SERIOUS QUALITY POINT AND SHOOT FROM A LEGEND

This camera is almost too good to be believed. Loaded into a machine that will easily fit into any reasonably ample pocket (I keep mine in my shirt pocket with the strap around my neck once I take it out of the fanny pack to shoot), is a serious photographic tool, whose ease of use may fool you into not taking it seriously. That would be a mistake; this is, to quote a contribution to a Leica forum, "a serious piece of kit." Indeed it is. Changing settings on the fly is fast and quickly becomes intuitive. White balance can be set to various shooting condition presets or even color temperatures, and then fine tuned to add or subtract magenta/green, yellow/blue. Color printers from yesteryear will quickly recognize that these parameters include red/cyan. One can also white balance by reference.
If you've waded through the menus of some other cameras, the ease and speed with which almost any setting can be changed on the d-lux 4 will quickly win you over. As always, my personal preference for automatic shooting is aperture priority, a habit I developed in the 35mm days when the kinds of subjects I shot required more control over depth of field than shutter speed. Whatever your preference, though, the D-lux will certainly have it. Aperture and shutter priority, full manual, program, snapshot, and more scene modes than I'll ever use, give anyone from the pro to the rank amateur plenty of options. Exposure compensation is a breeze, The one scene mode I have used, night scene, produced a flawlessly exposed shot of an urban street: lighted signs held full information, and the shadowy sidewalks held detail. An impressive performance that would have required a series of decisions about exposure and contrast on a manual photographers part -- unless, of course, he knew his way around night photography.
This camera has the same hardware as the Panasonic Lumix LX3. Same sensor, same lens, same box. Only the firmware and included software are different. Why, then, was I willing to pay a $200 premium for the Leica, and why are some willing to pay an even greater difference. There are three reasons. Leica jpegs are said to be superior, not an issue if you only shoot raw, but for many of us, who shoot raw + jpeg and need a quick jpeg out of the box before even loading the raw files into the development software, jpeg quality can be important. Not to mention the majority of shooters who never go near a raw file. Further, the Capture One software included with the Leica, a $130 full working version that will process other manufacturer's proprietary raw formats, is clearly preferable, to me at least, than the SilkyPix included with the Panasonic. SilklPix is well thought of, but I've tried it and just don't much like it. The third reason is the two year parts and labor Leica warranty vs the 90 day Panasonic.
After years of lugging around 35mm kits and, indeed, 4x5 monorail cameras into the wilderness, a bad back, arthritic shoulders, and an increasing awareness that suffering for one's art is overrated, have had me looking for a perfect little camera to keep with me at all times. I still cherish my Olympus DSLRs, and carry them when I KNOW I'm going to use them. But I like always to have a camera on me. And even though the 24-60mm vario-summicron lens (35mm equivalent) has no telephoto range, it performs to exacting standards, will take a crop, and produces some of the best digital pictures I've seen, and not just from a small point and shoot.

Blinded By Quality & Features; I Forgot How Much I Paid

From the waning days of Film to the waxing High Tech Digital Camera onslaught, somehow I have been buying what has been the cutting edge of both ends of the spectrum. Well the Cutting Edge Quality Leica D-Lux 4 has really impressed me. Now I think everyone playing with High End Cameras demand Quality Fit and Finish; the Leica D-Lux 4 hands down takes the award. But what really caught me by surprise was the Sophistication and Simplicity of this camera. It can do just about anything any Professional or ambitious armature wants! What makes this even better it’s so simple to Navigate through the Intuitive menus! And for those of us that just want to go “Full Automatic” and end up with Beautifully Exposed photos, not to worry, the Leica D-Lux 4 will not let you down! Now those that want to get ‘creative,’ with ISO speeds, aperture and shutter speedwell hang on, it’s all there and very simple to manipulate. There are enough buttons and menus that will give the ‘creative’ enough shooting scenarios to last a life time… And this camera is built to last a lifetime, like a small Cartier Tank, it’s not one you will easily fumble. Now I’m a firm believer that you get what you pay for and try to preach this to as many as possible and yet, so many will sell short just to save (so they think) $100. And never really be satisfied. There will always be the “I should have… and envy. So to avoid the Remorse of things you should have done and the things you love to have, take my advice and grab one of these Fast! You know, my wait for my Leica M9 doesn’t seem to be all that pressing since I bought the Leica D-Lux-4.

Pricey but a gem, overall

I bought the Leica D-Lux4 as a hopeful compromise between my Nikon SLR and my Canon point-and-shoot. I found it to be an excellent choice. Leica has created a point-and-shoot with manual options that has an unparalleled feel aesthetically.
Coming from the Canon, I found the controls to be fairly intuitive. The photo quality is incredible, the LCD screen stunning. If I have a complaint, it's trouble getting as close as I would like with macro; but with a little fiddling, it does rather well on that as well. With a 60-second maximum shutter, night photos are an option. The selections in 'Scene' mode are fun to play with, too, especially 'Pinhole'.
The only reason I didn't give it a full 5 stars in every category is because of a couple of things: the zoom; optical zoom is small, more zoom would be really nice. I know photos can be cropped, but I prefer seeing what they will look like cropped before I take the picture if possible. The other thing is a small one; that is the lens cap. Dangling off the camera when off the lens, it can be annoying. And it's not like an SLR lens cap, you can just put on a filter and leave the cap off, it's got to be on when not in use. There is an aftermarket auto lens cap, I haven't tried it. But overall, this is a great camera.

Best Pocketable camera around!

This is an excellent little camera that really can't be considered a simple point and shoot. It's so much more than that, with its incredible Leica Summicron f2 lens, full manual shooting option, and RAW capability. Though in most ways the same as the panasonic lumix lx3, there are a few things that really set it apart from the lx3. The most obvious is the much improved styling and sought after "red dot" badge, but there is also a good bit of a difference in the jpeg processing, with the Leica jpegs coming out quite a bit better than the panasonic. Another feature of note is the very very good b&w setting this camera has. The black and white images out of this camera have a sort of depth to them; with almost a three dimensional quality. As far as noise handling goes, above iso 400 it not as good as an slr, but under iso 400 noise isn't an issue (plus the f2.0 lens more than compensates for this). The lens itself is quite sharp, and has a wide angle of view that really comes in handy on some shots. The only downside to the lens is a limited zoom range, though I haven't had any desire for more zoom than this camera possesses. The control layout of this camera is in my opinion quite well though out, and I was able to figure out every major function within 10 minutes of receiving it, without once looking at the manual. This camera is great for any time the bulk of an slr isn't wanted, and can be fit into a pocket with ease. Overall, I would reccomend this camera to a friend in a hearbeat, especially now that it can be found used for under $500.

An excellent camera between a point and shoot and SLR

This by far is my favorite camera so far. Love its low light capabilities, and fact that can set aperture/exposure/iso. Also shoots HD video. More details and sample pictures at: http://peephole.bit2byte.com/m​y-adventures-with-leica-d-lux4