dlux-3 discontinued??

[ski542002]

Hello:

I called my dealer this morning to backorder a dlux-3. He said backorders on the dlux-3 will not be filled. Panasonic has "cut-off" Leica. There will not be any more dlux-3's.

This dealer is huge with retail establishments in major cities in the States, so I can only assume this information is accurate.

Doe anyone have a confirmation of this news?

CD

[suse]

I've not heard that - it would be a bit weird... What did he mean "cut off"? Have Panasonic been legally fighting for a long time to stop Leica selling the d-lux?

There seem to be decent levels of D-lux 3's available here in the UK.

If it's true, does that mean my new d-lux 3 will become a collector's item?!

[Riley]

wow thats a bit out of the blue

Riley

[wizard]

What I have been told is that Panasonic only produces one run of a certain model for Leica. That is, Leica orders a certain number of any given model from Panasonic, based on their estimation on how many they are likely to sell, and that's it. No second or last orders

It was like that with the Digilux 2 and the dlux2, and I thus assume it'll be the same with the dlux3.

Andy

[ski542002]

If that's the case, it sounds like Leica either underestimated the popularity of this model, or they purposely kept the production down, to keep the price high. This camera was introduced in October and it's already out of production?

[brunom]

Maybe there's a dlux4 just around the corner ?

Bruno

[Riley]

panasonic are consumer electronics organisation
they indulge in what is known as batch production

the entire production line can likely be changed in just a few hours

production is slotted according to demand or a greater strategy
when demand falls, they just lower the price, its a marketing process known as skimming

their factory space is extremely valuable
and there are many competing forces that decide how it is used
plans are made perhaps years in advance as to the scheduling

[andit]

Hi all,
This is a real shock!!! Sadly I do not have the funds available to purchase a M8 (my dream camera of all time), so I have been looking at the D3 with some Olympus lenses to go along. In fact I was at the shops today and more or less decided that I would take the plunge and order one in the new year (trying to get anything done here in South Africa "between the years" is absolutely futile - Leica SA is closed now anyway).

But now hearing this makes me extremely worried about taking that plunge. Why would they only have had such a small run of what, I believe, is an excellent alternative for the budget minded to the M8? Is there something wrong that we don't know about? What will happen to people who have bought, or will still get the last available ones around once they are sold out? Will there still be backup? Is there a new model 10MP just around the corner, or is Leica giving up on the 4/3 system?

I was really looking at moving away from Canon, but maybe I should just get the 5D and turn my back on Leica :-(

Andreas

[Peter41951]

Andreas

You're thinking of the Digilux 3 (the 4/3 camera), the news being about the D-Lux 3 which is a compact.

Jy weet daar is die twee. Kyk hier: Leica Camera AG - Home

[brunom]

Andreas

Only you can decide that - but at least wait until we all have the full facts in front of us. There may be an extremely straight forward answer that we don't know about yet ?

Bruno

[Ecaton]

Originally Posted by ski542002

Hello:

I called my dealer this morning to backorder a dlux-3. He said backorders on the dlux-3 will not be filled. Panasonic has "cut-off" Leica. There will not be any more dlux-3's.

This dealer is huge with retail establishments in major cities in the States, so I can only assume this information is accurate.

Doe anyone have a confirmation of this news?

CD

Assume you mean the D-Lux 3 and not the Digilux3 (sometimes they get confused).
I think there is sufficient of supply in Europe and you could order one, excludingVAT, from eg Germany based dealers.

[Peter41951]

D-Lux 3, I'm small and wee

Digilux 3, I'm a big 4 three ......

Repeat ad lib..........

[Eoin]

Originally Posted by Peter41951

D-Lux 3, I'm small and wee

Digilux 3, I'm a big 4 three ......

Repeat ad lib..........

Very Good!.

[andit]

Hi Peter,

Ja ek weet dat dit twee verskillende kamera's is.

Now that has people confused - some people speaking all sorts of strange languages on this forum. Believe it or not, it took me two weeks to get Leica SA to wake up to the fact they they have another SLR camera on the market other than the R9. They just don't seem to react to telephone calls, emails or faxes. Mind you, Leica was being really stupid when they thought of the names here, very often on this site the Digilux 3 is reffered to as either DLux3 or just D3. So I suppose I can forgive the guys in Johannesburg for being somewhat confused.

Maybe CD can just confirm which camera they told him was discontinued, the D-Lux 3 or the Digilux 3. Either way, both of these cameras have just been released into the market.

Andreas

PS: Peter, just saw on the box today you guys had the first snow for the season. Bet it makes you miss this place sometimes... We had like 38 C today - really hot!

[sanqhar]

See this post on another forum re the Panny version.

LX2 withdrawn: Panasonic Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

[ski542002]

Leica is proficient at producing great optics and at least a few classic camera bodies; quite inept at developing model names that make marketing-sense.

Yes, I was told that the dlux-3 production is done. It's the smaller less-costly camera.

I was not discussing the Digilux-3.

CD

[cnguyen]

Chris - My Leica rep here in Colorado USA told me that panasonic won't deliver anymore dlux3 till 2007. The demand for dlux3 was greater than leica expected. Panasonic will resume filling Dlux3 orders next year which is few days from now.

[ski542002]

That is good news. As you stated, 2007 is right around the corner. Hopefully, it won't take till March of '07 to fill the backorders here in the States.

Have a good New Years holiday!

CD

[firoze]

I was told by a Salesman at Tamarkin in NY that the next batch of D-Lux 3's are expected in early Jan '07.

By the way, when I checked a few weeks, back none of the dealers in Paris had any DL3's in stock.

I don't think the DL3 is out of production, it just seems that leica once again badly underestimated demand for this model & didn't commission a large enough production run from Panasonic. Apparently the next batch will be in the shops soon.

Regards.

[malland]

Chicken Little strikes again! Some people are sure quick to believe unfounded rumors. Considering that the D-Lux 3 was introduced only a few months ago it is unreasonable think that it will no longer be produced by Panasonic, in the light of the cooperation with Leica that now covers a range of digital cameras.

When I bought my D-Lux 3 in Hong Kong about two weeks ago, I could find only one shop that had one in stock and therefore had to pay a bit of a premium over the normal Hong Komg price, which is less than in the US and Europe because the margins of HK photo shops is very low. The dealers expecte to have new shipments some time in January.

As to whether Leica underestimated demand is not that clear either: we don't know what sort of agreement Leica has with Panasonic and when it has to pay fir the cameras — it could be that Leica ordered as much as was possible, either for the reason of cash availability or within the constraint of how much production capacity Panasonic had available for Leica in the light of Panasonic's own production runs of the camera. I wouldn't be so quick to beat Leica on the head for "underestimating" demand.

—Mitch/Bangkok
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/