Leica Digilux 2

Posted by T3 Online on Fri 19 Oct 2007

Ah, the old cost-versus-quality argument...

Time to don your beret, buy a pack of 20 Gauloises, walk around Paris taking candid snaps of homeless artistes and chomp on raw garlic. Having designed some of the best film cameras in the world since 1925, Leica has finally built a "serious" digital model.

Firstly, the styling is a real relief after the monstrous, plasticky Digilux 1, although anyone scared of a little weight and bulk should look elsewhere.

But the real headliner - apart from the astronomical price - is the 28-90mm equivalent lens, which has proper manual focus, aperture and zoom rings, much like those on the company's SLR lenses. There's also a traditional dial for manually setting shutter speeds, so you really have got full creative control at your fingertips. Don't worry, though - it can still be set to auto-everything mode.

The viewfinder is one of the most disappointing things, as it's electronic and therefore not clear enough to focus accurately using the manual setting - despite the central portion of the display being enlarged when the focusing ring is moved. The external 2.5-inch LCD is superb, although susceptible to fingerprints.

Aside from a little purple fringing, image quality from the five-megapixel sensor is as exceptional as you'd hope. Possibly the most useful feature is the flash's "bounce" mode - you can position it pointing upwards to reflect off a ceiling for more natural-looking indoor portraits.

There's a certain feel to this camera that makes you want to use it and take photos that are worthy of it, but it'll depend on you whether that justifies the silly price tag - over �500 more than Canon's EOS 300D.