Steve, Amy and all you others (especially you dpreview Leica Talk forum users) who publicly propagate the use of Leica M-series rangefinder cameras, infesting us innocent non-Leicanians with your vanguard and elitist ideas – it’s all YOUR fault that I have now become infected with Leica-mania and obsessed with wanting to own a Leica M-series rangefinder myself. It’s all YOUR fault that I now have to find a way to fund a used M8, and it will be all YOUR fault if my family ends up on the street without food and clothes!
But revenge shall be mine … *evil laughter*
Leica Rumors somehow managed to get the first picture of Leica’s all-new compact digital, the V-Lux 20. The camera is in essence a Panasonic TZ10/ZS7, and thus continues Leica’s tradition of re-badging Panasonic compacts. The specs are the same as for the Panasonic model (key features: 12x zoom, 12MP, 720p HD video and GPS), but you can expect Leica to have tweaked the firmware slightly to give the outcoming pictures a ‘Leica look’, as was done with earlier models. Also – doesn’t it look just gorgeous?
 The new Leica V-Lux 20 | Image courtesy of Leica Rumors UPDATE: Leica Rumors got more spex on and more pix of the new V-Lux 20. Also, what you get for the price premium is Photoshop Elements 8 – and of course Leica’s extraordinary customer service!
I just brought my beloved Lumix 20/1.7 MFT pancake lens back to my local dealer from whom I bought it. The lens already had some minor dust particles on the inside when it was new, but now a really huge (i. e. visible) dark piece of whatever has managed to intrude into the lens, leaving its traces in highlight bokeh when shooting wide open – I don’t think that’s supposed to be happening to a half-year old 350 € lens, right?
Anyway, now I have a reason to use that kit zoom some more  I hope Panasonic will replace the lens soon, and I don’t have to wait as long as those trying to get a new one …
In other news, my dealer offered me his old Leica R8 with five lenses reaching from 28 to 300mm – can I resist such an offer? (Or rather: can I afford such a setup?)
The net is full of rumors and chatter about a new Leica compact digital. Everybody seems to know something, and nobody knows anything for a fact. But it looks like it’s going to be a re-branded Panasonic Lumix TZ10/ZS7, i. e. Panasonic’s latest superzoom compact featuring 12 MP, a 12x zoom and geotagging via GPS. Also, it might be called either ‘C-Lux 20’ or ‘V-Lux 20’.
1001noisycameras have a rumor roundup here, and Leica Rumors have several posts to the topic.
Also, Leica created a new minisite, where 12(!) photograpers from around the world are posting geotagged pictures (probably taken with the new C/V-Lux 20) from where they live and travel. Via a map of the world, you can select the photographers and the places they visited and view the pictures they took there.
Today seems to be review day. Nice!
dpreview have posted their long-awaited review of the Samsung NX10.
DCWatch have posted their review of the Leica M9.
And finally, Steve Huff has posted his review of the Olympus E-PL1 (titled “The best JPEG camera EVER?”).
Interestingly, Steve loves the E-PL1’s JPEG output so much he doesn’t even think of shooting RAW, and also he says he prefers the Olympus 17/2.8 over the Panasonic 20/1.7 on the E-PL1.
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April 22nd, 2010, 2:34 pm | 
