So here's the scenario that led me to purchase this camera. After years of photography with a Contax RTS II system, I dropped photography almost completely for 10+ years. The problem? Enjoying the medium without the expense, overly complex process and lugging around 18 lbs of equipment. So I recently started to look at digital photography to completely replace my film equipment. I didn't want an SLR because a)while $1200 buy's a 20oz. technological marvel, it's still made like a disposable $100 EOS Rebel and b)I would be back in the trap of buying lenses and overcomplicating the process. I wanted to get back to simple pure photography withough relying on fancy equipment.
Here was the problem though. There are virtually no non-slr digicams that offer full manual controls in a user friendly, old style manor. Even the SLR's all rely on LCD displays, cheesey dials and buttons.
There was only one (two including the Leica branded version) camera made that offers a rugged classic rangefinder design, an APERATURE RING!, a SHUTTER DIAL!, and manual FOCUS! and ZOOM! rings. While some of these are only emulate mechanical linkages, the end result is a camera that feels exactly like a Leica "m" or other traditional camera would. Oh and by the way did I mention it comes with a fantastic bright Leica f 2.0 lens?
In all honesty, I am not embarrassed to say that it boiled down to style and build quality. Sure there are histograms, program shifts, multiple spot and zone metering/focusing options, a bounce flash (neat feature), 30fps video mode, RAW image format, etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah. All $1000+ digicams have lot's of features, and franklly they are all capable of fantastic images. In the end if you want a camera that is SIMPLY designed the way cameras were made 20-50 years ago with all the bells and whistles if you want them, this is the ONLY choice.
Are there problems? Sure... The low light focusing capabilities leave something to be desired as with most EVF cameras. There is no RAW buffer so RAW images take a few seconds to store. But my initial feeling for this camera is that it is a joy to use.
This is not a cheap camera! With a list of $1599 and a street of $1099-$1399, it will be hard for some to justify not getting a Nikon D70 and 2 lenses in order to get this instead. It will be a certain type of buyer (you know who you are) that will buy this camera regardless of what I write. If you are a poser, buy the Leica Digilux 2 for $1850 street price and throw away $750. It is identical but the body on the Panasonic has a beautiful rubberized surface with just enough of a grip at the right to be effective. The black finish is very nice as well. It does however come with a few extras that would easily add $100+ to most DSLR's like an electronic cable release, a lense shade and filter.
So in the end I got exactly what I wanted and if you are like me, you will not be dissapointed.
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