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Leica rehashes Panasonic's Lumix Fz150 as the V-LUX 3, because 'image' matters
Leave it to Leica to rebrand a recent Panasonic camera, tack on its iconic red dot and then likely charge a premium. Such is the case with its "new" V-Lux 3 digital superzoom, which is essentially its take on the venerable Lumix FZ150 we spent some hands-on time with back in August. To recap, this shooter features a 12.1 megapixel CMOS sensor, Leica's DC Vario-Elmarit 4.5 - 108 mm f/2.8 - 5.2 ASPH lens (that's 25 - 600mm for you full-frame buffs), 1080p AVC HD video recording at up to 60fps with stereo sound and an a77-like 12fps continuous burst mode (albeit using manual focus). On back, you'll find an articulating 3-inch LCD loaded with a 460K pixel resolution and a 0.2-inch EVF, both of which feature nearly 100% frame coverage. While there's no word price, you can surely expect the V-Lux 3 to cost a few Benjamins more than its Lumix counterpart when it hits shelves in January. Hey, at least you can say it's a Leica, right?
Three more sexy-cams from Leica
We know these new Leicas are all about performance, but they sure look sexy doing it. Even though these three new "lower-end" (compared to the M8, at least) cams are all based on Panasonic tech and bodies, they all add a little bit of Leica flare that really brings the drool -- and really jacks the price. For starters, we have the DIGILUX 3 (pictured), which is based on Panasonic's DMC-L1. The 7.5 megapixel "LiveMOS" DSLR has all those lovable specs like an optical image stabilized lens, supersonic dust filter and 2.5-inch LCD, plus some Leica tweaks to get even better pics out of the configuration. Next up is the DSLR-ish V-LUX 1, which hardly departs from its DMC-FZ50 counterpart. However, the 10 megapixel CCD, 12x optically image stabilized zoom lens, and 2-inch LCD aren't anything to scoff at. Finally, Leica's D-LUX 3 does things ultra-compact style, aping the specs from the DMC-LX2, with a 10.2 16:9 CCD, 2.8-inch LCD, and of course that lovable optical image stabilisation. Unfortunately, Leica isn't spilling on pricepoints, but thankfully we don't think they're going to quite match the M8's gargantuan $5,000+ pricetag. Keep reading for pics of the V-LUX and D-LUX.Read - DIGILUX 3Read - V-LUX 1Read - D-LUX 3
