Stop wasting light! Leica V-LUX 4 megazoom has constant f/2.8 aperture

 

 

For quite a few years now, Germany's Leica Camera AG and Japan's Panasonic have had a partnership in the consumer camera market. Leica supplies its know-how regarding the lenses, while Panasonic provides the brains of the camera behind the lens. The cameras appear first under Panasonic's Lumix compact camera brand, and arrive some months later with a Leica badge and some subtle differences.

The Leica V-LUX 4 is the latest example of the tradition, providing much the same feature set as the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200, but catering to photographers who prefer Leica's tweaks to the design, which are largely related to body styling, firmware, and the choice of bundled software. The hardware is essentially the same, and that includes the Leica DC Vario-Elmarit branded lens on the camera's front.

 

The Leica V-LUX 4 has zoom. Lots of it. Not to mention a constant f/2.8 aperture. Wow!

That's great news, because it's a heck of a lens. Despite a generous 24x optical zoom range encompassing everything from a healthy 25mm-equivalent wide angle to a man-that's-close 600mm-equivalent telephoto, it has a constant maximum aperture. And it's not a dim one, either. Regardless of focal length, you can open the lens up to f/2.8!

Leica will ship the V-LUX 4 in the US market from November 2012. Pricing hadn't been disclosed at press time. Excited by the prospect of a brand-new, constant-aperture megazoom camera with the legendary red dot on the front? Read our Leica V-LUX 4 preview!