Nice design, excellent optics, ease of use.

The lens is slow at long focal lenght.
Better use 400 ISO film.

I bought the Leica C1 because we had a good experience with my wife's Leica C11 APS camera. Initially I thought the camera was quite expensive (almost three times the price of an average 38-105 P & S) but at the end
I was seduced by the beautiful design and by the brand name. I can say I have not been
disappointed. First pictures came out very sharp, with warm colors, and the flash light
seems to remarkably cover any focal lenght.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon P & S, Leica C11 APS.

Amazing design , a joy to handle,
wonderful lens, B and T pose.

None

The camera proved to be the best point & shoot I ever had.
My wife, owner of a Canon 135, now always uses the C1 (even if
the Canon is a very good camera) and my son, owner of a Leica C11 APS,
always find a way to "steal" from me the C1.

Customer Service

Oustanding. The first C1 had a problem with the red LED linked to
flash functions. I wrote an e-mail to Leica Germany on Saturday night.
Monday morning I got a very kind answer from Germany that they were already taking care of the problem.
Monday at lunvh time I got a phone call from Leica Belgium to reassure me that my camerea was going to be replaced asap. Monday afternoon I got an e-mail from Leica Belgium where they said that on Tuesday morning a Leica representative was planning to personally deliver to Photo Alpha a new C1 for me ! And, last but not least, on Monday evening my wife received a phone call from Leica Germany's Customer Service and a very kind person announced her that everything was solved and apologized for the inconvenient ! All this in one day ! I still can't believe it. They treated us like kings. Our
initial disappointment for having bought a defective camera turned out to be a pride sentiment for being owners of a Leica.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 135, several Pentax P $ S.

Exceptional looks - reminiscent of my IIIf
Reasonable Good lens
Powerful flash

Little user control
Does not memorize settings

Agreed with previous posts that this is a good, but not exceptional camera. It takes relatively good snapshots if you use Kodak Supra 400's, but there's no way it will rival a SLR. Will you even consider taking portraits at 105 at F10.6 or whatever it is? With little user control, those that claim you can shoot slides are being very optimistic (You cannot even shoot NPH at ASA320). I think those who sing unqualified praises are justifying what they have spent on the tool. In fact, if they think C1's lens are great, what will they think about the Minilux, whose lens probably rivals my 35mm Summilux in terms of tonality! And the Minilux has user controls, even if they are somewhat awkward to use. The looks are a knockout though. I think the C1 is a good fashion accessory that matches my Hermes tie (wait, a IIIF ST with 50 Elmar lens has even greater OOMPH appeal).

Customer Service

None

Similar Products Used:

Owned -
Contax T2
Leica Minilux
Olympus Stylus

Nice size, well built camera. Prints have the "Leica look" and are properly exposed.

Price is a little high and the camera is slippery. Could fly out of your hands and injure someone. Lens is slow.

I really don't have any complaints about this camera other than the weaknesses I've already listed. I had a Minilux Zoom that alway seemed to under expose pictures. I loved that camera but simply could not depend on it to produce a print that looked good to me (guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder). I bought this after selling the Minilux and have been very happy with it.
Please don't think this is anything other than what it is. It's a point & shoot camera. It takes great snap shots and has a sharp little lens but, like all point & shoots, it is not an SLR killer. People who make that claim need to get a better lens for their SLR.
All things considered, I have to give this camera 5 stars. No it's not an SLR, no it doesn't have some of the features other cameras have and yes the lens is slow, but the C1 takes great pictures and that is what really counts.

Customer Service

None needed

Similar Products Used:

I usually use an SLR but have an Olympus Stylus Epic and had a Minilux Zoom for about 6 months. I've also owened several other point & shoot cameras during the last 20-30 years.

Build quality, fit & finish, light weight for size, powerful flash. The best exposures have that definite "Leica look".

Fussy autofocus which unpredictably locks onto the background instead of the subjects. Focus lock rarely helps as it should in this situation. Second specimen, direct from Leica warehouse, exhibits the same tendency, though less so.
I've shot the same subjects side by side with a relative who used a Stylus 80 zoom. Her pictures were sharp, mine were not. Kinda difficult to explain to my fiancee why this camera is worth the $$$.
Shutter so quiet that the inexperienced might not know the exposure was taken, especially in noisy environment.
Plus, holding the shutter down results in a series of rapid-fire exposures with no flash. Ever had someone take your picture with your camera and get one properly exposed shot, and EIGHT more taken without flash?
Tiny viewfinder.
Unexpectedly frequent red-eye for a camera having considerable distance between flash and lens axis. Red-eye reduction helps, but causes unacceptable lag between "cheese" and exposure.
Matching Leica case is obscenely expensive, and minimally function.

High-priced, sturdy, luxurious zoom P&S with excellent optics hampered by fussy autofocus. Only average in exposure accuracy, manual control, and freedom from red-eye.

Customer Service

I have read some horror stories about Leica USA service ... cameras and binoculars sitting waiting for parts for months and months.
Fortunately my fiancee lives a few miles from the factory service center in Montvale NJ. So I hand-delivered the camera, and a couple of prints showing a large blurry subject in the foreground and a nice, sharp wall in the background. I was told that Leica USA has no parts or service capability for the P&S models, so in lieu of repair they would drop-ship a brand new retail package. It came 3 days later! Unfortunately it's only about 50% better than the original, and "good enough" that it would be tough to convince them to replace the camera yet again.

Similar Products Used:

Canon Elph (original).
Nikon 35Ti, Contax T2, Minolta TC-1, Olympus Stylus Epic, Yashica T4.