[Leica] Compact Camera Conundrum

[rclompus at mac.com (Richard Clompus)]

I strongly recommend the Ricoh GR digtial.  It is well built, has a  
single focal length lens (equivalent to 28mm, f 2.2), has a  
tremendous macro capability and permits the use of an external  
Voigtlander finder attached to the hot shoe.  It is my travel camera  
that fits nicely with the external finder in a custom leather case by  
Luigi in Europe.  It takes the same battery as the Leica D-Lux 3.   
There is a quality feel to it that is hard to beat.  Focussing lag  
time is minimal.  Output files can be RAW or jpg images.  It has a  
fairly decent B&W output and looks like Tri-X using higher ISO  
settings.  Image size is 8 MPs.

I don't care for the long write times when taking RAW images but its  
not a major problem.  Its competition will be the Sigma DP1 which  
produces a 10MP image.  Most point & shoots feel like toys to me -  
including my wife's D-Lux 3.  The Ricoh GR has been everywhere is the  
best camera when its the one you happen to have with you when you  
want to take a picture.  I prefer my Canon 5D or Leica M8 for other  
reasons but they are both too big to tuck in a pocket in my briefcase.

Cheers,

Richard Clompus