I am looking for a point and shoot. My mother took off with my Lumix DX-33 and I find myself hunting for another camera. I think the D-Lux 3 is a bit old, the 4 is getting bad reviews and the 5 is brand new so a little pricey for something I just have hanging out in a bag. The Sony's are nice, but I don't like the size or sliding door lens cover. The Nikons sound good. Any input?
Why not buy the Lumix version of the D-Lux? I have an LX-3 (which is a D-Lux 4 badged for Panasonic) and is a very good camera (especially at half the price of the Leica). The major difference between D-Lux 4 and LX-3 is the .jpg firmware - which may or may not matter depending on 1) whether you like Panasonic's slightly warmer .jpgs and 2) if you want to shoot in .raw (which the camera will do very nicely -- in which case the output is identical). I haven't read much negative about the LX-3, but then again I haven't read much about it recently. I can tell you that I like it as a travel camera. It's small (fits in pants pocket nicely), tough enough (mine has survived freezing and wet mornings in the mountains, 10K+ altitudes climbing, and over a week on a salt-water kayaking tour) and it takes great scenery and very good macro shots. And, of course, it can also do the 'point at a group of folks and take a picture' pictures. There are likely others that will do better, but it isn't a slouch there. It's great in low light, too, and has some impressive manual controls. That said for the SLR/DSLR crowd it is decidedly a step down. And folks who want it to be a mini-SLR or a rangefinder will invariably be disappointed. But for $300, it's a great camera - I'd highly recommend it.
