix G preset pack consists of 4 presets

• MrLeica-LumixG-B&W1
• MrLeica-LumixG-B&W2
• MrLeica-LumixG-Col1
• MrLeica-LumixG-Col2

A story of 2 parts

Depending on your interest I have split this article into 2 parts

• Section 1: Leica SL photos + Lumix G presets applied
• Section 2: Lumix GX80/880 photos + Lumix G presets applied

For each section I will include unedited RAW files, RAW + preset (with slider display for comparison) + final Photoshop edits from some of those files. Let’s jump straight in

1. Leica SL Example Photos + Lumix G Presets

As listed above there are 4 presets in total, 2 black and white, 2 colour. I list examples with each below.

MrLeica-LumixG-B&W1 Examples

B&W1 gives a low contrast, perhaps less modern, more filmic look. It worked well with all models and all skin tones.

All the Leica photos were shot during a 3 day weekend in London when I hosted a workshop for a photographer who flew in from Mexico. I was able to paste the preset across all 3,500+ images and they were ready to export. (*I correct exposure if needed).

*(I later flipped a few to colour with another preset, see further down).

(Left) RAW file, (Right) RAW + Preset

Final edits (MrLeica-LumixG-B&W1 + Photoshop)

This preset worked so well with my Leica SL files, this is why I decided to make this post! Here are a few final edits. (Almost all images from this weekend were edited with this one preset!)

Secret Bonus Preset! (B&W1 in Colour)

OK so this was a happy accident! If you’ve used Adobe Lightroom before you’ll know that there is a section called “Treatment” (either B&W or colour). I applied my MrLeica-LumixG-B&W1 preset but wondered how the colours looked. Rather than apply my colour preset I changes the treatment from B&W to colour. Hiding underneath were these beautiful colours! So this image is RAW + MrLeica-LumixG-B&W1 (treatment set to colour) and then finished in Photoshop.

MrLeica-LumixG-B&W2 Examples

This is a higher contrast B&W preset so although it wasn’t the look I wanted with the models it worked well for this random station shot I took at Barbican.

(Left) RAW file, (Right) RAW + Preset

MrLeica-LumixG-Col1 Preset

This lower saturation colour preset wasn’t the look I was going for so I didn’t use it for any images from London when using the Leica SL. See it used with the Lumix G cameras in section 2.

MrLeica-LumixG-Col2 Examples

I was able to use the Col2 preset for a few models shots but for others it wasn’t quite right. I ended up making my own additional special MrLeica-LumixG-Col3 Preset to get the look I wanted. See next.

(Left) RAW file, (Right) RAW + Preset

MrLeica-LumixG-Col3 Examples (New)

I modified my MrLeica-LumixG–Col2 preset to make Col3. This gives more shadow detail and boosts saturation.

(Left) RAW file, (Right) RAW + Preset

This new Col3 preset formed the base for the following edits.

2. Lumix G Example Photos + Lumix G Presets

What about Lumix photos with Lumix G presets?

If you’re reading this article there is a chance you use a Lumix G camera. I used to use the Lumix G1 in the old days, then a Lumix GH5 years later and currently the GX80/85 and GX880. I love them both!

Bonus tip!

If you want more fun with a Lumix G camera consider adapting vintage lenses to them as seen here!

In reverse order to above, let’s look at colour presets first.

MrLeica-LumixG-Col1 Preset

As in section 1, the Col1 preset gives lower contrast, lower saturation.

(Left) RAW file, (Right) RAW + Preset

These Photoshop edits were based on the RAW + Col1 preset files.

MrLeica-LumixG-Col2 Preset

My Col2 preset gives more saturation and more pop. For Lumix G files I found I used it more for non-portraits.

(Left) RAW file, (Right) RAW + Preset

These Photoshop edits were based on RAW + Col2 preset.

MrLeica-LumixG-B&W1 Examples

Now onto black and white photos. As I found with the Leica files I used the B&W1 preset the most for portraits. (But not limited too).

(Left) RAW file, (Right) RAW + Preset

Photoshop edits based on RAW + B&W1 preset. As you can see I use it for both models and weddings.

MrLeica-LumixG-B&W2 Examples

If you prefer a high contrast B&W look you will prefer my B&W2 preset

(Left) RAW file, (Right) RAW + Preset

Again here are some Photoshop edits based on RAW + B&W2 preset.

Want to learn how to take portraits?

Join my Patreon where I teach model photography.