Slumming it: Leica V-Lux 4

[RezaLoghme]

In a quite irresponsible state of mind, I picked up a shabby looking V-Lux 4 for the price of a good steak dinner. Photos did not look promising. Today it arrived. Cleaned it. A charming little fellow. More toys than in Hamleys. Some pixel issues in a corner of the fold-out screen. Everthing else works. Small, lightweight...and really "ok-ish" OOC files. Some post-production, but thats it.

How on earth can this cost less than an Oberwerth bag? It is going to be my travel companion from now on.

My puzzled face!!

 

[koraks]

How on earth can this cost less than an Oberwerth bag?

Probably because it's really the same as a Panasonic FZ200. It's made by Panasonic also, but was also sold with a Leica badge. AFAIK the camera is really a Panasonic camera, but made in part to meet specifications outlined by Leica. AFAIK the electronics as well as the optics are in-house developments by Panasonic.
So realistically you'd expect to pay for a V-Lux4 the same as for a FZ200 plus a premium for the Leica logo.

The going rate for a FZ200 around here is around €100-150 with some peaks to €200-250. Supply seems to be ample.

 

[RezaLoghme]

I like it a lot an am surprised about the image quality and how much i can do.