Leica D-LUX 3 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)

by Leica

• 10-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 18 x 24-inch prints
• Unique manual setting options give you the freedom to create images that express your own style
• High-quality Leica lens takes in stunning shots from the wide-angle to the telephoto range
• O.I.S. optical stabilization technology and ultra fast processing
• Pure, discreet, timeless design in a housing of high-quality aluminum

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.6 x 0.9 x 0.4 inches ; 7.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000J6FTUQ
• Item model number: 18303
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,785 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 18, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Every picture taken with the Leica D-LUX 3 has a story to tell. The unique manual setting options give you the freedom to create images that express your own style. Use the high-quality Leica lens to take stunning shots from the wide-angle to the telephoto range. With O.I.S. optical stabilization technology and ultra fast processing, the Leica D-LUX 3 sets new standards in its class. Choose between three picture formats, achieve first-class image quality with the camera's 10 megapixel sensor and assess your shots on the wide-screen display. Small and elegant, the Leica D-LUX 3 is always ready to make your personal view of the world reality.

Stylish design
The design of the D-Lux 3 is totally in keeping with Leica tradition: pure, discreet, timeless--in a housing of high-quality aluminum.

Always on the move
The D-Lux 3 is so light, compact and unobtrusive that there's no reason why you should leave it at home. Small as it is, it's a great performer: three file formats--from simple JPEG to the RAW format rarely offered in this class of camera--ensure optimum image quality for further processing as well. The image stabilizer (O.I.S.) leads to sharply focused images even in situations where there's not really enough natural light. The camera is also perfect for digiscoping--taking photographs through a spotting scope--to capture the fascination of nature at close range.

Plenty of scope for creativity
The D-Lux 3 still gives the photographer the freedom to create his own view of the world without any automatic settings. The 16:9 picture format with the full resolution of over 10-megapixels produces fantastic images for frame-filling viewing on HDTV equipment. The brilliant 2.8-inch display also has an aspect ratio of 16:9.

What's in the Box:
Camera with lens cap and hand loop, 64 MB SD card, charger, Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery, A/V cable, USB cable, extensive software package (Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 (PC)/3.0 (Mac), Quicktime Movie Player).

Product Description

Every picture taken with the LEICA D-LUX 3 has a story to tell. The unique manual setting options give you the freedom to create images that express your own style. Use the high-quality Leica lens to take stunning shots from the wide-angle to the telephoto range. With O.I.S. optical stabilization technology and ultra fast processing, the LEICA D-LUX 3 sets new standards in its class. Choose between 3 picture formats, achieve first-class image quality with the camera's 10 million megapixel sensor and assess your shots on the wide-screen display. Small and elegant, the LEICA D-LUX 3 is always ready to make your personal view of the world reality. (The LEICA D-LUX 3 will be available from mid October 2006 on.) equipment. The brilliant 2.8 display also has an aspect ratio of 16:9.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

124 of 126 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars best point and shoot.. EVER December 8, 2006

By Andrew Kirschner

First the bad news- NOISE!!!!! I guess with a sensor this small, there is just nothing you can do about it, short of using a noise plug-in with photoshop. At ISO 100 and 200 this is not a problem- jump to 400 and above and it becomes an issue.

Now the good news- because of the image stabilization, you can choose a lower speed, and minimize the noise as much as possible.

The lens is at least the equal of the one on my Contax TVSIII, which was the sharpest I have ever seen on a pocketable camera.

The internal flash is adequate for most conditions, but if you are takin advantage of the wide format, and trying to get a large room or group more than a few feet away, you should get the Metz compact digital flash which matches with it well.

I took RAW and JPEGs of the same scene and blew 'em up to 13x19 inches. While the raw image was marginally better, the JPEG (with minimal tweaking) was almost as good, and both were quite usable.

If you plan on shooting RAW- bes sure to get a largish high speed SD card.

I love that you can shoot manually, and getting great portraits is a snap- easy to blur out the background and get an incredible sharp portrait.

The preset modes suck.

The screen is great.

If you have a good photo stitching program, and you take a landscape photo with the camera vertically (say 4 or 5 sequential shots), taking advantage of the wide format, you will be floored. With this combination you can print landscapes 48 inches wide. I did this at the Eagles game on Monday night (Eagles won- thankfully!)- and the print was remarkable.

