Incredible f2.8 through the zoom range. 25 to 600mm expandable optically to almost 1200mm. Clear, articulated rear screen, even in bright sunlight. Adjustable electronic viewfinder to give better image views. Ease of use. Extended manual settings and an excellent image processor.

Difficult, but the available cases are not great and it is not easy to track down accessories at the moment. If the lens hood is attached to the lens in reverse and you turn the camera off, the lens slightly retracts and the hood can cat h your fingers, so be careful.

I, like many others have always dreamed of owning a Leica. Well, now I do. I bought this, having realized that my trusty and well loved DSLR, was getting little use and wanted something with a large zoom, that I could take anywhere and was instantly available. Of course it also had to take great images!

At this stage, I do not intend going through all the details, like a pixel counter, but I want to give my initial impressions of the camera.

It has a very fast f2.8 lens, applicable right through the zoom range, which I find superb. A zoom equivalent of 25-600 mm, which optically expands to about 1200 mm if you reduce the picture resolution slightly to 8 mega pixels. The rear articulated screen is the best I have ever seen and can be seen without problem even in very bright sunlight.

Leica have included the usual feature set and plenty of manual controls too for the more adventurous of us. I put the camera to a good test, comparing it's macro ability with my Nikon D7000 and Tamron 90 mm macro lens. I was stunned at were lose the results were. Obviously it gave a much greater depth of field than the macro, but none the less the results were more than satisfactory. My swivel then spotted a large bird swirling up into the sky and in a flash, out came the Leica and using the rear screen, I located it, zoomed in to 58 times zoom and snapped the shot, which hands held has come out well enough to identify the bird as a Booted Eagle, even though it was so high as to be difficult to see with the naked eye.

I have yet to print any images, which will be another good test, but will update this review as I live with the camera.

so, what are the negatives? So far, I can find none with the camera itself. That said, accessories are not easy to come by. There is no purpose built case, so I opted for a Leica neoprene case, which does the job, but is not quite of the quality you expect from Leica. Another problem is locating a cable release for it. Leica's own is a staggering price and third party options appear limited. This may be due to the relative newness of the camera.

All in all, I am delighted with this little gem. A great way to own a Leica at a very reasonable price.

Customer Service

Stephens cameras in Manchester, England were a joy to deal with and offer free help and advise any time.

Similar Products Used:

Olympus and Sony range