leicasonic or panaleica?

[nostatic]

I'm replacing my aging p&s camera and since I end up cropping to about 16x9 anyway, I've narrowed it down to the Panasonic LX-2 or Leica D-lux 3. They are essentially the same camera except for a much better warranty on the Leica (2 years vs. 90 days service/1 year parts for the Panny), bundled software (not an issue) and case. Price difference is $240 though...$600 at my local camera shop for the Leica vs. $360 through Amazon for the Panasonic. There also is a small difference in the image quality - supposedly Leica tweaked the firmware in their cameras to make it look more "Leica". And there also are rumors that the tolerances are better on the Leica ones...ie the best ones off the line get Leica branding, the rest Panny. Not sure I believe that story.

I know there are some Leica fans on the board. Anyone have any of the Leicasonic cameras (there are 3 different ones)? A particular reason you chose Leica over Panasonic (or vice versa)?

[turbo6bar]

static, did you get the LX2? I would like to "upgrade" from my compact Canon SD200 to a camera with wider lens, better low light sensitivity, and image stabilization. The LX2 fits the bill, but the newest DMC-LX3 is getting wide, perhaps premature, approval on digicam forums.

I thought about a Nikon D40, but damn;that thing is huge. I would never carry it around.

Do you think the LX3 is worth the extra $140 over the LX2?
jurgen

[Jim Richards]

leicasonic or panaleica?

I'm shocked that the moderators allow such language!

[kstar]

I'm looking at both cameras as well.

The D-Lux 3 is based on the LX2, right? Is there a newer D-Lux based on the LX3 -> D-Lux 4?

Interested to see the opinions here.

[Dottore]

Toyota or Lexus?

[trekkor]

Here's a ton of shots I took with my PanaLeica DMC-FZ8

http://www.914club.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=107059



KT

[rusnak]

I read the title of this thread and chuckled. I know what all of the BBs say about Panasonic stuff being a clone of Leica stuff, but I disagree.

I've had a Leica V-Lux1 now for about 6 months, and I'm very impressed with the light metering, as well as the "tweaks" that have been done to the software to make the image output more "Leica". It really does look like a film camera. The image quality is every bit as good as my Minolta Dimage, which cost 11 times as much.

[rusnak]

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=leica+d+lux+3&um=1&cid=6447500640302827201&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&resnum=3&ct=result

[nostatic]

I ended up buying the Leica. Most of these shots were taken with it:

http://nostatic.com/photos/hk08/

There should be a new Panasonic version coming out, probably announced in Sept.

Were I in the market for a small zoom point and shoot, the Ricoh GX-200 would be on the short list. The LX2/DLux3 is cool mostly due to the native 16x9 chip. That makes you think differently about composition, etc.

Off to see Steely Dan...

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by nostatic

I ended up buying the Leica. Most of these shots were taken with it:

http://nostatic.com/photos/hk08/

There should be a new Panasonic version coming out, probably announced in Sept.

Were I in the market for a small zoom point and shoot, the Ricoh GX-200 would be on the short list. The LX2/DLux3 is cool mostly due to the native 16x9 chip. That makes you think differently about composition, etc.

Off to see Steely Dan...

Thanks for this. My former office window is in this photo from your collection. (See below). Great pic. I hope you don't mind my taking a print.

[kstar]

The LX3 has a faster lens at wide (f2.0) than the LX2 and D-Lux 3, FWIW.

Anyone know if a new D-Lux model is due out, based on the LX3? Todd, when you said "September", is this what you were referring to?

Just curious and I am about to hit Google a bit harder in search of . . .

Best,

[Oracle]

Err.. neither one.
Panasonic is great for other electronics.. stick to the Nikon, Cannon, etc.
I bought the Panasonic and it was good but the pictures always looked better with my friend's cheaper Cannon.
Panasonic dragged for 2 years to release a firmware upgrade cause "they didn't believe it was needed", hell.. every one in the DPreview website was begging for it.
Actually I talked to the product manager and he confessed that they need to build a business case prior to commiting to a firmware.. and that Panasonic didn't have the experience.
It was a very bad experience because the Canadian office didn't want to participate in the firmware upgrade so guess what? Canadian cameras were not elegible!! Needless to say I wanted to smash a Panasonic office's window with the Camera..

Leica customers on the other hand are really upset with that partnership cause they know that Panasonic software is not good and just drops the value of anything "Leica"

By the way the "Leica" lens are not made by Leica but a general contractor in China or Japan, only the quality controls are by Leica personnel. Leica had some saying in the design and nothing else.

Tons of information about the Leica in Panasonic cr@p in dpreview and Steve's. (same fiasco of Carl Zeiss and Sony)

My Panasonic/Leica died not too long ago and truthfully I was happy cause then I had a good excuse to buy a Cannon.. and I haven't looked back.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Dottore

Thanks for this. My former office window is in this photo from your collection. (See below). Great pic. I hope you don't mind my taking a print.

shoot me your email address and I'll send a link to the full rez version.

As for "neither", I'd say "depends." I've owned Canon p&s and frankly I prefer the "look" of the Leica. I also like the native 16x9 chip. I've cycled through a bunch of cameras, and on the p&s side I like the one I have (though the LX3 probably will get bought) and also the Ricoh cameras. The Ricohs are especially cool - they are great photographic tools.

On the dSLR side I love my Pentax K20d and Pentax glass.

I don't think you can make sweeping statements about cameras like that. It really depends on who's shooting and what you want out of the tool.

[rusnak]

Oracle, I don't know if you were trying to be convincing or just on a rant, but I am not pursuaded in the least. I'm also pretty sure you weren't talking about the lenses that say "Made in Germany" on them. I have a Pentax, a Minolta Dimage, and a Leica, and I like the Leica the most due to it's apparent quality, especially for the price. It compares like I said, very favorably with my $5K Minolta and even the $10K Mamiya.

[Oracle]

Nah.. mostly a rant. Photography is totally subjective.
But one thing is real, Panasonic makes great microwave ovens and DVD players!

[Dottore]

So what happened to the PM button on this board?

[rusnak]

Hah! I have a Panasonic DVD player, a Panasonic plasma TV, and a Panasonic VCR...where would I be without Panasonic?

I agree that for probably 90% of people out there, the Pano DMZ-FZ28 is a fantastic camera. But it sounded like Nostatic likes Leica, and I like mine. I take it everywhere actually.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Dottore

So what happened to the PM button on this board?

click on the users name on the left hand side of a post. A menu will drop down and one of the options is pm.

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by nostatic

click on the users name on the left hand side of a post. A menu will drop down and one of the options is pm.

Thank you good sir!