The Digilux 1 marked Leica’s first collaboration with Panasonic. Made from magnesium alloy with black and brushed chrome panels, the Digilux 1 must have seemed retro even when new. (Pictured front and back above)

 

Here is a 4mp camera with a 1x1.76-inch CCD sensor and a 7-21mm f/2-2.5 Vario Summicron lens coupled to a variable view in the all-glass viewfinder. A 2.5-inch LCD screen on the back is protected by an add-on fold-up hood for easier viewing in sunlight. Moving away from the then current industry standard of using RGB (red, green, blue) colour channels to record images, the Digilux goes for CMYG (cyan, magenta, yellow, green), making it more light sensitive and better for low-light photography. Images are recorded as JPG or TIFF files on an SD card at up to 3.8 frames per second. The intuitive layout of controls is simple to point of being spartan.

 

Quality from the Leica lens is superb as can be seen from these three pictures (below) taken with the camera.