Old Master
New member
What may be a design defect causes the electronics to fail on this and similar models, which Panasonic will not acknowledge. When it works it is a wonderful camera, and mine lived in an air conditioned New York City apartment before it failed. Panasonic refuses to honor the one year warranty within the warranty period because they determined "moisture damage" to a connector on the main circuit board (a few pins appear to be corroded), but were not willing to discuss any other design defect that could be the cause. So, this design will not survive unless used indoors in a dry climate.
Problems:
A few pins on connector are discolored, which may be moisture, and may be faulty materials in the connectors themselves. Panasonic rejected warranty out of hand, no appeal, or interest. Perhaps they are covering up known defects, maybe I just got a lemon from an orange grove. I have several similar Leica cameras, D-Lux 4, 5, and 20 and they are perfect over many years. My experience with Panasonic over the years has been good, but not this time.
Problems:
A few pins on connector are discolored, which may be moisture, and may be faulty materials in the connectors themselves. Panasonic rejected warranty out of hand, no appeal, or interest. Perhaps they are covering up known defects, maybe I just got a lemon from an orange grove. I have several similar Leica cameras, D-Lux 4, 5, and 20 and they are perfect over many years. My experience with Panasonic over the years has been good, but not this time.