Leica User Forum - View Single Post - Is the Digilux-3 "Seen" as a Leica

MJLogan · 12/29/06, 08:03 PM

There's a large contingent of folks both here and at other online communities who love to disparage the Panasonic/Leica cameras with names like "looka-Leica." My feeling is that, in the consumer and now the semi-pro realms, the collaboration has been a huge technological and creative success for both parties. The Leica influence on the Panasonic Lumix cameras goes well beyond the Leica-designed lenses (which are Panasonic' secret weapon, allowing their digicams routinely to outperform their specs in low-ISO situations). The industrial design and user interface of the Panasonic cams is very Leica-esque, with the Digilux 2 and 3 as the best examples. So, to me, my D3 is definitely a Leica, just not a pro-level Leica.

As to whether the D3 will be "seen" as a Leica by the general public, here's a revealing anecdote. I was shooting a World AIDS Day rally at UCLA earlier this month. I was standing next to the pro photographer hired to cover the event for the AIDS Institute, talking about my new camera. He was holding a Canon 5D with a long lens and an attached flash; I was holding my D3. I had two people come up to me and ask, excited, about my Leica. No one made a fuss about the other guy's pro-level gear.

12/29/06, 08:03 PM	#4 (permalink)
MJLogan Erfahrener Benutzer Join Date: 07/13/06 Posts: 207	Re: Is the Digilux-3 "Seen" as a Leica There's a large contingent of folks both here and at other online communities who love to disparage the Panasonic/Leica cameras with names like "looka-Leica." My feeling is that, in the consumer and now the semi-pro realms, the collaboration has been a huge technological and creative success for both parties. The Leica influence on the Panasonic Lumix cameras goes well beyond the Leica-designed lenses (which are Panasonic' secret weapon, allowing their digicams routinely to outperform their specs in low-ISO situations). The industrial design and user interface of the Panasonic cams is very Leica-esque, with the Digilux 2 and 3 as the best examples. So, to me, my D3 is definitely a Leica, just not a pro-level Leica. As to whether the D3 will be "seen" as a Leica by the general public, here's a revealing anecdote. I was shooting a World AIDS Day rally at UCLA earlier this month. I was standing next to the pro photographer hired to cover the event for the AIDS Institute, talking about my new camera. He was holding a Canon 5D with a long lens and an attached flash; I was holding my D3. I had two people come up to me and ask, excited, about my Leica. No one made a fuss about the other guy's pro-level gear.