Leica Digilux 3

Opinion: I use it with Leica R lenses, also with kit lens. Its kit lens, 14-50mm F/2.8-3.5 is sharp lens. Especially I use it with Leica R Elmarit 24mm F/2.8, I get excellent results. I know that many users need Canon and Nikon, and some of them don't like Leica. There are two section in phography, one of them "photography", and other "Leica Photography".

Opinion: I have owned this camera for over three years and I still love it and use it fairly regularly. It is built like a tank. The kit lens is tack sharp and it's OIS works great.

Opinion: This is a great camera! I love it. It's true, once you get it set up, it's the creative
photographer's dream machine.

Opinion: I have Digilux 3 almost one year now.Still sataisfied with it.
Just play with Manual focus lens "R" from leica and "OM" from Olympus. Better result than Digilux 3 lens kit.

Opinion: I can't say enough about how I'm enjoying owning this camera. For me, using this
camera as my "walk around" makes taking pictures like when it was a hobby. FUN!

The feel is great. The analog position of the controls add to the experience of
making a photograph, while the digital menus and operation makes processing and
management easy. You just get to make great pictures.

In short, I LOVE this camera.

I recently wrote about the benefits of keeping a walk around camera in your arsenal
and included some images from the Digilux 3 - you can read the post and view the
images here:

http://www.johnthawley.com/journal/2008/9/5/friday-moanin-out-of-my-head.html

I really like shooting with the black & white settings. Battery life seems VERY good.
And I find it's worth shooting with this camera in RAW. You're going to get pictures
you want to keep for a long time to come.

If you've ever envisioned yourself walking around the city taking street photos with
a Leica M3 rangefinder, this is an easy ticket to that fantasy. The camera is just
COOL.

Lastly, GREAT lens. I'd love to have this lens on any camera I own. It's definitely
worth the price of admission.

This one is not about the "tech specs" or for the measure-bators... this one is for
your head and your picture taking. I can't say enough.

Opinion: I recently bought a Leica Digilux 3, having been offered one new at a very keen price. I think the camera itself is very good, but nothing too extraordinary - small dim viewfinder, noisy at high ISOs, soft JPEGs. What really sets it apart is the Leica 14-50mm lf2.8-3.5 Vario-Elmarit lens. I already own an Olympus 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 lens for the Four Thirds system (on an E-500 Olympus body), and it's the best standard zoom I've ever used - sharp and contrasty at all apertures, with (virtually) no distortion at wideangle settings. In terms of absolute resolving power, the Leica lens is perhaps no sharper than the Olympus. It also has slightly more barrel distortion at 14mm. But - the Vario-Elmarit produces images that look sharper because the camera's AF is very accurate, and the in-lens image stablisation works fantastically well. As a result, I'm getting a far higher percentage of perfectly sharp pictures with this camera/lens compared to any of the other DSLRs I own (Nikon, Fuji, Sony, Canon, Pentax, Olympus). The Digilux-3's AF is absolutely spot-on and rarely misses - even in low light. It's not the fastest to lock on, but when it does-so it's accurate. I haven't the steadiest hands, but with a bit of luck I can get sharp shots at 1/4 sec with the Digi-3. In Pixel Peeping lab tests, a camera like the Digi 3 may not compare favourably with the best APS-C sensor DSLRs, let alone full-frame types. But, in the real world, the Digi-3 gives extremely good, highly consistent results. I also have a Leica M8, and the Digi 3 produces results that closely match the M8 with primes lenses. The Digi-3's combination of outstanding corner-to-corner lens sharpness, accurate AF and exceptionally effective anti-shake result in consistently good pictures. A word of warning; the Digi 3's in-camera JPEGs don't do the lens and sensor full justice. Shooting RAW fully realises the Digilux-3's capabilities. At £1700, the price was/is way too high. But if you can get one for under (say) £800 it's a good buy. The Olympus E-3 produces superior JPEGs - sharper, with brighter more vivid colour - but the Leica Lens anti-shake is better than the Sensor anti-shake of the E-3.

Opinion: excellent ready to print jpeg files, excellent lens in bundle (Leica vario elmarit 14-50/2,8-3,5) with stabilizer, little view - finder, not too fast AF, very expensive price...but i'm altogether satisfied.
Ideal for reportage and street photography.

Opinion: Great camera for the user who loves the classic design and operation of manual cameras. Image quality is great, but for anything serious I would recommend using the RAW mode to take full advantage of this cameras capabilities. Lens is super sharp, sharper than my Canon 17-40L! This camera is highly underrated, but you HAVE to want it as it comes at a steep price compared to it's targeted competition (30D, D80, K100D, A100).

Opinion: What a perfect camera.
I sold my Canon 20d to buy this German (ok ok japanese) beauty.

The kit lens is huge and I have bought the adapter ring (orr. Leica) to use my old Leica R Lenses
It is easy to use these lenses even without the autofocus.

The price is a little to higy (for 400 euro's less you can buy the ugly panasonic clone ;)) but after this investment you have a camera for life.