Nobody on the whole planet has the brown leather case. i want one and I want one bad.

Get this camera, be prepared to deal with the limitations of any camera using a small sensor, and you will be a happy clam. You will be able to leave your SLR home more often, and have a great camera with you always so you never miss a shot.

If you found this review useful, please send me the brown leather case.

194 of 203 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A good (not great) camera. Nice but not super-nice. Yet very chic & cool. October 7, 2007

By J. Douglas

Amazon Verified Purchase

First off, let me tell you I have been shooting with a Canon20D with 3 different lenses for the past four years, my basis for review IS biased, opinionated, and thus the Leica is being forced to compete with an SLR worth 2-3x the value of itself. Gyeah!

It's sort of a Leica. The camera is metal and has a retro-feel to it. I do like the simplicity of the dials. But it's made in Japan and it wouldn't take a die-hard camera-guru to tell you it's a souped up Panasonic.
I feel like I bought a Lexus with a maserati emblem on it. It's really good, but I expected fantastic.

NOISIER THAN A SLAYER CONCERT! My goodness this thing has trouble with dark lighting. Uggghhh. I wouldn't shoot this anywhere I didn't need sunglasses. 4 out of 10.

THE COLOR IS DECENT. An 8 out of 10.

LAGS! Press the shutter, wait, wait, wait, think about what you might have for lunch tommorow, wait, wait, wait... okay. Picture time. If you want to take a photo of any sport faster than chess or catfish noodling, don't get this camera. 2 out of 10

OVERALL PHOTO QUALITY.
It does take good photos. It collects a surprising amount of detail. The focusing is ingenious (sp?) for a point and shoot, and the options are nearly unlimited (3 different ways to photograph babies! 2 different skintone options) THere is a brain in there. 9 out of 10!!!!!!!!!! I'd go 8.5, but the focusing is quite brilliant, i.e. depth of field.

MANUAL SETTING.
THe programming is nearly unlimited, you need to spend at least half an hour to an hour to read and understand all the different settings available. But, in manual mode, THERE IS NO FOCUSING RING! You merely push the button up or down to tell it to focus in or out (like cheap video cameras). Left and Right button control aperature, and there are film speeds to choose from (100-200asa for me, buddy). But no it's not manual in the sense one would expect from a "swiss/german" camera-smithery. 4 out of 10

FLASH
Wow! 10 out of 10! Why? Because it's manual. When you want the flash, you press the MECHANICAL button and the flash MECHANICALLY pops up and the flash is in use. When you don't want the flash, you press it down MECHANICALLY. It's built in, of course, but it's not "built-in". And in baby mode, the flash reduces the flare and glare as to not burn second degree scars into the baby retinas.

BUILD/FINISH/STURDINESS
It's metal! Just like those more expensive good cameras. It's satiny, and it has a big bright red logo that let's everybody know you only get the best things you can afford. YOur fancy, and you like to spend money! People will admire you more and treat you with respect. Just like a Gucci purse, or six hundred dollar sequined jeans that were ripped on purpose at the factory and sprayed with acidic bleach by robots. IF your REALLY materialistic and want everyone to think your a rockstar, this is the camera for you. THere is a fifteen thousand dollar gold Mamiya with diamonds on it, but I'd rather get the Hassleblaad h3 for that price.
Just kidding, some people do just like really good cameras, like me. I guess it's pretty strong, my girlfriend dropped it at the gunrange today and it was fine. 9 out of 10. It could be sturdier, heavier, more made for Nepal/Tenderloin expeditions.

BANG FOR BUCK
5 out of 10. FOr the same price you could probably get a decent Canon Rebel, or a super nice Canon point and shoot. Or for 170$ you could get a nice Sony, Panasonic, or Canon and spend the rest on a nice weekend roadtrip vacation and have something to take pictures for. And if you spent twice as much as this camera you would have a real sweet digital SLR! But SIX HUNDRED BUCKS? FOR A POINT AND SHOOT? 5 out of 10. It is ten megapixels though.

LCD SCREEN
14 out 10. That's right 14 out of 10. The screen is so ridiculously nice and big, I could watch Lawrence of Arabia on it. I've seen airplane seats with smaller LCD screens. The screen is so frickin' nice, I'm terrified I bought a two hundred dollar camera with a four hundred dollar LCD screen attached to it. I wish the company had put the money and technology towards the sensor, the lens, and the overall sturdiness. 14 out of 10.

