Leica has announced a new 24x megazoom, the Leica V-Lux 3. As with Leica’s other point-and-shoot digital cameras, such as the Leica D-Lux 5 (aka the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5), it’s actually manufactured by Panasonic in Japan and is virtually identical to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150. Of course the V-Lux 3 will be priced significantly higher at $950 when it comes out in January 2012 (vs. the FZ150’s $500 price tag), but it will come bundled with Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, which is a $150 value. What does the rest of the $300 buy you? Possibly some slight firmware differences (past Leica/Panasonic doppelgangers have differed in JPEG processing), but mainly it gets you that fancy red dot.
Key specs include:
- 12.1-megapixel CMOS sensor
- 24x zoom lens: 25-600mm equivalent, f/2.8-5.2
- 3-inch, 461,000-dot articulating LCD
- 0.2-inch, 202,000-dot EVF
- Full 1080p AVCHD video at 60fps
- Integrated stereo microphone with a wind-noise filter
- Continuous-shooting up to 12 fps at full resolution; 60fps at 3.5 megapixels
