Panasonic

The new Lumix LX15 brings high performance in a tiny package. Could it be the next Leica?

Mike wakes up to an offer he can't refuse....

Last week I met a photographer friend for lunch and a mooch around the West End in search of likely street shots. Not much doing on that front, but Steven happened to mention a bargain price on the recently discontinued Panasonic GX7. Now I coveted this particular camera, the one with the swivelling viewfinder, when it first came out back in 2013. I read many ecstatic reviews and I was sore tempted. Recently, quite by coincidence, several photographer mates have told me how much they enjoy this little camera. 

One look at the Fuji X-Pro, which can often be mistaken for a Leica M film camera (at a long-distance, very brief glance, admittedly), and I wonder why it is that Leica hasn't made a similarly pretty and traditional APS-C camera. This market should have been Leica's natural hunting ground.

CameraBeta here in China has published details of what it says is the specification of the promised Panasonic LX-200, successor to the current LX-100. While this could be just speculation, the details are extremely plausible. 

My wife and I had often talked about going to Cuba before it changed and this year we decided to take the plunge. The first impression was of having gone back in time. There were very few cars and people were either walking or waiting for buses or hitching lifts. There were very few shops and no sign whatsoever of any advertising. Now that the country is opening to outside influence, this remarkable taste of history cannot be long in the changing.

Back in January I compared the Fuji X100T with the X-T1 as a tool for the street photographer. At the time I couldn't make up my mind which I preferred. Since then I've had more experience with both cameras and it is the X100T that has had to go. The X-T1 is also a great street photographer tool and performs flawlessly. I'm willing to give up the complexities of the optical/electronic viewfinder system for the greater versatility of the interchangeable-lens X-T1.

The successful cooperation between Leica and Panasonic will continue for at least another five years according to a joint release from the two companies. On Friday, Leica's CEO Dr. Alfred Schopf and Panasonic's Yoshiyuki Miyabe renewed the agreement which first started in 2000 with digital audiovisual equipment lenses and was extended to the digital camera sector the following year. 

As rumoured, the new Leica V-Lux is based on the Panasonic FZ1000 with the one-inch sensor. It is similar to the Sony RX10 in format but with a longer zoom and the ability to record 4K video.

According to Leica Rumors, the new V-Lux to be announced at Photokina next week is "most likely" based on the FZ1000. If so, this is a logical move for Leica and will turn the V-Lux into a truly desirable tool for serious photography.

Hints are that the new LX7 will be called the LX100 (get it.... RX100, LX100) which is more evidence that the Sony is in Panasonic's sights.