Digital Camera Review by: Michael Gazzola

After testing both production and final release models of the new Leica Digilux 2, the review below should delight many Leica enthusiasts.

The Digilux 2's design is classic, and uses good old fashioned dials rather than 'digital' buttons to maintain that SLR feel - which many 35mm Leica owners will appreciate. The camera is well balanced with its 69mm diameter lens, solid ultra-light magnesium body and tactile rubber reinforcement. Simplicity is a feature applied to almost every facet of this camera. The dial knobs for both the shutter speed settings and zooming in on an image just taken (in the viewfinder or on the 2.5 inch LCD screen) provides the photographer easy accessiblity to regularly used functions. There are three rings for manual use on the lens, one for focussing, the second for aperture control and the third for zooming within the equivalent of a 28-90mm 35mm lens.

It's the little things, like the way the lens cap has material inside the rim to slide onto the lens smoothly every time, or the extra lens hood with its own lens cap that make this camera complete. The packaging the camera arrives in is not cheap either - with a metallic silver finish and a very well laid out foam insert holding each of the cameras accessories, as well as the camera, manuals and cds required for digital imaging.

The Digilux 2 has one unique feature which will set it apart from every other digital camera on the market - which is the option for either bounce or direct flash, built into the body. The bounce flash during tests worked beautifully, although as it's not a big flash unit it will struggle with very high ceilings. It also has a host of capture options from: colour, b+w, cloudy, sun to white balancing with / without studio flashes - although there does not appear to be a fluorescent light setting. A nice touch too is the LCD screen, which changes in time when moving the aperture ring to give the photographer a more accurate preview of the image about to be captured.

When testing the clarity of the lens, which at the end of the day is the single most important feature, the results we acquired were crisp, clear and colour accurate. Skin tones and primary colours reproduced as they should, even when using the flash options and reacted much in the same way as film.

Overall, the Leica Digilux 2 passed our tests easily and would be a great addition to any photographer or Leica enthusiast bag of photography goodies.

Appearance rating	4 stars
Functionality rating	4.5 stars
Image quality	4.5 stars
Value for money	4.5 stars
RRP (AUD)	$2995
Effective Pixels	5.0 Million pixels
CCD Sensor	5.24 Million pixels
Image Sizes	5 Sizes / 4 quality modes
Lens - zoom wide [mm]	7.2mm (35mm equivalent to 28mm)
Lens -zoom tele [mm]	50.8mm (35mm equivalent to 200mm)
Resolution Settings	From 640 x 480 to 2560 x 1920 plus HDTV
Modes	6 Individual. Plus auto.
Manual Focus	Yes
Auto Focus	Yes
Focus Range [cm]	50cm
Aperture Range	F2.0 - F11
Aperture Priority	Yes
Macro	Yes
Macro Range [cm]	30cm
Shutter Speeds	8 seconds - 1/4000
Shutter Priority	Yes
ISO	3 Options. 100, 200 and 400
LCD Monitor	Yes
LCD Size	2.5 Inch TFT LCD colour monitor
Viewfinder	Yes. Electronic TFT LCD
Flash	Built In. 4 mode options. Plus auto.
Hot Shoe	Yes
White balance	6 options. Plus auto.
Self Timer	Yes. 2 or 10 seconds.
Movie Options	Yes.
Audio Options	Yes.
Video Out	Yes. AV out. NTSC / PAL
Storage Type	SD / MMC Cards
Storage Included [Mb]	64Mb SD Card
Image / Audio Formats	Jpeg, Tiff (RGB) and Raw
Connectivity	USB 2.0
Power Source	7.2V Lithium ion re-chargable.
Dimensions	135 mm x 82mm x 103mm
Weight	630g / 705g (without / with battery)