Can someone explain this to me?

I was looking forward to get the Leica C-LUX-1 in B&H. It now comes with a 512 sd card and a pouch for $539.95. I look this camera up in a digital review website and last week there was a comentary in that site that stated "it is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01 with a little red bage!". This freaked me out. Not because Panasonic is not to be trusted as a good camera brand, but because if I get to choose i´ll rather buy a Canon or a Nikon than a Panasonic, but the idea of having a Leica was just great!. I did actually saw the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01 with the same SD card and the same pouch in B&H for only$292.95... ALMOST $250 LESS THAN THE LEICA!!.. but is virtually the same camera.. in all aspects... even the panasonic has a leica lens... what is this all about?

Today I browsed the mentioned website only to find that the comentary was removed... a little misteryous indeed.

So... what to do?

(sorry if my written english is lame... not my native language!)

Kind Reggards

Felipe Rodriguez

There's nothing mysterious about this at all. The Leica digital compacts are made by Panasonic and are largely identical to their Panasonic counterparts. Both Panasonic and Leica models have Leica lenses but the Leicas have their own firmware, metal casings and, of course, the 'all-important' red dot.