Leica D-LUX 6 announced: It’s all about the aperture

 

 

Earlier this year, we previewed the Panasonic LX7, one of a number of products vying for the title of top pocket digital camera. Although we've yet to complete a full review we're rather optimistic about its prospects. Our initial testing suggested a fairly significant step forward from the earlier LX5 model, and a reasonably strong showing even when compared to cameras with larger sensors.

That's good news for Leica fans, because the LX7 forms the foundation of the German manufacturer's own Leica D-LUX 6, which itself follows in the footsteps of the LX5-based D-LUX 5. Given that the Panasonic and Leica cameras correspond so closely, it suggests there will have been a similar step forward between the D-LUX 5 and D-LUX 6, offering Leicaphiles better images in a pocket-friendly package.

 

The Leica D-LUX 6 offers a bright f/1.4-2.3 zoom lens with 3.8x range.

For those of you familiar with the LX7, there are several differences in its new Leica sibling. Many of these are cosmetic, but Leica bundles Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom 4 software, and likely tweaks image processing to provide the look it believes its customers prefer.

Leica will ship the D-LUX 6 in the US market from November 2012. Pricing hadn't been disclosed at press time. Want to know more about Leica's latest pocket digicam? Read our Leica D-LUX 6 preview!