I tired of carrying my DSLR and associated lenses, etc and decided to go to a Point and Shoot (P&S) camera. I had read a great deal and having owned a Nikon D-60 DSLR for a period of time, was concerned primarily with picture quality in going from a DSLR with large sensor to a P&S with much smaller sensor. For 3 solid months, give or take, I diligently, researched all P&S cameras as well as "mirrorless cameras" currently on the market. I went to 'handle' the cameras I was interested in (see below) and to Flickr on the internet and queried some groups regarding the cameras I was considering. I am a hobbyist when it comes to photography but, I was obsessed with getting as close to the superior photo quality of a DSLR as possible in a P&S. I finally decided on the Leica due to (what I believe to be) superior photo quality and excellent in-camera jpeg processing. I looked at the Nikon P7000...mixed but generally lower reviews within this group (I have owned a number of/and greatly respect... Read more

My first Leica that is affordable. I was going back and forth between this and the Panasonic LX5 as they are essentially the same camera as I've read. I wanted something for travel and as a backup to my Canon dSLR. This is smaller than I expected which is actually great because I can fit it in my pocket!

As for price, if you think about it, the copy of Adobe Lightroom and the 3 year warranty basically means it costs about the "same" as the LX5 if not getting a better deal IMO. Yeah, I like the red dot too...and the build is really solid for this camera..and a beautiful one at that. The menu is pretty intuitive. The manual isn't all that informative.
Picture quality looks great, I like the different formats..I can take square pics or wide angle..

The special effects aren't as robust as the Olympus Pen, but I use graphic editing programs anyway....gets a little noisy above 1600 but again, I have noise reduction software..but for its size and convenience and... Read more

I'm very happy with this camera.

The only up side to having my D-Lux 3 stolen this past summer was that the D-Lux 5 was soon to be released. I use a camera for my work - which is mostly point-and-shoot locations stuff - but I also want the ability to take beautiful pictures when I have the time.

This camera gives me what I need.

I love the simplified menu, the rear dial, the hot shoe for my viewfinder and flash, but most of all I love the quality of the pictures I can get whether it's a quick snap-shot or a nicely composed portrait.

It's not a pro camera but it's a great camera for someone (like me) who carries a camera with them at all times looking for that great image.

Warranty is great and Light Room is a nice addition. As for concerns over the price difference between this and the Panasonic version c'mon, you spend that much for premium cable every month.