Anyone have a Leica V-Lux 2?

[jhansman]

This camera looks amazing, and the user reviews on it are consistently positive. Before I drop $850 and wait for the back orders on to fill, I thought I'd check here for feedback. TIA!

 

[yhelothar]

$850 for a superzoom?
Ah Leica. It's like a religion with a fanatic fan following, but to outsiders, they seem a bit nutty. They are known for their legendary craftsmanship on optics. However, like any superzoom, this camera has an incredibly tiny sensor(1/2.33"), which can only capture a small fraction of the detail a standard DSLR, or APS-C sized sensor can. As a result, the sensor cannot resolve the finer details of high quality optics, and thus any possible "legendary leica" optics becomes a moot point in this case.

You would find much better image quality in a DSLR for $850, or a P&S with an APS-C sized sensor. If you really need the incredible zoom capabilities, there are many superzoom lenses available that you can get with the DSLR and still come below $850.

 

[Throckmorton]

It's a rebadged Panasonic http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/21/leica-v-lux-2-looks-like-an-fz100-shoots-like-an-fz100-costs-a/

 

[iGas]

$850 for a superzoom?
Ah Leica. It's like a religion with a fanatic fan following, but to outsiders, they seem a bit nutty. They are known for their legendary craftsmanship on optics. However, like any superzoom, this camera has an incredibly tiny sensor(1/2.33"), which can only capture a small fraction of the detail a standard DSLR, or APS-C sized sensor can. As a result, the sensor cannot resolve the finer details of high quality optics, and thus any possible "legendary leica" optics becomes a moot point in this case.

You would find much better image quality in a DSLR for $850, or a P&S with an APS-C sized sensor. If you really need the incredible zoom capabilities, there are many superzoom lenses available that you can get with the DSLR and still come below $850.

I have to agree that Leica is a religion.

Nikon and Canon pretty much own the camera market for a reason, and even Casio, Pentax, and Vivitar have more of a present than Leica.

Minolta and Sigma use to design and make Leica lenses, and Leica would jack up the price several folds over the parents manufacturer lens because it have the Leica brand name.

As said above Leica use Panasonic CCD sensor/design.

Given that the Leica DIGILUX 2 is a variant of Panasonic's Lumix DMC-LC1 design, it isn't surprising to find that some LC1 digicams can suffer from the same problem.

That said, I don't own the V-Lux, but have had a Leica M6 film camera in the past. It was a well made camera with good optic (compact), but IMHO in the 35mm format my old Canon A-1, AE-1, AV-1, F-1, and Olympus OM20 were much more capable not including the much superior EOS cameras that I own in the last 25 years or so.

 

[jhansman]

Ah, good info on the sensor size, did not realize that. I understand the 'religion' thing, as I know several Mac users, who generally suffer the same kind of tunnel vision.