I am surprised by the lens quality of this camera. Although I have heard good reviews about it, I never expected the lens to be so good given the limits on zoom lens. The pictures are very contrasty and sharp. What's even more special about this lens is the color. It can produce really saturated colors that make stand out from other compacts. To put it into perspective, I have used two Contax TVS and two Rollei Prego 90 and this Leica is in a different league because of its lens. I also use a Minolta TC-1, which has a truly great 28mm lens. The C3, on 4x6 prints, shows identical quality in terms of saturation and sharpness!
The build quality is very good too. It is made of metal but very light. This is big improvement over the Contax TVS, which are quite heavy as compact cameras.
The 28-80mm range of the zoom makes it ideal for travel and landscape photos. It is thus a much better choice than the Minilux Zoom.
Strengths:
the lens!
build quality
useful range of zoom lens
Weaknesses:
not very good at close focusing
auto focusing in dim light can be off the mark
I bought the C3 as a new P&S to replace a Z2X which had begun to give up the ghost. Overall I think it represents excellent value. It's mostly called upon for impromptu snapping, kids shots, family and so on. Compared to the Z2X the construction is miles better. Pretty design and feels good in the hand, and also a better viewfinder. Performance is excellent at shorter focal lengths. The nearer you get to the subject, it just keeps getting better and better. There is a big drop-off in quality as you start zooming in. At the far end image quality is poor. In fact nowadays I don't bother using the zoom, just leave it in wide angle. Within these constraints the camera is an excellent performer. Flash also quite meaty for a P&S.
I bought Leica C3 five months ago and the rubber ring from viewfinder came out. It took a lot of time to receive the part and to find the Leica service. Leica does not cover the cost of transportation of cameras even for a camera in warranty.
Other problem: unexplained mid-roll broken film inside the camera!
For the photos the quality is very good even in the low-light conditions, sharp and natural colours.
A good camera, easy to use, very nice design, but having problems with the camera body so soon and unpleasant experience with the Leica service is quite disappointing.
Strengths:
Sharp, quality photos, nice design.
Weaknesses:
Cheap rubber ring around the viewfinder, small viewfinder, short battery life, damaged film.
Great lens, fast, optimal zoom range for everay day point and shooting, lovely rich colour, nice contrast, active AF quite accurate, nice retro design, casing is tough and durable, strong flash, handling control change can be improved (too many pokes) easily by adding a flash mode change button to the normal mode change, otherwise,one of the best, if not the best zoom P&S I have used.
Strengths:
- Wonderful lens, sharp, contrasty, great colour
- Good Active AF
- Program biased towards non use of flash
- Strong flash (when required)
- Nice design
- Durable, survived drop test a few times
- 3 year warranty, hopefully not to be used
Weaknesses:
- A little expensive
- Body a little tubby around the middle
- Flash can take a long time to juice up
Rating Reviewed by: Adrian (Unregistered User)
(Intermediate)
Review Date June 17, 2003
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Value Rating 4 of 5
Used product for 3 Months to 1 year
Visitors rate this review 5.00 of 5,
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Review 5 of 7
Price Paid:
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from Southampton
Summary:
I have put about 30 rolls of film, including B&W, slide and 100-400 ISO films. I'm really pleased with the sharpness and rich colours (quite stunning colours. A little bulky and some of the handling is quirky, but you soon get used to it and it's a great camera.
Strengths:
Great optics
Sharp images, and Rich colours - even in low light with the aperture wide open (quite a strength)
Fast lens - f3.6 at 28mm
Retro styling
Good feel for taking photos.
Powerful flash for fill-in or indoor use
Comes with a Leica leather case
T mode for long exposures (up to 90 secs)
Weaknesses:
Red -eye reduction is limited (not the strobe type)
A bit big for a compact
Some of the handling takes some getting used to - but this is part of the fun and there are no real problems
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