What's In D Or V? - Look And See

It is just about holiday season - and I don't mean candlesticks, mistletoe, turkey, and drunk relatives. It is just about TRAVEL holiday season. And we have just about the best idea we've ever had for it.


Make no mistake - this idea involves you bringing money to us and leaving it here. But in return you get to take one of the nicest cameras you'll ever see with you and the camera will have a very good time on vacation.

On to specifics - we've got two parallel deals going with the most prestigious brand in the shop - Leica - and there are real advantages for two classes of holiday traveler.

Firstly the elegant holiday maker - best hotels, best shops, best bars...drinks with little umbrellas in them, etc.These travellers want a small compact elegant Leica that will produce superb files. Something with a small flash and a 4 X zoom lens and a really bright viewfinder. These are the folks that will love the Leica D-Lux 5 and D-Lux 6.

The D-Lux 5 will give them an f:2 lens and the D-lux 6 will give them an f:1.4 lens - and an actual physical aperture ring round the lens barrel. They will both be supplied with Photoshop Elements and Photoshop Premiere Elements to allow for easy image manipulation, storage, and video editing. They will both carry the full 2-year Leica warranty. And they can also purchase some of the most elegant cases in the world to carry them in - see an earlier blog post on this site.

Money? $ 649 for the Leica D-Lux 5 and $ $ 999 for the Leica D-Lux 6. They are in-store right now so you can be prepared for the hols.

Now for the long distance traveler - the safari traveler. The 21-solid-hours-on-a-plane-with-your-knees-up-your-nose traveler. This is going to be the holiday of a lifetime, particularly when you step off that long-distance flight and vow never to do it again. BUT while you are there in the savage wilds of Africa, British Columbia, or Bradford, you want to see it all and bring back pictures of everything. You need a solid small camera that will give you a 24 X zoom lens and full video. Something that will record in stereo. Something that will not let dust into itself every time you change a lens.

You need either a Leica V-Lux 3 or a Leica V-Lux 4. With the first camera the wide open lens aperture goes from f:2.8 to f:5.2 and with the second it is a constant f:2.8. In technical terms that is very little difference, but if you are going into the heart of darkness - like the Congo or Prince George - you'll want all the lens opening you can get. ( If you are going to Edmonton you'll also need a bag of rocks to throw at the locals. )

But you get all the other bits with either camera - the stereo mic on top, the in-built flash, the electronic viewfinder as well as the LCD screen, the stabilization mode..and the Photoshop Elements and Premiere programs as well. And the 2-year warranty.

Price? Ha ha - fooled ya - Same as the D-Lux cameras. You'll pay $ 649 for the Leica V-Lux 3 and $ 999 for the Leica V-lux 4. And you can go on holiday amongst the lions and bears and bring back superb Leica pictures while remaining at a safe distance.

Nearly Final Note: The Adobe Elements pair are a really good idea for dealing with your still and video images - they are powerful enough to support profession work but simple enough to learn straight out of the box - indeed their automatic settings are really brilliant for one-click photo work. You can do darn near anything with them and they are supported fully by the Adobe people.

Final Note: Remember that 21 solid hours you spent getting there? It's 21 solid hours getting back. Enjoy.