My little point & shoot Canon developed a fault in the sensor so I needed to replace it with something new. After some research (and guessing) I punted on a Leica D-Lux 5, which is essentially a re-badged Panasonic LX-5.

Why the Leica? I like the classy look of the camera, the reports of great image quality, an ability to take HD video, the solid (mostly) metal body, the two year warranty, and it ships with a copy of Adobe Lightroom 3.

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Photo courtesy Leica Website

I haven't had a chance to take many shots yet given some lousy weather here in Melbourne recently but I am looking forward to trying it out very seriously shortly. One observation so far is that images taken and processed as Black & White in Lightroom look absolutely fantastic.

Always good to get the owner in front of the new camera! - 2011

Update : My initial impressions of the camera were favourable with respect to image quality, but not so much from an ergonomic / usability perspective. After some research, it appeared that two Leica options would help alleviate these concerns significantly. One is the Electronic Viewfinder which removes the issue of trying to frame the shots in he screen in bright light; and secondly a handgrip, making the tasteful but smooth / slippery body much easier to hold. I fully realise that these additions make an expensive point & shoot now very expensive, but in my view the camera is a keeper and these additions will only add to my enjoyment.

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Will post more usage comments as they come to hand.