LENS.
Sweet lens. I'm not sure if it's german, swiss, or Japanese. But it's from one of the three and it is nice glass. Most point and shoots have lenses the size of Charles Manson's pupils, but it's impressive. I also LIKE the fact it doesn't fully retract into the camera. Most people probably don't like this feature, because it's bulkier and harder to store. But for the purpose of PHOTOGRAPHY, (the purpose of having a camera, duh), it makes for a better camera, that it doesn't retract fully back into the camera (which brings more afghan dust and somali sand in the camera). Maybe it even has SLR style mirrors in there? I don't know, I'm not an expert, I'm just a guy who OWNS and USES this camera. 9 out 10. I'd give it 10, but there is no bloody focusing ring.

OVERALL
6 out 10.
It's a nice camera, but not super nice. I do like the big lens, I do like the retro feel and the nice old school dials, it keeps it simple. The metal finish is great. It has a great LCD screen. It says Leica, it's made of Metal, but it's Panasonic as that radio/tapeplayer I had back in 87 that was aqua green and shaped like a anti-hystamine gel-tab. For a hundred or two, or a thousand more, you could have a really nice camera. I was expecting Leica. Heavy metal with a great lens and mechanicality above computer. (yes, I do know the difference between 35 and digi, but I want what I can't have) Get the Panasonic instead.
THIS CAMERA HAS A CHEAPER TWIN BROTHER WHO DOESN'T WEAR A SWISS/GERMAN TUXEDO WITH A RED ROSE IN THE FRONT POCKET.

54 of 56 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars As of right now anyway, the best compact point and shoot camera ever. July 31, 2007

By Kate Stokes VINE™ VOICE

I am a semi-pro photographer and thusly I normally shoot with expensive DSLR equipment. There are, however, some occasions where for a variety of reasons I can not bring a 3 pound 8-inch long camera with me. I have tried many different compact point and shoot offerings over the years, and I have owned many different compact point and shoot models over the years. This one is the best by far that I have tried.

The noise level is the biggest concern that I have seen people site about this camera. I personally am extremely sensitive to noise, and I have returned other cameras in the past because of it within 3 hours of buying them. I guess we must be looking at two different cameras, because I don't see it as a problem as compared with other compact point and shoot cameras. In fact it is far lower than every other compact point and shoot camera that I have used. The only time I could get this camera to produce a high level of noise was when I was shooting in very low light (indoors with almost all the lights off) and using no flash. Is that how you plan on using this camera? Then don't worry about the noise. That's not to say that there is no noise. There is noise. More noise than a DLSR? Yes. Again, we're talking compact point and shoot though. This is not a DSLR camera, so it would be unfair to compare it to one. I have tested the latest high dollar compact point and shoot offerings of Canon, Nikon, and Olympus and they all have at least triple the amount of noise this camera does. The only thing that I can think of that must account for this complaint is that Leica owners are typically more educated and sensitive to this type of stuff than the average compact point and shoot owner. I wonder if maybe traditional Leica owners are looking at the performance of this camera through "the lens" of their past Leica experience, rather than through the "lens" of all other compact point and shoot cameras. If they did the latter, I would be shocked if they had any complaints about this camera.

I will say again, this is the finest compact point and shoot ever made--yet. That may change next week, month, year, etc. But right now it is the best hands down. Better pictures, less noise, more controls, more options, better workmanship than any other compact point and shoot out there that I know of. Period. Again, everyone please just compare this to other compact point and shoot cameras. There are way too many people comparing it to entry level DSLRs because the prices are similar. This is not a DSLR. This is a compact point and shoot camera. It has its place, just like the DSLR has its place. In its place, it is the king. If you must talk DLSR vs. this compact point and shoot camera, I will say that this is the closest you will get to DSLR performance without actually buying a DSLR. If you know of a better compact point and shoot I would love to know about it. In my opinion, this camera is vastly underrated. Luckily, the resale market is great for these so if you get it and don't agree with me you can always resell it fairly easily. I doubt you will, though. I fell in love with this camera 5 minutes into using it. I was even surprised at how it looks in person. The pictures of the camera itself don't even do it justice, let alone the reviews. This camera rocks hard.