Panasonic did already announce that there may be top-of-the-line Micro Four Thirds products with the Leica label on them, so that part may still come true, even if no one can say what they will look like. But with Leica fully engaged in finishing their S2 and preparing the new R series at the same time, it is to be expected that a hypothetical D-Lux 5 will become just a Leica branded Panasonic camera, as the D-Lux 3 has been.

Which in retrospect is a great pity, by the way – had the D-Lux 3 been a real Leica, and had Panasonic’s and Leica’s involvement in Four Thirds been really serious even before Panasonic came up with Micro Four Thirds, then today we might have a substantial second arm of Four Thirds with two or three extremely interesting bodies and a substantial line-up of excellent lenses.

For a “simple” Leica branded Panasonic Micro Four Thirds body to become a success, I think it would have either to be more competitively priced than the D-Lux 3, or to offer unique features, maybe especially for both existing and prospective Leica enthusiasts. By which I’m thinking of mechanical and electrical compatibility with M series lenses, including support for an automatic diaphragm, to add an open-aperture mode to the usual working-aperture mode which is all we get with adapted lenses until now. Although the electronic viewfinder makes working-aperture mode more practical than it used to be with optical viewfinders, it still remains a kludge which makes both focusing and light metering more difficult and, at smaller apertures, takes the live view feature to its limits, too.

Cheers,
Robert